Pepper Fisher
CLALLAM COUNTY – On Wednesday, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded $2.4 million in CARES Act Recovery Assistance grants to six Economic Development District organizations in Washington state.
Among them is the North Olympic Peninsula Resource Conservation & Development Council in Port Angeles, who got a $400,000 grant to respond to hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Executive Director Karen Affeld says the funds will be used to strengthen collaborations and infrastructure in key sectors such as the marine trades, food systems, broadband development and e-commerce.
“It’s a really hard time for everybody in our community right now, and we don’t know how long restrictions are going to go on related to covid. But you know, I think we have to start building now in order to, you know, to be ready and to do what we can to make sure that the businesses that are struggling now can hang on and make it through to the other side of this.”
Some of the funds will be used to create two new positions at the agency. One is an Economic Recovery Coordinator who will work with local governments, non-profits and business owners to come up with their own recovery plans.
The other position will help organizations design or improve their internet and e-commerce presence, and she expects there to be some money available to hire local web designers and marketing specialists to assist in that effort.
“It’s really about building economic infrastructure and building strong collaborations regionally to, you know, build on the strengths of the region and try to make sure that we get good living-wage jobs coming out of this crisis.”
(NOPRCDC photo of small wood mill)