Cal Poly Humboldt interns present four 'buckets' for Arcata economic strategy

Cal Poly Humboldt student interns on Wednesday presented the Arcata City Council with preliminary research and an executive summary intended to feed the city's forthcoming 2026'2031 economic development strategic plan.

The interns outlined four "buckets of opportunity" the city could pursue: health care diversification, food sovereignty, marketing and business support.

The students said their deliverable is a precursor to consultant work and will be provided to the city's hired consultants later this week. City staff said the student work was produced through Econ 470 as a service-learning project with faculty oversight.

In the presentation, the students said health care diversification faces capacity constraints at local clinics and insurance-transfer issues that can force Medi-Cal beneficiaries to seek care far from Arcata. The students recommended partnerships with community-led initiatives, expanded mental-health promotion and targeted marketing to attract alternative health-service providers already in demand locally.

On food sovereignty, the students noted a 17% food-insecurity rate in Humboldt County and recommended a local food policy council, stronger volunteer staffing for food pantries and coordinated outreach through local schools and Cal Poly Humboldt to expand volunteer capacity.

For marketing, the interns said Arcata has strong natural amenities but lacks a clear city brand and a usable web presence. They recommended resident surveys and interviews to define a brand, separate web portals for tourism and business investment, and partnerships with Cal Poly Humboldt to provide marketing internships.

Under business support, the interns identified shortages of affordable child care, low awareness of business-support resources, and some mistrust of government among local business owners. Their recommendations included partnerships to expand child care, semiannual outreach to businesses, exit surveys for closing businesses and a welcome packet for new business owners including local resource contacts.

"We used secondary data to conduct our research and produced four separate reports" and "we'll be providing a detailed report," the students told council members. City staff said the students' full report will be delivered to the city by the end of the week.

Council members complimented the students and highlighted the value of local-university partnerships in shaping the city's consultant-driven economic-strategy work.

The student presenters were: Anai (Cal Poly Humboldt student intern), Medallia Garcia (Cal Poly Humboldt student intern) and Melanie Sanchez (Cal Poly Humboldt student intern). City staff said the students worked with David Loya of the Department of Community Development.

City staff will fold the students' work into the consultant-led economic strategy now under development and return to council with consultant deliverables later in the planning process.