Clallam County commissioners on July 22 approved a resolution awarding Opportunity Fund grants that will serve as local matches for a $5,200,000 federal grant tied to the Clallam Forest Products Industry Cluster Innovation Program.

The awards allocate county Opportunity Fund money to three projects: $60,000 to the City of Forks for industrial park reconfiguration, $116,000 to the Port of Port Angeles for a scoping, design and permitting study for a publicly owned kiln, and $100,000 to the Composite Recycling Technology Center (CRTC) for design and construction of a tribal affordable housing unit.

The grants are intended to meet part of the local matching requirement for the federal award obtained by the Clallam Economic Development Council (EDC), county staff said. “This is the matching funds for this $5,000,000 grant; we are not the only source of matching funds,” a county finance staff member said during the hearing.

Why it matters: county officials and project backers said the combination of federal EDA funding and local matching dollars aims to boost capacity in the forest-products sector, retain and create jobs, and support workforce housing in parts of the peninsula.

During a public hearing, Rob, a City of Forks representative, said the Forks project will focus on small-scale manufacturing and on helping micro-enterprises expand. “Our goal of any of these projects is to increase economic opportunity within our region,” he said. A Port of Port Angeles representative said a publicly owned kiln would serve both large producers and smaller forest-products manufacturers that currently lack processing capacity.

The Opportunity Fund board reviewed the EDC application in May and again in September 2024 and recommended approval of the grants to the commissioners, county staff said. Commissioners praised the local review process and the coordination among cities, ports, nonprofits and the EDC.

The resolution was approved by voice vote; commissioners indicated unanimous support and the record states the resolution passed.

Provenance: The county finance staff introduced the resolution and described the award amounts and purpose during the 10:30 a.m. hearing; public testimony from the City of Forks and the Port of Port Angeles occurred immediately afterward.

Ending: The county will execute agreements approved “as to form” with each recipient and bring those agreements back to the commissioners for signature as required by the Opportunity Fund process.