Lake County approves $60,000 bridge funding for EDC and Chamber to keep visitor center, business services running

The Lake County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on Oct. 7 to transfer $60,000 from the county's fiscal year 2025–26 cannabis fund to support two local organizations: $26,000 for the Lake County Economic Development Corporation and $34,000 for the Lake County Chamber of Commerce.

Deputy County Administrative Officer Ben Rickelman told the board the joint request responds to an uncertain federal funding picture and a new shared-staff arrangement between the two organizations. "The Board and the Chamber have decided to do what I guess would be called a soft merger," Rickelman said, adding the groups plan to share an executive director, Nicole Flora, who currently leads the EDC.

The funding is framed as one-time bridge support while the EDC awaits notice about its U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Business Development Grant, a program Rickelman said has provided roughly $109,000 annually to the EDC and is slated to expire Sept. 30. "Without the requested support, the EDC's ability to deliver services is at risk," Nicole Flora, executive director of the Lake County Economic Development Corporation, told the…