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Siskiyou example: small investments and regional collaboration can create permanent local infrastructure, witness says
Summary
Tanya Douse of the Siskiyou Economic Development Council told the committee a small CME investment helped create a permanent rural business innovation center in Yreka and argued rural regions require flexible, long‑term funding and cross‑sector collaboration.
Tanya Douse, representing the Siskiyou Economic Development Council, stressed that in rural Northern California collaboration is not optional but necessary: “Rural collaboration isn't simply a strategy, it's a necessity of life.” She described how CME funding helped Siskiyou build a California rural business innovation center in Yreka that now serves as a permanent hub for entrepreneurship and regional services.
Douse and other rural witnesses said place matters: communities are dispersed, under public land management in many areas, and lack the local revenue base to sustain services without outside support. She urged the state to direct flexible funds that allow rural organizations to participate in planning and to sustain capacity between award cycles.
Committee members noted the risk that short grants produce stop‑and‑go cycles and asked how to prioritize scarce state funds so places with the greatest need do not lose momentum.
