Project Trellis Local Equity Program to Provide $955,000 in Services to Cannabis Community

Press release from the County of Humboldt:

An additional $955,000 in funding is available through the County of Humboldt’s Project Trellis Local Equity Program V2.1, to help individuals in the local cannabis community enter, and succeed in the commercial cannabis marketplace. Eligible equity applicants may qualify to apply for up to $50,000 for service items paid directly to awardees, and up to $15,000 for services items paid on the awardee’s behalf, unless otherwise stated, or until funding is expended, for up to $65,000 total across all Local Equity Program rounds. Eligibility requirements and available services can be found in the County of Humboldt Local Equity Program Manual.

The goal of the program to implement the recommendations set forth in the Humboldt County Cannabis Equity Assessment. The Program supports the State of California’s and County of Humboldt’s goals to further equity among those impacted by the criminalization of cannabis, by providing services to individuals in Humboldt County’s cannabis community, particularly small growers who were adversely affected by the criminalization of cannabis, and to assist them as they work to overcome the financial and logistical challenges of coming into compliance with county and state regulations.

Applications should be submitted electronically by using the application form. If an applicant is unable to use the online application, a PDF download of the application is available and can be emailed to [email protected]. A hard copy can be requested by contacting Project Trellis at (707) 445-7745. Hard copies can be mailed or delivered to the County Administrative Office’s Economic Development Division, Attn: Project Trellis, 825 5th Street #112, Eureka, CA 95501. Applications must be received or postmarked no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, September 16. Applications received after this time may be rejected.

All applications and supporting documents will be reviewed by Economic Development staff to ensure the applicant meets eligibility criteria. Some projects may receive a lower amount than what was requested, based on the availability of funds or needs of service. A typical approval process can take 60 or more days from when the application is received. Upon approval, the applicant will receive a notice of award, contract, fund request form and an IRS Form W9. All information provided in the application must match the IRS Form W9.

The County Administrative Office’s Economic Development Team administers the Local Equity Program V2.1 which is funded by grants from the Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local Jurisdictions and supplemented by local Measure S tax revenue. The Local Equity Program V2.1 is governed by guidelines of the Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local Jurisdictions administered by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, and the California Cannabis Equity Act as amended by AB 97 (Stats. 2019, Ch. 40).

Applications may be subject to public disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act.

For more information, visit the Project Trellis Local Equity Program web page.