I am a lifelong resident of Mendocino County and retired a law enforcement officer. I am here in support of the West proposal before you. I retired as Chief of Police for the City of Willits and saw my City struggle to provide basic services and my experience in government gave me a unique perspective in that government needs a vibrant business economy in order have the revenue to provide its services to the community. Without the support of business there is no local revenue to support the mission of the governmental bodies. After I retired I became a councilperson with a strong desire support our local businesses both those existing and those wanting to start in our local community. This brought me to volunteer on the West Board and familiarize me with the work of the West Business Development Center that helps transcend local politics and focus on providing support to our local businesses both small and those who need the help to navigate the various state and local grant processes to get the support they need. Continuing the work of Move 2030 and providing an avenue for resiliency in this time of Fires and a Pandemic we have an opportunity to help the local economy. West has a proven track record of working with State and Federal programs and working collectively with local partners. I am most proud of the work West has done in the area of supporting and reaching out to our Latin-X Hispanic community. Our County needs an Economic Development organization that can support the entire county.

Please support this proposal.

Gerry Gonzalez
Retired Chief of Police
Councilman, City of Willits

I am writing in support of continuing the work of MOVE 2030: Mendocino Opportunities for Building a Vibrant Economy. I participated in the process as a team lead through this last year and now sit on the Board of Directors of the non-profit West Business Center. Volunteering my time and effort towards building a more robust economy for the county has been an important focus for me. I have started and built numerous businesses here in the past 30 years. Being a business owner in Mendocino County can be challenging and our resources are extremely limited. I want the young entrepreneurs following me to have better tools, resources and an opportunity to build our communities in a thoughtful and resilient way. The proposal that West has submitted is well thought out and I believe there is no other organization better suited to work with the county and act as a lead economic development organization. West has a long proven track record and is willing to step up to the plate and do the vital work that is needed to move our county forward to a better future. It is important to consider that all the surrounding counties have an economic development agency, except for ours. There are so many federal and state funding opportunities at the moment and we need an agency that can capture these dollars to help create living wage job opportunities, vocational training, better access to housing and broadband to our most outlying areas. We need to be doing this work for the future of our children and health of our communities and West is the perfect partner to execute this.

Jim Roberts/ Owner
The Madrones & The Brambles
The Bohemian Chemist
Wickson Restaurant
Sugar Hill Farm, LLC

I have been hanging around Mendocino County economic development efforts as a volunteer for over 30 years. I have supported these efforts with time and money. Please take the opportunity to move this beyond a discussion. West Business Development is uniquely positioned to coordinate the efforts of the partners in the county. A coordinated economic development strategy with measured deliverables is critical for our long term community health. Without jobs, income and tax base; we will not have resources to address the many needs of this county. Please take the lead and approve a multiple year funding commitment. The momentum has been established to gather all organizations in this effort. Don't let this opportunity pass.

Jim Mayfield, Owner
Rainbow Ag - Ukiah