Economic Development Collaborative (EDC) — EDC and Uplift Central Coast Developing Inclusive Coalition to Access CERF

UPLIFT CENTRAL COAST TO DEVELOP INCLUSIVE COALITION FOR ACCESSING THE CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY ECONOMIC RESILIENCE FUND (CERF)

The six-county Uplift Central Coast Coalition—led by the Economic Development Collaborative, REACH and Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP)—is excited to announce its continued partnership to develop an application and secure our region’s share of California’s new $600 million Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF).

The six county region as defined by the state for the CERF program and funding includes Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito.

The purpose of CERF is to support new plans and strategies to diversify local economies and develop sustainable industries that create high-quality, broadly accessible jobs for all Californians.

The CERF strategy is based on triple bottom line principles and values— economy, equity and environment—and calls for input from and ultimate benefit to disadvantaged, disproportionately impacted and under-represented communities.

Moving forward, our Uplift Central Coast partnership will seek to secure a CERF planning grant of up to $5 million this fall, to support inclusive engagement and planning efforts to inform regional investment opportunities. The outcome of the planning will be to guide the development of a broad range of implementation projects in workforce and economic development—addressing a diversity of critical industry sectors and occupations—for the purpose of advancing broadly shared opportunity throughout the region.

If you would like to stay engaged, track progress, or participate with this coalition, join us! We encourage your interest and collaboration on this work. Please click here to register for continuing updates and opportunities to engage.

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