PORT ANGELES — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration has awarded a $4.2 million grant to the Clallam County Economic Development Council for advancement and innovation of the county’s industrial forest industry.
The funds will be used to undertake 12 critical actions that support innovation and sustainability and advance business opportunities within the forest products sector, EDC Executive Director Colleen McAleer wrote in an email.
The actions center around tribal pre-manufactured low-cost housing, biomass product manufacturing, forestry workforce and logistics.
The backbone is the Natural Resources Innovation Center (NRIC), which was developed through the help of a 2023 innovation cluster.
An innovation cluster is an industry-led group of investors, academia, entrepreneurs, and government and industry leaders working to drive innovation and growth, according to the state Innovation Cluster Accelerator.
The NRIC’s plan, the Clallam Forest Product Innovation Program, was then wrapped into the North Olympic Peninsula Recompete Coalition’s (NOPRC’s) 2023 Recompete grant application.
Although the NOPRC was awarded about $35 million for economic revitalization through six other projects, the NRIC’s $5 million project request was denied.
Even though the EDA said it supported the approach, it did not have enough to fully fund the request. Instead, it agreed to work to secure other funding, McAleer said.
Now, the EDA’s $4.2 million grant will help spur job creation, an essential part of the initial Recompete plan, McAleer said.
If the program’s action steps are successful and private partners agree to take the leap, McAleer said the outcome will be the creation of about 1,100 new jobs and the protection of more than 1,000 existing high-wage jobs.
“This EDA investment will … make Clallam County more resilient and prosperous,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a press release.
The grant also is supported by a match of more than $1 million from eight entities, including the Clallam County Opportunity Fund ($384,184), Oregon State University ($160,998), the Port of Port Angeles ($150,000), the EDC ($132,628), the Composite Recycling Technology Center ($100,000); Peninsula College ($55,500); the Olympic Natural Resource Center with the University of Washington ($50,000) and the city of Forks ($20,000).
“I’m thrilled to see this critical investment in indigenous forestry resources and workforce development,” U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, D-Port Orchard, said in a press release. “I look forward to seeing the positive impact these dollars will have for real people and the place we live.”
McAleer said the outcomes of the three-year, $5.27 million program will be more good-wage jobs, especially in Port Angeles and the West End, wildfire and carbon emissions reduction, increased forest products manufacturing, advancement of the nascent biomass economy and promotion of sustainable renewable resources.
“These projects will lay the foundation for innovation and long-term sustainability driven by private sector leaders on the Olympic Peninsula,” she said.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
