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Humboldt needs good jobs, a stronger tax base, and a plan that doesn’t depend on the next boom saving us. I sit down with Peggy Murphy, the County of Humboldt’s Economic Development Director, to get specific about what economic development really looks like on the ground: helping local businesses stay open, building a workforce pipeline, and making sure we’re not “buckshotting” our limited time and money across a hundred disconnected ideas.

We talk through the cannabis industry boom-and-bust with clear eyes. Peggy explains how legalization brought heavy regulation, stacked licensing, and real supply chain costs that crushed margins right as the market got oversaturated. That leads into Project Trellis, a cannabis business support program created because cannabis still can’t tap federally funded Small Business Development Center services. If you’ve ever wondered why whole towns feel different after an industry contracts, this part connects the dots.

From there we zoom out to the long game: industry studies like Project Rebound, aligning business attraction with workforce development, and using tools like the Samoa Peninsula Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District to make sites build-ready. We also hit broadband as economic infrastructure, why “ultra-rural” communities get misunderstood by state and federal decision makers, and how tourism marketing can focus on longer stays without trying to overrun the place we love. If you care about Humboldt County economic development, workforce training, remote work, small business growth, and sustainable industry, you’ll hear what’s possible and what’s in the way.

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About 100% Humboldt with Scott Hammond

Humboldt County CA USA is the home of some of the most iconoclastic, genuine, and interesting folks in the world.

We are getting curious about the movers, shakers, and difference makers in Humboldt County CA-Home of the giant redwoods, 6 Rivers, and the vast Pacific Ocean.

We will discover what makes people live/evolve in the beautiful, diverse, isolated, and ever-changing North Coast of California 100%!

Listen in and learn what it is to be 100% Humboldt!

Find us on You Tube, Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok!

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Humboldt County has a way of making every big question feel personal. When an industry rises, families build their lives around it. When it falls, the whole community feels the aftershock in jobs, housing, nonprofits, and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s possible here.

I’m joined by Jennifer Budwig of Redwood Capital Bank, a fourth-generation Ferndale local who’s about to step into the bank’s president role as John Dalby transitions to CEO. We talk about what community banking actually looks like on the ground: staying independent, making loans with local context, supporting nonprofits, and keeping money circulating in Humboldt County instead of leaking out. Jennifer shares how mentorship and a well-planned leadership handoff can protect culture while still pushing the organization forward.

From there, we zoom out into the Humboldt County economy and the hard realities behind “boom and bust.” We dig into remote work, Cal Poly Humboldt’s expansion, housing affordability, and why rising costs drive more demand at places like the food bank. We also revisit Jennifer’s Pacific Coast Banking School thesis from 2011 that estimated cannabis contributed about $1.2 billion annually to the local economic base at its peak, and what it means now that production and prices have dropped so sharply. We close with service and legacy: Rotary, local giving projects, and why donating blood matters more than most of us realize.

Subscribe to 100% Humboldt, share this with someone who cares about the North Coast, and leave a review with your take: what should Humboldt build next?

Support the show

About 100% Humboldt with Scott Hammond

Humboldt County CA USA is the home of some of the most iconoclastic, genuine, and interesting folks in the world.

We are getting curious about the movers, shakers, and difference makers in Humboldt County CA-Home of the giant redwoods, 6 Rivers, and the vast Pacific Ocean.

We will discover what makes people live/evolve in the beautiful, diverse, isolated, and ever-changing North Coast of California 100%!

Listen in and learn what it is to be 100% Humboldt!

Find us on You Tube, Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok!

Send a text

Tired of boom-bust promises that never land? We sit down with Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery for a frank, fast-moving look at what actually gets built, what stalls out, and how we change the rules so progress sticks. From a scrappy surf-kid past to a data-first public leader, Miles lays out how the Bay Trail moved from vision to miles of waterfront access—and how that same bias for action is shaping housing, transit, and the city’s approach to homelessness.

We get specific about why Eureka struggles to grow: legacy “coastal dependent industrial” zoning that blocks modern light industry, a small population base, and institutions allergic to risk. Then we talk solutions. A new transit center will anchor regional buses, Amtrak links, and ground-floor services under 51 new homes. Microtransit will offer $2 trips across town via app, with an Old Town circulator on the table to ease curb crunch. An automated parking structure is under study to deliver capacity where it counts. We also confront the parking myth with real data—summer peak studies show downtown lots below 50% capacity across a month, even if Friday Night Markets feel slammed.

Housing gets the reality treatment too. With RHNA pressure rising, Eureka put public land in play, navigated Old Town pushback, and traded sites to protect businesses while keeping momentum. The result: 302 of 332 required affordable units already funded. On homelessness, the city pairs low-barrier options like Bayside Village with embedded mental health teams, rapid rehousing, and job pathways, acknowledging that compassion works best with accountability.

If you care about smart growth, transit that connects, and rules that fit today’s economy, this conversation is a blueprint. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves Humboldt, and leave a review with the one policy you’d change first—we’ll feature the most thoughtful takes next week.

Support the show

About 100% Humboldt with Scott Hammond

Humboldt County CA USA is the home of some of the most iconoclastic, genuine, and interesting folks in the world.

We are getting curious about the movers, shakers, and difference makers in Humboldt County CA-Home of the giant redwoods, 6 Rivers, and the vast Pacific Ocean.

We will discover what makes people live/evolve in the beautiful, diverse, isolated, and ever-changing North Coast of California 100%!

Listen in and learn what it is to be 100% Humboldt!

Find us on You Tube, Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok!