Humboldt County Announces $2M in Cannabis Industry Grants

Humboldt County, California has announced more than $2 million in grants through Project Trellis, the county’s cannabis micro-grant, marketing, and local equity program, the Times-Standard reports. Eligible applicants can apply for up to $10,000 “per service” if they meet the program requirements.

The program is built into three tiers and designed to redirect cannabis-derived tax revenues back into the local economy.

Humboldt County Growers Alliance executive director Natalynne DeLapp said the county’s “independent cannabis farmers are in crisis” as “the wholesale price of cannabis has dropped below the cost of production.” She warned that “it is imperative for the county to maximize funding allocations directly into the hands of … farmers” to avoid “an extinction event” for Humboldt’s legacy farmers.

“It is great that the county developed Project Trellis…and (has) secured nearly $5 million in funding from the state to support communities most impacted by the War on Drugs in entering the regulated cannabis market, but now it is time to get serious. Perhaps 200 of Humboldt County’s 900-plus cultivation operators, who can prove the War on Drugs has negatively impacted them, could receive up to $10,000 in fee waivers for professional services like fee waivers, technical assistance or installing solar or water storage systems.”—DeLapp to the Times-Stardard

The program required applicants to have a median income level at or below 2020 Department of Housing and Urban Development limits for the county, to be residents of the county, and have at least 20% ownership interest in a cannabusiness.

The business must also meet one criterion including being located in a community in the county with a poverty rate of 17% or above; have a cultivation site of 10,000 square feet or less; be a woman, person of color, or LGBTQ individual; have a previous cannabis-related arrest; experienced sexual assault, exploitation, domestic violence, and/or human trafficking as a result of participating in the cannabis industry; or was or is homeless or suffered a loss of housing as a result of cannabis enforcement.