“We are a place-based people,” Emily Reed said as a map of the Del Norte coast appeared on the screen behind her. Gone are the familiar landmarks, the names of local towns replaced with the traditional Tolowa names of the villages that came before. “And the locations of where we are and where we are going hold deep significance.” 

Reed is the Administrative Services Director for the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation as well as the current president of the Crescent City – Del Norte Chamber of Commerce. Either role could have landed her the gig as first presenter at the 2025 Del Norte Economic Summit, the yearly confab held by the Chamber in which local leaders gather to discuss the community’s collective economic future. 

As the Chamber’s executive director Cindy Vosburg explained, the economic summit is “an opportunity to bring the business community together and share what’s happening, what the city’s going to be working on, what the county’s working on. It’s a time to celebrate good things, it’s not the time to talk about what’s bad in our county, but to celebrate what’s good here. It also brings business people together and our local governments together and a lot of good things come out of that type of collaboration.”

The 2025 iteration of the summit was hosted by the Tolowa and the Lucky Seven Casino in Smith River. City and county officials, parks representatives in dusky uniforms, non-profit leaders, local business owners, members of the curious public — anyone willing and able to pay the $60 for a place at one of the round tables — gathered to hear several presentations concerning this year’s theme: Tourism. 

Reed, in her role with the Tolowa, began the summit by touting the many ways the tribe contributes to the local economy. “In 2024,” she said, “we contributed a total of $94,000 in donations and sponsorships to over 116 recipients.” This was in addition to the over two million dollars the tribe spent on new construction and infrastructure. “When we build together we strengthen our economy, we support our local business and create a lasting impact for generations to come.”

After Reed, Lucky Seven General Manager Ken White spent a few minutes talking about a new coffee shop the tribe plans to open as well as the popular slot machines the casino is adding. He also acknowledged the presence of Elk Valley Rancheria’s leadership. “We are competitors,” White said, “but we are of the same community. We’ve been into a little bit of a gas-pricing competition.” His words elicited some laughter and a round of grateful applause from the room. “It benefits the community greatly.”

Next came a presentation from Redwood National and State Parks, represented by District Superintendent Victor Bjelajac and Deputy Superintendent Shelana deSilva. Bjelajac began with facts and numbers: the largest state parks system in the U.S., made up of 22 state parks, bringing 9 million visitors to the region every year; the parks are managed jointly with National Parks. 

It was then that Bjelajac addressed the elephant not in the room. “It’s obvious our federal partners are not here today,” he said. “There’s been a shake-up, let’s say. There’s been some impacts to staff. Our mission hasn’t changed. Our commitment to partnership hasn’t changed. There may be holes from some of our partners, but we’re dedicated to filling those.”

Bjelajac discussed some of the restoration work being done as part of the Redwood Rising initiative, a program that seeks to employ people who developed skills in the resource extraction economy and use those skills in the new “stewardship economy.” He gave an example of employing someone to use big equipment, a skill they might have learned logging or mining, to take out a road or place logs in riverbeds to create salmon habitat. 

Employing locals with the necessary skills to help safeguard and manage the environment is key to both the stewardship role of the park and the park’s role in the new stewardship economy. “The Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition defines [the stewardship economy] as an economy that is shaped by both the need and the responsibility to manage lands and communities sustainably,” deSilva said. “You can’t have healthy people without healthy lands and there’s no healthy lands without healthy people. That’s what we think about.” 

One way the parks facilitate this burgeoning economy is through the work of the Redwood Parks Conservancy, whose chair, Susan Andrews, was next up before the summit. She described the non-profit organization’s role in supporting projects like the Grove of Titans trail with monetary and volunteer support. The Conservancy also operates several gift shops and helps fund other projects like the Del Norte Trail Alliance and the Tolowa Dune Stewards. 

Next up was Poua Vang, President of the Hmong Association of Crescent City, who shared the association’s plans to open the Del Norte Meat Processing Center, a USDA-compliant facility that would process beef, chicken and pork in Del Norte County.

“For small producers and culturally specific communities,” Vang said, “the lack of local access [to processing] makes it difficult to grow and sustain their work. That’s why the Hmong Association of Crescent City is proud to be leading the development of the Del Norte Meat Processing Center, a small-scale, USDA-certified facility tailored to serve our rural economy. This will be a hub that supports local meat producers, culturally respectful processing for traditional and ceremonial meat, a training opportunity for youth and aspiring food entrepreneurs.” 

Initial funding has already been secured from California Jobs First, a state program to support job creation. With this funding, design and planning work for the center can begin.  “With the facility in place,” Vang continued, “we’ll be able to supply local restaurants with high quality locally processed meat, host cultural food events that attract visitors, and develop farm to table tourism opportunities that celebrate our region’s diversity, including traditional Hmong and Indigenous cuisines.” 

The meat processing center is just the beginning. The association also envisions a Hmong garden, Hmong community center, and eventually a small Hmong village — a place for cultural preservation and tourism.

Despite the culturally specific nature of the association’s work, Vang assured the assembled that “this isn’t just a Hmong project, it’s a Del Norte project.”

They hope to have permits in hand within a year.

After the Hmong Association’s presentation it was time for the keynote speaker, perennial favorite, State Senator Mike McGuire. The senate president pro tem bounded onto the stage and took on the room of Del Norters with unblinking enthusiasm. 

“If you ask an average Californian where is Northern California, it ends at San Francisco. But we know there’s a whole ‘nother damn state north of the gate, am I right?”

McGuire lamented how the Democratic Party has largely forgotten rural America, a sentiment that garnered a loud response from the assembled. But in California that’s changing, he said, citing his own election as the senate’s leader — the first time in 147 years a senator from a rural district has been elected president pro tem — as proof. 

McGuire also pointed out several examples of the state’s growing commitment to its rural self: the creation of a “healthcare hub” in Arcata; the expansion of the LVN/RN program at College of the Redwoods; the new master’s program in nursing at CalPoly Humboldt. The $580 million transition of Humboldt State to CalPoly Humboldt was “the largest non-prison investment in rural California in fifty years.”

Even though California is the fifth largest economy in the world, and pays $83 billion more in taxes than the state receives back from the federal government, we still have challenges, McGuire said. “We’ve got to stop the partisan bickering. We got to focus on what matters most: growing our economy, making life more affordable, making life more liveable, expanding healthcare opportunities, continuing to invest in K12 public education.”

McGuire celebrated the state’s commitment to higher education, too. “Fifty percent of all UC and CSU students now go to college tuition free. Every Native American student in the state of California can now go to any UC free…in perpetuity.” 

But when he came to tourism in the Golden State, McGuire’s parade of good news and positive spin stopped. “Tourism spending last year hit a record amount, about $156-and-a-half billion,” McGuire said. “We were expecting that tourism was going to grow about 6.2 percent here this year. I’m going to be super honest, we’re revising that down. The biggest challenge that we’re seeing is, we’re seeing a significant decline in international visitors due to all the international challenges with the tariffs.” McGuire cited double digit declines in Canadian tourism approaching COVID era numbers. Canada, he also noted, is the largest importer of California’s produce and wine.

The senator also laid out the tourism numbers for Del Norte County. “What we know is that visitors spent about $156 million in travel related spending last year. Breaking that down: $41 million in lodging, $38.5 million on food and dining. Altogether, tourism brought in about $15 million in local and state taxes, just for Del Norte County.”

After a brief pass through infrastructure — McGuire secured $8 million to address the Pebble Beach Drive slide, and announced during his presentation that $40 million had been lined up to get the Last Chance Grade tunnel project into the final design stage — the senator moved on to specific challenges posed by proposed cuts in federal funding coming from the Trump administration. 

Specifically, proposed cuts to Medicaid and MediCal, which could be devastating for healthcare in Del Norte where 46 percent of the population depend on those programs. “Right now,” McGuire began, “there is a potential — it has not been done yet — but in the bill that is in front of Congress right now, there is a potential that we would see about an $880 billion cut in Medicaid across the nation. That equals between $15-20 billion for the state of California. Just being super blunt about it. That will be a huge hit to Sutter Coast and Open Door. About $180 million in Medicaid and MediCal funds flow from the state and federal government and if we’re looking at those significant cuts – just being blunt – there will be cuts to folks and their benefits.”

Tariffs could potentially impact the state seriously, as well. “California grows 76% of the world’s almonds. China imports 50% of the entire almond crop from California. Right now, almonds have a 125 percent tariff on them. Big concern on what that’s going to mean,” McGuire said. “Just being honest about what’s been happening, what we’re seeing.”

After his speech, the senator opened the floor up for questions and comments. What he got initially was a compliment from Crescent City manager Eric Wier. “When we got hit with an evacuation order,” Wier began, “when there was a tsunami set to hit, he called me moments after the earthquake. I’m still evacuating city hall, I’m thinking it’s my wife. It’s Senator McGuire. He’s asking are you OK? Is your community OK? What’s going on? That’s how much he cares. That’s how much of a difference this man can make. Senator, a sincere ‘thank you,’ from my standpoint as city manager. The difference you are making is real, it’s boots on the ground, you, my friend, are a friend of this community and thank you so much.”

When asked if there were any plans in Sacramento to make EV drivers pay their fair share for road maintenance, since they pay less in gas taxes which go toward those costs, McGuire injected a little perspective into the complaint: “Del Norte consistently receives much more than you actually pay into the system,” he said. “Just being super blunt about it. When it comes to actual return. I am not arguing with you about the high prices of gas. What I am saying is that Del Norte County punches above its weight in regards to state taxes coming back, whether its issues of healthcare, Last Chance Grade, Pebble Beach — there’s no way, based off the population, we’d be able to do what we’re doing right now just based off of the tax base of Del Norte County.”

Crescent City Councilmember Candace Tinkler, in the midst of a plea for the continued expansion of funding for public schools, said, “I’m having a really hard time understanding how California can be the fifth largest economy in the world and we still can’t get paint to paint our school building here…” Tinkler went on to suggest that with the advent of offshore wind, perhaps maritime education — like that already offered by CSU in Vallejo — could come to Del Norte. “I’m just pleading for some of that fifth largest economy to go to our kids.” 

McGuire answered, “I couldn’t agree more. I think we’re going to lose that 400 million that was secured for Humboldt [offshore wind], I think that’s going away, the federal government is going to claw that back. Just being honest about it. We need to have that stay because that is our future. I’d love to hear more about the paint…I’d love to follow up with you, if that’s OK.”

Next to the dais was Mike Lane, CEO of Sutter Coast Hospital, who brought a cadre of department heads to highlight the hospital’s community work as well as the current and expanded programs that have been instituted. 

Every year, doctors and healthcare professionals at Sutter Coast perform 1,100 surgeries, 6,000 infusion treatments, see 2,200 inpatient visits, 30,000 ER visits, and deliver 200-250 babies. 

“It’s a community hospital,” Lane said. “We’re here to take care of you.”

Sutter Coast also casts a long economic shadow in the community, contributing $8 million to its Community Benefit Fund, making capital investments to its own organization and its 436 current employees. All told, this equates to a $70 million economic impact on the community, according to Lane.

One key challenge Sutter faces is recruiting healthcare professionals. The cost of housing is a key factor that makes recruiting difficult, Lane said. Subsequently, “we’re going to get into building some houses, building some condos really soon…” Though he offered no further details. 

Before handing the presentation over to his staff to share about the now local dialysis capabilities and the coming EMPATH mental health unit — a 3,000 square foot facility Sutter plans to build in Del Norte — Lane felt the need to address some of Senator McGuire’s comments.

“I do want to make a comment about the Senator’s comment about the impact of cutting Medicaid/Medicare,” Lane said. “Our hospital’s not going anywhere. We’re not closing. This hospital’s not going to close. Will it have an impact? Yes, it will. But we are dedicated and we will make sure we weather this storm…We will make this work. We are a strong community. We’re gonna make this work. Our hospital’s not going anywhere, we’re going to continue caring for you and your family.” 

Cassandra Hesseltine of the Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commission took to the dais next and outlined the many ways hosting a film production can boost local tourism. She began with an image familiar to everyone present: the forks of the Smith River as seen from Highway 199. 

“First of all, fun fact, that picture of the Smith River,” Hesseltine began. “I got a call from a location manager I worked with on a Will Smith movie, and he said ‘hey, don’t you have some really pristine amazing rivers up there? Don’t you have one with a fork in it?’ Do I have one with a..? I sent this one photo and a phone call and they were like, ‘we’ll be there in a week!’ And that’s how we got Bird Box. It was amazing.”

According to Hesseltine, the Bird Box production spent $900,000 in January, the nadir of the tourist season. Each of those dollars rippled through the local economy, widening the impact, so that a single dollar spent resulted in two more dollars of economic activity. 

“Currently, what is the climate?” Hesseltine asked rhetorically. “It’s not good, unfortunately. One of the problems we are having in the state of California is that we are bleeding out when it comes to productions.” The state’s tax incentive package is not competitive compared with the 120 other programs around the world, Hesseltine said. She would like to see the tax incentive program expanded. This would be a direct boon for the region. “Every film that’s ever applied to film up here has been accepted to the program.” 

Hesseltine would also like to build a soundstage. “If we want to have a show really stay here, that’s when you’re going to get the tourism, the economic boost because they’re going to be here for a long time, you have to have a soundstage,” she explained. “I’ve been trying to get a soundstage for 15 years. And I’m excited to say that right now I’m in talks with CalPoly Humboldt and they’ve said ‘yes, we want to, let’s see if we can make this happen.’” CalPoly Humboldt and the Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commission are currently discussing a program in which student interns would work with production units. They are looking for a location for the soundstage.

But that’s concerning film and TV productions. On the other hand, fan tourism is riding high. Hesseltine outlined the four tools the film commission utilizes to fan the flames of fan tourism: an app, a museum in Eureka, the Map of the Movies that lists various film locations across the two counties, and the Forest Moon Festival.

Hesseltine pointed to Forest Moon Festival, equating it to the Twilight Festival that transformed the community of Forks, Washington. ”It could be worse, we could be doing that, guys!” Hesseltine laughed. “At least it’s Return of the Jedi!” 

After the film commission, the Del Norte Tourism Bureau’s Cindy Vosburg and Lulish Marketing’s founder Lynnette Braillard presented on the work of the bureau and its partnership with the state’s official tourism initiative Visit California. 

Vosburg shared that Visit California had ranked the top thirty events in the North Coast Region and Del Norte had secured the first, second and fourth-ranked events. The first was the annual Deck Party, followed by the Fireworks display and the 4th of July Parade. 

Braillard described the close marketing synergy between the bureau and Visit California, and showed several TV ads illustrating that working relationship.

After a break for lunch, the summit resumed with a panel discussion featuring the voices and perspectives of a dozen high school students who dutifully filed onto the stage and took seats. The high school panel discussion was introduced at last year’s summit and proved very popular.

Emcee Blake Inscore posed questions to the panel, the first being what businesses do we need in Del Norte? Ross. TJ Maxx. A family fun center. 

One youth said she felt we needed music stores. “Full disclosure,” she said. “I’m a band kid. And I’m on the PPA (Partnership for the Performing Arts) board, and we need a performing arts center!”

The next question for the panel was what sort of job or career ideas do you have or hear from your peers? Healthcare. Small business. Law and law enforcement.

The Band Kid answered, “Again, I have a bias…but I’d like to point out that one tenth of students at Del Norte High School is in a music class, so music is a thing in this town…performing arts center!”

When asked about AI and how they thought the technology would influence their collective futures, the panel’s responses were surprisingly anti-artificial intelligence. 

One student responded, “Even the AI detection…I can tell you myself, they don’t always work.” This got a round of laughter from the rest of the panel. She continued, “AI is replacing many things, and I honestly think as employers, you should try and keep that conscious in your mind when you’re choosing to use AI because you’re replacing somebody’s life, their job, when you take that over a person.” 

Another — not the Band Kid — said, “I also think there are certain things AI will never do as well as humans, like music and performing arts, because there’s no emotion into it…we are better at somethings than AI, even though people forget that sometimes.”

Many of the panelists expressed concern over the environmental costs associated with AI. “It takes a lot of resources to power Chat GPT,” a panelist said. “If you type one phrase or just a typical request into Chat GPT, it’s the equivalent to dumping out a bottle of water.”  

Another said she was concerned about the white male bias many see in AI. 

Inscore was impressed by the thoughtful and informed responses. “How many of you in the room feel like you just learned something?” he asked.

When asked what they enjoyed about living in Del Norte, the panelists’ responses were varied. Nature. Going to the river with friends. 

“I like being a small community,” one panelist offered, “but I also think we’re really big because we are so connected because of how small we are. Like, my mom knows way too many people so I can’t get away with anything.”  

Band Kid used the question to again push the idea of a performing arts center. “Was anybody at the all-county concert last night?” she asked and was answered with a show of hands. “It was crazy! We were basically breaking fire codes to be in there last night…performing arts center, I’m just saying, guys…”

While many on the panel decried the lack of things for young people to do in Del Norte, for one panelist it’s also about a lack of opportunities. “Especially when you’re young and you want to grow and explore and do things. There’s talent and potential here, but not always the resources or support to match it.”

Inscore wrapped up the panel discussion by asking the students what the community could do or provide for them to be successful. Many answers centered around jobs — more job opportunities, more medical pathway classes, an expanded E3 program with more businesses taking part in it. And for one panelist, of course, the answer was a performing arts center. 

After the panelists, Del Norte High School teacher Lisa Howard presented on the role of a “community school,” where “we re-imagine what school could be to include services where children are.” 

Community schools offer cradle-to-career support to kids and youth, making sure they are healthy, have enough to eat, and can access supportive environments for learning. 

“We’re thinking inclusively,” Howard said. “We’re thinking comprehensive, across the board, every student in Del Norte. you’re looking at a little over 4,000 students and families that support them. We know we have to get coordinated together. We have to find a way to bring the resources that we have in a meaningful way to affect the lives of our future generation. We have to have basically a plan for how we’re going to reach that aim. And lastly, this is long haul. This isn’t done in a year or two. This is done over a generation, so the long term commitment is where we win.”

The “community school” is made possible, according to Howard, by community partnerships. She outlined some of those partnerships and the programs they’ve served, local businesses and individuals who have contributed to scholarship funds, donated coats and shoes, even eyeglasses, to Del Norte Students. 

These sorts of partnerships and the resulting community schools are needed in Del Norte, Howard said, where two-thirds of students are classified as disadvantaged.

Crista Stewart, from the Elk Valley Rancheria was next, describing the Trail at Elk Valley, a two-mile loop system of trails over, across and through the meadow and forest adjacent to the Elk Valley Casino. The trail will include elk viewing platforms and interpretative signage. Construction will begin in the “next month or so.” 

“The trails and platforms will provide local residents and visitors alike a safe place to stop for elk viewing, walking and hiking.” 

As examples of how this attraction could benefit the local economy, Stewart offered Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area in Oregon. Their elk viewing brought in $6.5 million. Dean Creek, BLM’s MOST visited site in the country, brings in a half-million guests annually. 

The grand opening of the Trails at Elk Valley should happen by the end of the summer.

Next up was Harbormaster Mike Rademaker, who described the sweeping plans to redevelop the harbor and create an inviting destination for locals and tourists. 

“I’m so optimistic about the harbor right now,” Rademaker joked. “I’m so excited for its future that I’ve actually been thinking about quitting my job. So, what’s the connection there? When I’m working for the harbor and I’m working on deals and working on contracts, I get so excited that I start to feel like maybe I’m sitting on the wrong side of the negotiating table. I want to switch sides. I want to take advantage of the economic opportunities staring me in the face right here in our harbor.” 

Rademaker pointed out that the ice plant was reopening, thanks to the investment of Ocean Gold Seafoods. This should bring more crabbers and shrimpers to the port. A new law enforcement presence at Whaler Island is a good thing, he said, and was brought about through a partnership with Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott. And coming in June, there will be a free outdoor concert at the “natural amphitheater of Whaler Island.”

“So, Band Girl, if you’re out there still, we want to have music, we want to have energy,” Rademaker said. “We’re planning more activities and more events and more reasons for visitors and locals to experience this harbor in a whole new way.”  

Next, Mike Bahr, CEO of Community System Solutions, ran down the ongoing grants and infrastructure work happening at the harbor. “There’s a tremendous amount of infrastructure work needed and money needed for it,” he said. “We’ve been able to secure $18 million in the past two years.” 

It hasn’t been easy. Bahr described the budgetary shuffle needed after the state changed the seismic parameters as applied to a proposed rebuilding of Citizen’s Dock. Funding had been secured to withstand earthquakes of 5.6 on the Richter scale, which reflected the strength of earthquakes in Del Norte. After a recent earthquake in Humboldt that measured 7.2, those seismic regulations were updated to this higher parameter. And just like that, the harbor found itself having to find a couple more million dollars. 

Bahr asked the audience to call or write their legislators to help lossen the regulatory noose. 

“We’re really trying to put the ‘citizens’ back in Citizen’s Dock,” Bahr said. “Back in the 1950s, faced with replacing a deteriorating dock, this community got up and built one with their own hands. All we’re asking is phone calls and emails…a little easier this time.”

Then came Chris Williams, Director of Planning for TCA Architects, who showed several colorful maps of the harbor, each illustrating different aspects of the plan his firm is championing. 

In the first phase of this redevelopment plan, the RV resort on the south side of the harbor would be repositioned and consolidated, helping the general flow. Phase two would see a “village concept” take shape around Port O’ Pints, including a festival lawn and perhaps bungalows to rent to visitors. The third phase would be the creation of an “anchor point” at the north end of the harbor, perhaps a luxury hotel. The fourth phase would see the creation of a second anchor point — retail, or maybe a visitor’s center — on the south side of the harbor. The fifth and last phase would be to landscape it all.

Then, after nearly seven hours, Crescent City Manager Eric Wier took the stage, introduced by Inscore as “Mr. Excitement, himself!”

“There’s a lot to be excited about,” Wier conceded.

Wier began with a slide depicting Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a psychological theory that proposes humans are motivated by a series of needs organized into a hierarchical structure. This structure, often depicted as a pyramid, posits the basic needs of life at the bottom and the higher psychological states and desires at the top. It’s a rubric that has been applied to civic planning, too. Just as Maslow’s classic hierarchy is based on more basic necessities – those of physiology and safety – the civic planning version of Maslow’s pyramid is based on the bare necessities of urban environments. “That’s police, that’s fire, that’s streets, that’s housing,” Wier explained, pointing his laser pointer at the base of the pyramid. “That’s where we need to make sure that we’re focused in on, and once we do that, then we can not only grow as a city and as an organization, but our community can grow. That’s how you get to this upper level and that’s how we start to see true success.”

Though the pyramid he displayed didn’t have Measure S at its base, Eric was clear about just how important the little extra bit of sales tax is to the city. “It doesn’t happen for us without Measure S. You’ve heard it before and you’re going to hear it again. This is a game changer for us.” 

Wier then showed a map that laid out which of the worst potholed streets would be addressed next. It’s work that will last into next year, and was made possible by $2.7 million in Measure S funds. 

Another key necessity for modern civic life is housing. According to Wier, there’s positive movement on that front, as well. “By 2030, the city needs to have 189 new units,” Wier said, referencing a recent analysis of the city’s housing needs. “Currently, we have 211 units that were permitted to build just in 2024. We’re starting to meet our housing needs, and it’s really exciting because that’s key to economic development.”

As Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ issued from the speakers, Wier next led the room in a game of Name That Tune, inviting the assembled to shout out the song title, artist and city project the song pertained to. The answer was Pebble Beach. Wier then segued into an update on the conclusion of repairs to the landslide and roadway and foreshadowed the ribbon cutting scheduled for a couple of days hence. 

While recounting the budgeting underlying the Pebble Beach repairs, Wier singled out City Grants and Economic Development Coordinator Bridget Lacey, saying Lacey and her office have helped secure 96 grants over the last five years amounting to over $46 million. 

After a slideshow presentation on Beachfront Park, Front Street and proposed changes to the Cultural Center — and announcing the Tolowa Interpretive Trail should be completed by the end of this summer — Wier led the room in sing-along of Petula Clark’s Downtown, which served as the transition to the next speaker, Don Arambula, whose consulting firm is working on the Downtown Revitalization Plan. 

According to Arambula, visitors are “expecting a unique experience they don’t get in Atlanta. Authenticity is very very important as part of your downtown, because you could be the base camp for a seven national park day trip.” 

Arambula and his firm envision Crescent City’s downtown as a “the next national park gateway downtown” centered around what he called a “5×5 approach,” meaning the key elements should be within either a five minute walk or a five minute bike ride from each other. 

Work on the downtown plan is just beginning, Arambula said. His firm is planning town halls and workshops to garner support and input. “We’re thinking about implementation from day one.” The goal is to start seeing changes after one year, and a whole new downtown in five.  

The last presentation of the day was from Don Rice of Synergy Community Development Corporation, the company behind the Battery Point Apartments. The apartment complex, being built next to Joe Hamilton School, will add 163 units to the local housing market. 

Rice described the process that’s gone into creating the Battery Point Apartments. “We went and knocked on doors,” Rice said, “held community meetings, we went and talked to the kids at the pizza places. You start to talk to folks and realize, the kids want to stay here, but how can they develop roots?”

Buying a house is difficult, Rice said. What’s needed is a place where Del Norters can live affordably and comfortably while they save. To that end, Synergy geared about a third of the units to “extremely low income seniors,” which enabled the firm to secure tax credits from the state. These tax savings offset some of the costs, and that savings will be passed on to tenants. 

“Our goal is community between the family and the senior units,” Rice said.

Another thing his firm learned about Del Norte was that access to dental care was a big concern. Along with the community spaces and gardens, tenants will have access to twice-yearly dental visits with a mobile dental clinic Synergy has lined up to visit the complex. 

Construction began on the Battery Point Apartments in September of last year. As the units become available — and as the other developments outlined throughout the economic summit come to fruition — Rice sees a future in which youth stay in the community and families thrive. And, like nearly all of the presenters have throughout the economic summit, he brought it all back around to the day’s theme: Tourism. 

“We’re amazed that it’s 1.5 million people who travel through Del Norte,” Rice said. “For 28,000 people. That means your ratio is one person here for every 55 people who come through town. That’s a lot of people coming through your area. You just need to grab them. To give you an example, Miami is 19-to-one. We think you’re in a great position, and we want to see more housing here.”

After a few closing remarks and thank-yous, the 2025 Economic Summit came to a close. 

Christy Hernandez, who tabled at the back of the room for the SMART Workforce Center, thought the summit had been a success. “I think it’s great,” she said. “I love coming to these economic summits every year.  The student panel is my favorite. Just hearing from the youth, their wants and their wishes, what their future is going to be like, what they want from us in the community…it’s wonderful.”

Eric Wier agreed. “It’s good for everybody to get together and network and collaborate,” said Mr. Excitement, himself.