Tuesday, July 21, 2015 • Supervisors donate money to Chamber for national contest

Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, July 21, 2015, edition of the Lassen County Times.

The Lassen County Board of Supervisors approved contributing $4,000 to the Lassen County Chamber of Commerce to further its efforts in the America’s Best Communities contest.

The Chamber initially asked for a $6,000 donation, but lowered its request to $5,000, according to County Administrative Officer Richard Egan.

During a Tuesday, July 14, meeting of the Lassen County Board of Supervisors, Egan said he received an email from Chamber Executive Director Patti Hagata several weeks ago further reducing the request to $4,000 due to such a good response from the community, service organizations, the city of Susanville and others.

“I think that’s a pretty good testament to their program that they’ve had such a good response and have reduced their request twice,” Egan said.

The Lassen County Chamber of Commerce led an application team for the America’s Best Communities competition sponsored by Frontier Communications, DISH Network, CoBank and The Weather Channel.

Susanville is the only quarter finalist from the state of California in the America’s Best Communities contest, which strives to stimulate economic revitalization in small communities and towns across the United States.

As a quarter finalist, chamber staff has been seeking donations to reach a $15,000 match, a sign communities are serious about revitalizing the area.

Funds raised in this section of the competition must be put toward the economic revitalization plan.

According to deputy county administrative officer Tony Shaw, the competition is open to private commerce to develop an application for the grant program so public agencies such as the city and the county were not able to participate.

When the initial application was developed, Shaw said it was based on the county’s economic development strategy approved by the supervisors in 2013.

The role of the county, according to Shaw, is to provide resources, but what the chamber wants to do for economic revitalization is up to the chamber.

Eighteen finalists will be selected to advance to the semi-finals.

Shaw said an application will have to be resubmitted for the $100,000, which will be used to develop a final application for a $3 million prize.

In addition, the community was given a GoPro, and since they have been trying to document the various events that make the area great.

America’s Best Communities is a multi-stage, three-year competition. The top three communities — those with the most innovative proposals being effectively implemented — will share a total of $6 million in prize money. The winning community will be awarded $3 million, with $2 million for second place and $1 million for third.

The supervisors approved donating the money, which will come out of the general fund, non-departmental budget, approved in a 3-to-1 vote.

Supervisors Jeff Hemphill, Tom Hammond and board chair Bob Pyle voted yes. Supervisor Aaron Albaugh voted no.

Supervisor Jim Chapman removed himself from the conversation as he said the chamber is one of his customers.