Seven local nonprofits will receive grant funding from Lane County’s Community & Economic Development Program to support programs and projects focused on creating economic growth.
“At Lane County Community and Economic Development, we are focused on building opportunities that increase prosperity and improve lives,” said Samantha Roberts, Lane County’s Community & Economic Development analyst. “These grants support our communities to develop and implement impactful economic development programs and projects throughout Lane County.”
Grant applications were accepted in early October 2025. Cities and 501c3 nonprofits serving Lane County were eligible to apply for funding to attract and expand business investment, assist small businesses, develop Main Streets, support start-ups and emerging entrepreneurs, as well as address workforce training needs. Applicants could request $5,000–$30,000.
This year’s selected projects focused on supporting working families by strengthening the childcare workforce, investing in rural downtown development, enhancing workforce development in critical industry sectors like healthcare, and providing technical business assistance and financial literacy. Services provided by grant awardees extend throughout Lane County.
The seven grant recipients are:
Black Cultural Initiative (BCI)
The Black Cultural Initiative provides financial literacy workshops, workforce and vocational training, Black business incubation, and more. BCI seeks to provide financial literacy training for up to 120 people, workforce readiness and skill development for up to 80 participants, and technical business assistance to more than fifty businesses in 2026 through the grant award.
Catholic Community Services (CCS)
Catholic Community Services of Lane County offers immediate help to anyone in need through food, rent, utility, and housing assistance, emergency shelter, and resettling refugees and immigrants in Lane County. CCS’s Refugee & Immigrant Services Program (RISP) is the largest provider of employment placement services for immigrants in Lane County with the majority of participants of Limited English Proficiency (LEP). The 2026 CED grant award will enable the RISP program to provide business technical assistance to immigrant-owned businesses and provide LEP workforce training and employment placement for healthcare and manufacturing businesses.
City of Creswell
The City of Creswell, home to over 5,600 residents, covers 1.72 square miles and is bifurcated by I-5, Highway 99 and Central Oregon and Pacific Rail. With the 2026 grant award, Creswell will create a façade improvement program within the City’s 12-block Downtown District to assist property and business owners with façade improvements to help develop their storefronts.
Eugene Springfield NAACP
Since 1976, the Eugene/Springfield NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) has served as a source of cohesion for our local communities of color. In Lane County, it implements education programs, public awareness events, community building, and coalition work toward cultural inclusion. With the 2026 grant award, the local NAACP office will enhance its Healthcare Careers Pathways program to train 30 youth to obtain medical certifications and job shadowing and apprenticeship placements.
H.O.N.E.Y., Inc.
H.O.N.E.Y. Inc. (Honoring Our New Ethnic Youth) has served multiracial and ethnically diverse youth from birth through age 24 and families across Lane County since 1983. Afterschool and no-school day enrichment programs operate like essential childcare services, providing a safe, culturally responsive, and enriching environment for youth. The CED Grant award will support 200 working families with free childcare and improve the wages of childcare workers in the industry.
Onward Eugene
Onward Eugene is the economic development arm of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce. Onward Eugene is home to the Lane County Childcare Sector Strategist and is supporting a regional effort called the Lane Early Learning Registered Apprenticeship (LELA), serving Lane County childcare providers. Onward will use the CED Grant award to launch and scale a Lane Early Learning Registered Apprenticeship program to train and support at least 20 childcare apprentices resulting in increased employment, qualifications and wages with a focus on the Florence/Siuslaw region.
Viking Textile Maker Hub
Viking Textile Maker Hub (VTMH) is an industrial sewing makerspace dedicated to building skills, creating opportunities, and strengthening Lane County’s workforce. For two years, its Industrial Sewing Training Program has equipped unhoused and economically vulnerable people with marketable sewing skills, creating a much-needed pipeline of trained workers for local employers. VTMH will use the CED grant funding to train 36 unhoused or economically disadvantaged residents with industrial sewing skills to repair or manufacture more than 570 items and provide a repair and manufacturing resource to the region.
About Lane County Community and Economic Development
Lane County's Community and Economic Development Program partners with local business support organizations, cities, special districts and economic development agencies to facilitate community development and create economic prosperity.
The goal of Community and Economic Development is to support vibrant communities through furthering economic opportunity across Lane County with a specific focus on the rural and unincorporated communities of the county.