OLYMPIA – At its April 25 meeting, the Commission awarded Bucoda, Rainier, Tenino, and Yelm $10,000 each, for community and economic development investments, as part of the Port’s Small Cities Program.
Launched in 2010, the Small Cities Program provides gap funding for community and economic development initiatives in incorporated Thurston County cities with fewer than 15,000 residents. The four cities will use the funding to help implement the following projects:
- Bucoda will purchase event equipment to support and expand both the popular Annual Haunted House and vendor fair.
- Rainier will develop a community and little league use baseball field at Wilkowski Park.
- Tenino will use the funding to offer storefront improvement grants to Tenino businesses.
- Yelm will create a sidewalk connection to their Community Garden and the adjacent parking lot, allowing direct access for pedestrians of all abilities to utilize the garden.
This is the tenth year the Port has awarded funding through the Small Cities Program in an effort to build economic opportunity countywide. Eligible cities are required to submit applications detailing proposed projects, which are presented to the Commission for review and approval.
Past Port investments have helped with development of a community center and emergency notification message boards in Yelm, and installation of a shaded pavilion dedicated to the needs of bicyclists in Tenino. In Rainier, investments have included enhanced main street sidewalks and preservation of the historic Rainier School and Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church. Bucoda has received funding for the renovation of the Oddfellows Building and support of the Annual Boo-Coda event.
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