MENDOCINO CO., 7/11/26 — The Mendocino County Resource Conservation District posted a request for proposals Friday for a $50,000 study of workforce needs across three of the county’s tribes — and anyone who wants the contract has two weeks to say so.
The winning consultant will build what the district calls a “tribally grounded” workforce development strategy for the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians, Guidiville Rancheria and the Potter Valley Tribe.
The study will look at where the jobs are now and where they’re headed, what skills tribal members already have, and what stands between them and steady work. The RFP names transportation, childcare and training access as existing challenges. The respondent will create a roadmap for closing the gaps. Proposals are due by 3 p.m. Friday, July 24.
Tribal members who want a say in what “tribally grounded” ends up meaning have the same two weeks as everyone else.
All three tribes are small. The RFP lists the Potter Valley Tribe at 49 members, Guidiville Rancheria at 63 and the Hopland Band at 124 — numbers it calls preliminary, to be confirmed with each tribe once work begins.
Their existing staff cover different ground: Hopland runs tribal government, a tribal EPA and reservation police; Guidiville handles health, wellness and social services; Potter Valley does forestry, biochar and environmental education, plus food service at Gram’s Coffee House.
Mendocino County Resource Conservation District, a Ukiah-based conservation district, is running the tribal watershed project on a roughly $2.5 million state grant awarded in December 2023.
The workforce study is the latest contract the district has put out under that grant in the past year, following RFPs for biochar workshops and a solar-and-battery design for the Potter Valley Tribe’s community center. Biochar is charcoal made from plant or organic waste that’s added to soil to improve it and store carbon.
The district expects to name a winner by July 31 — seven days after bids close — with work starting Aug. 3 and the finished strategy due Oct. 15.
Whoever wins will owe six deliverables, from engagement summaries through the final implementation roadmap, and will answer to a Tribal Technical Advisory Board along the way. The RFP tells bidders to plan on separate coordination with each tribe, culturally appropriate engagement and final products built only on “Tribe-approved information.”