Key to prosperity for Eastern Sierra ‘island’ communities is coordination, UCCE advisor says

Wilcher to leverage economic development resources, foster connections in Inyo and Mono counties

Tawni Thomson has a big job – literally. She is responsible for attracting visitors and activating business activity in Bishop, arguably California's most isolated city and the heart of vast Inyo County, the state's second-largest county by area.

“I know everybody says their place is unique, but we're almost an island,” said Thomson, who has served as executive director of the Bishop Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau for the past 17 years. “We're a four-hour drive to the ‘mainland' in any direction – it's four hours to Reno, four hours to L.A., four hours to Las Vegas. And instead of water we have open landscape.”

While those majestic Sierra Nevada views across the Owens Valley make the region appealing to outdoors enthusiasts, diversifying the economy and supporting tourism during the offseason (generally November to May) remain formidable challenges. Thomson said devoting focused attention and resources to economic development is difficult, with only 3,700 people within Bishop's city limits and 18,000 in all of Inyo County.

“We're a very small community and we have very few people working on economic prosperity; we're spread really thin,” she said. “So if there's a way we can create some efficiencies or even get some outside help – that would be really welcome.”

In October 2023, some help arrived in the form of Aaron Wilcher, University of California Cooperative Extension community and economic development advisor for Inyo, Mono and eastern Kern counties (subscribe to his blog and e-newsletter; he will also provide updates on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn).

New Cooperative Extension advisor brings open ears, open mind

A self-described “city slicker,” Wilcher grew up in San Jose and has spent much of his career as a program manager and technical assistance provider in the higher education space. Most recently, he was consulting in the northern San Joaquin Valley on the California Jobs First initiative, aimed at creating jobs and accelerating economic projects across the state.

And although Wilcher certainly will bring his experience on the workforce development front, he soon discovered he will be called upon to do much more in this region.

“There's so much to learn; one of the surprising things I've learned coming here is that the complexity of my work is almost greater because you're able to be engaged in so many more things,” he said. “Because we have so few resources, you really have to pay attention to all the ones you do have. So that means you better make friends with everybody – because everybody is important.”

Wilcher is part of an emerging Community and Economic Development team of more than 20 UCCE advisors and specialists supported by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. Like his counterparts embedded in communities across California, Wilcher first sought to get a better understanding of the most pressing issues facing the region he serves. He spent the first few months on the job talking with elected officials and a host of community managers, planners, directors and leaders.

“I really appreciate Aaron's approach in that he's come into our community and already made a significant effort to understand the different sectors in our economy and meet with people one-on-one,” Thomson said. “He's just been listening – and asking a lot of questions.”

Wrapping up his needs assessment late last year, Wilcher said he heard many priorities that are shared by communities across the state – such as devising regional economic strategy and creating entrepreneurial support systems – and a few concerns that are truly unique to this particular “frontier economy.”

For example, more than 98% of the land in Inyo County is public land, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and, predominantly, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power – a legacy of the Los Angeles Aqueduct project dating to the early 20th century.

“Less than 2% of the total land mass in the region is private property,” Wilcher said. “So how do you do economic development where there is no private property? For this area, it will be more about improving job quality, helping local business grow and start new operations and recruit local talent, and improving quality of life – rather than attracting large companies for relocation.”

Building partnerships, coordinating efforts can benefit all

Short of untangling that long-standing issue of land tenure, Wilcher also can tangibly serve the region in another crucial way – bringing the expertise and skill set that he's honed during a career of fostering cross-sector partnerships.

In Inyo County, Thomson said, there remains a disconnect between the agricultural interests that have been the historical lifeblood of the region and the tourism and hospitality industry that is now its primary economic engine. She noted that Wilcher has already made progress in building bridges and opening conversations.

“What I'm hoping for is that the tourism folks will have a better appreciation for the ag folks, and the ag folks will have a better appreciation for the tourism side of things – and realize that we can all work together and we really do all want the same thing: a healthy, vibrant economy,” Thomson said.

And while the region's diverse sectors and myriad organizations are working independently on economic and workforce development, Wilcher said better coordination among the entities through an overarching convening agency would be a boon for all.

“You have a lot of small organizations that are effective and interesting in what they do and they have great people,” Wilcher explained, “but they need a lot more attention and resources to be able to: one, boost their own capacity and two, get together to force multiply their impact.”

Whether through the regional joint powers authority (Eastern Sierra Council of Governments) or some yet-to-be-defined new organization, Wilcher stressed that the best approach for better governance of economic activity comes from the community itself. The only way such an endeavor will be successful is if there is local grassroots buy-in, from the start and at every step.

“Ultimately it will be up to the community and empowering the community to support such an effort,” he said. “It will probably look like an entity – or set of entities – that will be the go-to place where people share ideas, develop projects and track progress.”

UCCE to offer trainings, connections to resources

Given the importance of “mom and pop” shops and eateries in the local economy, Wilcher – with the support of UCCE Inyo-Mono Director Dustin Blakey – is planning to provide training opportunities in the coming months for existing and emerging leaders across sectors to understand the local economy and empower them to drive and support new programs. Wilcher and Blakey have proposed a “community economic development academy” to offer curriculum in strategic planning, local economic data and program management.

The Eastern Sierra has made strides in recent years to lay the groundwork for development activities, Wilcher noted. Regional stakeholders led by the Eastern Sierra Council of Governments created a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy that outlines opportunities and goals for the region. These stakeholders have also been actively engaged in the Sierra Jobs First initiative, which devised a strategic plan for community and economic development investments. Wilcher also praised the work of the Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce and other chambers.

The Bishop Chamber of Commerce and the recently opened Eastern Sierra Business Resource Center – a partnership with the Sierra Business Council – provide some essential learning resources, but Thomson acknowledged her community would greatly benefit from additional offerings.

“It's great having more people make more educational opportunities available,” she said. “And it can be incremental – we're so small that even if we can help five people, that's a huge impact.”

Wilcher said he also seeks to bring to the region subject-matter experts like Keith Taylor, associate professor of Cooperative Extension and community economic development at UC Davis, and Anne Visser, professor of community and regional development in the UC Davis Department of Human Ecology.

Taylor has been helping to organize UC ANR's team of Community and Economic Development advisors. Across the state, Taylor said he aims to create greater awareness of underused resources from invaluable networks such as the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) and the regional rural development centers under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

“We're looking at how we can leverage existing assets in what I call the ‘hidden economy' – things like the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), major associations that provide immediate capacity for counties that often go underutilized,” he said. “The hidden economy refers to legal entities and business practices that enable local communities to capture more economic activity, making them less beholden to external forces and shocks.”

Like Taylor, Wilcher seeks to expand the toolbox for economic development in the Eastern Sierra region and thus empower people to drive their own sustainable growth and prosperity. He will share resources and insights on a newly launched blog; he urges interested community members to subscribe to the blog and sign up for his e-newsletter.

“I'm passionate about this; I'm excited to be here,” Wilcher said. “I love being at this intersection between technical aspects – like policies and data and all the things we do at the university – and working with the community and hearing what people are interested in, what they're working on and what they need.”


By Michael Hsu
Author - Senior Public Information Representative