North Valley THRIVE Catalyst Fund Awards

North Valley THRIVE is proud to announce our Catalyst Fund awardees, a one-time cohort of local organizations, businesses and institutions working to power economic opportunity and shared prosperity across the North San Joaquin Valley.

The Catalyst Fund is a competitive grant program designed to support pre-development projects that align with the North Valley THRIVE Strategic Plan. With $9 million in total funding awarded, these projects represent bold, community-driven solutions to some of our region’s biggest challenges from job creation and clean energy to childcare, workforce training and regional infrastructure.

About the Catalyst Fund

The Catalyst Fund is part of California Jobs First, which aims to grow regional economies through targeted, community-informed investment.

The Catalyst Fund was created to support innovative projects in the early stages of development. It reflects North Valley THRIVE’s commitment to strengthening the economic foundation of Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties through investments in THRIVE’s following priority sectors and cross cutting enabling strategies:

• Advanced manufacturing

• Clean energy

• Circular bioeconomy

• Regional Innovation Ecosystem

• Small Business/Entrepreneurship

• Catalytic Skills/Talent Development

• Climate-Smart Infrastructure

• Placemaking and Amenities

• Generational Well-being

• Regional Coordination and Alignment

Catalyst Fund Recipients

• 21 Catalyst Fund grant recipients across three funding tracks: idea, development and investment

• Projects selected from a pool of 72 proposals totaling over $37 million in requests

• Funding awards range from $35,000 to nearly $2 million

• All three counties represented in alignment with regional population and industry strengths

Organization	Project Name	Award Amount	Funding Stage	County
BEAM Circular	Bioeconomy Innovation Campus	$1,800,000	Investment	Stanislaus
Brisco Enterprises	Deepwell Compost	$450,000	Development	All
CBPR at University of the Pacific	NSJV Data Compass	$48,000	Idea	San Joaquin
Community Technology Initiative	Green Economy Lab	$415,000	Development	San Joaquin
Family Resource & Referral Center	Early Learning & Care Workforce Development	$48,000	Idea	San Joaquin
LeadershipHub Training Institute	Unlocking Leadership Potential	$35,000	Idea	San Joaquin
Merced College	Merced College Semiconductor Project	$48,000	Idea	Merced
Merced College	Ag Robotics Center & Smart Farm	$1,493,000	Investment	Merced
Merced County Office of Education	Bright Beginnings	$450,000	Development	Merced
Modesto Chamber of Commerce	Small Business Connection Marketplace	$450,000	Development	Stanislaus
Modesto Junior College	Building a Strategic Framework for Industry-Aligned Training	$48,000	Idea	Stanislaus
Nurture	Child Care Entrepreneurship & Expansion Initiative	$450,000	Development	Merced/San Joaquin
Open Innovation Centers	FuturePlay Academy	$450,000	Development	San Joaquin
Opportunity Stanislaus	VOLT on the Go	$450,000	Development	Stanislaus
Restore the Delta	Mormon Slough Restoration	$1,274,000	Investment	San Joaquin
San Joaquin A+	Growing Futures Program	$450,000	Development	San Joaquin
STEP	Micro Home Manufacturing Facility and Construction Training Program	$48,000	Idea	Stanislaus
UC Merced	SkillRISE	$450,000	Development	Merced
University of the Pacific	Bringing Solar Light to NSJV	$48,000	Idea	San Joaquin
University of the Pacific	Walnut Shell-Based Particleboard	$47,000	Idea	San Joaquin
University of the Pacific	Pilot Study on Carbon Sequestration	$48,000	Idea	San Joaquin

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates about THRIVE and our Catalyst Fund awardees.