Meet the GoHumCo Team

Scott Adair is the Director of Economic Development for the County of Humboldt, California. Scott also presently serves as the Executive Director to Humboldt County Workforce Development Board. Additionally, Scott sits on the Board of Directors for both the California Association for Local Economic Developers and the California Workforce Association. Scott is a former Planning Commissioner, Trainer, Business Owner, and Commercial Real Estate Agent. He also remains an active community volunteer.

Scott possesses over eighteen (18) years of experience in real estate asset management and public/private economic development. Scott completed his basic economic development certification through BEDC (in partnership with Colorado State University) and he recently graduated from Oklahoma University's prestigious EDI (Economic Development Institute) program.

Scott and his spouse live with their two dogs in a home overlooking the Eel River Valley. They enjoy spending their weekends tending to their orchard and tinkering in their workshop.

Peggy Murphy is an Economic Development Coordinator for the County of Humboldt's Economic Development Team. In her role she provides oversight and management for the programs of the Humboldt County Workforce Development Board and Project Trellis. 

Prior to working with the County, Peggy spent over 3 years as the manager of the North Coast Small Business Development Center where she helped all kinds of businesses pursue their goals. Peggy's primary focus was on art businesses and Ecommerce businesses. In addition to supporting businesses, Peggy was tasked with making sure office functions ran smoothly from both a financial and an operational perspective. Peggy’s work history also includes Google Maps, The University of Washington and MediCann. Additionally, she owned the Hat Rac Fine Art Gallery in Oakland, CA. Peggy brings to the Economic Development Department lessons learned from both the public and private sectors.

In her free time, Peggy is a silversmith, a gardener, and is an active supporter of her husband’s art career. She also loves to spend time with her family, dogs, chickens and bees.

As the Economic Development Coordinator, I'm the Executive Director for the Headwaters Fund, assist the County with business attraction, retention, expansion, and support for entrepreneurship. In addition, I'm the lead on Project SOAR, a partner in the CalForestWRX initiative, & staff and vice-chair of Prosperity!

As staff to the Headwaters Fund, we manage, attract & leverage additional capital and grants in the local economy to keep the funds working in the community in perpetuity. We use the values, principles, and strategies of the County's Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), currently known as Prosperity! We manage the funds by tracking and publicizing economic, social, and environmental gains. Our objective is to maximize the amount of money working within the community providing desired benefits while preserving the Headwaters Fund principal.

Project SOAR (Sourcing Opportunities for new Airport Revenues) to enhance and improve economic autonomy and sustainability for the California Redwood Coast - Humboldt County Airport (ACV) and other county-operated airports. We know that travel in and out of the County is an integral part of economic Prosperity for residents, companies, and tourism organizations. Therefore, my role is to support the Humboldt County Department of Aviation by providing internal marketing, branding, promotional support, and commercial leasing.

Through CalForestWRX, my role is to work with partners to increase and diversify value-added forest products manufacturing in our communities, cultivate investment in emerging high-growth forest product markets utilizing biomass & small-diameter wood. In addition, this project will allow the California forest wildland restoration for social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Our partnership includes Six Rivers National Forest.

The Prosperity Network is the County's comprehensive economic development strategy partners. Prosperity acts as a venue for collaboration with regional economic development practitioners. Our purpose is to foster community and economic development to improve the quality of life for Humboldt County and is designed to create networking and education opportunities.

Prior to my new role, I worked in economic development as the Executive Director at the Fortuna Business Improvement District for twelve years. My role was to oversee and support the cities three merchants associations through; area promotion, community events, business support, citywide business recruitment, retention, business expansion, marketing, & tourism.

Ryan is a graduate from Humboldt State University with a degree in Business Administration and currently serves the County's Economic Development Department as an Economic Development Specialist. Ryan works on a number of special projects ranging from administering grant programs to supporting the Headwaters Fund. 

Tanner interned with the Economic Development Division as a Cal Poly Humboldt student and helped with the assessment of the Samoa Peninsula Enhanced Infrastructure District. After graduating with a bachelor's in economics and a minor in geospatial analysis, Tanner was hired full time to continue his work on the proposed EIFD, as well as support the Headwaters Fund, Project SOAR, Cal Forest WRX, and CEDS programs. Tanner is also in charge of web and software development, supports Business Retention and Expansion, and helps with a variety of other Economic Development projects and initiatives. Tanner has been working for the County's Economic Development Division since 2021 and is currently the Lead Specialist. 

Logan (They/Them) is an Economic Development Specialist for the County of Humboldt with training from Cal Poly Humboldt and Southern Utah University. Logan's goal is to further equitable economic development initiatives with the intention of supporting underserved populations within Humboldt. They have been with the County for two years and have support Project Trellis, the Headwaters Fund, Workforce Development and improved the division's fiscal processes as well as leading employee-driven diversity, equity, & inclusion initiatives such as chairing the organization's queer affinity group and DEI committee. 

Shannon Gibson is an Economic Development Specialist for the County of Humboldt's Economic Development Division. She is a lifelong resident of Humboldt County, a graduate of College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State University (now CalPoly Humboldt). She has a bachelor's degree in Economics with a minor in Natural Resources Planning. Her background includes years of experience in land-use planning and compliance. Shannon works on Project SOAR, a partnership between Humboldt County's Aviation Department, amongst other projects housed within the Economic Development Division and related to offshore wind, community engagement, travel tourism, etc.

In her spare time, you can find Shannon walking in the vast network of Humboldt County’s trails and beaches, enjoying a yoga class and going to local music and sporting events. Go Crabs Go!

I'm new to the team and prior to entering my career into Economic Development I worked for the court systems for a few years where I had experience assisting the public and handling civil suits of all kinds from general civil matters, restraining order cases, unlawful detainer, confidential matters and was privileged to have access to CLETS a law enforcement database to enter protective orders. I have been assigned to working on Economic Development, Headwaters Fund and Project SOAR along with other projects and duties that may arise.

Elaine is an Administrative Analyst for the County of Humboldt's Economic Development Division. With a degree in Conservation Biology from Colorado State University, she has a background working for non-profits in conservation, and government work with the local California Conservation Corps. She has done several years of work in the field building trails, removing invasive plant species, and helping homeowners understand their water usage, as well as experience in office settings doing administrative work. With Humboldt she is concentrated on Workforce Development.

Abby Hamilton is the Economic Development Division's new Executive Secretary. Abby graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt in the Spring of 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. They have a background in office work and have been assigned to administrative duties that support Economic Development staff and the office. Before working with the county, Abby spent their time as a full-time student and part-time assistant for the Housing department at Cal Poly Humboldt, as well as an intern at a harm reduction center.

In Abby's free time, they like to spend time with their cat, go for walks in the forest, visit the Arcata Farmer's Market, play basketball, and listen to the Grateful Dead.