Episode 110 · Jennifer Budwig · March 15, 2026
Jennifer Budwig grew up in Ferndale, came back after a few stints away, and built a career in Humboldt banking. In this conversation, she talks about family roots, community ties, and the path that took her from teller work to an upcoming leadership role at Redwood Capital Bank.
Watch the conversation
What this episode covers
- Growing up in Ferndale, with four generations of family ties there
- Leaving and returning to Humboldt, and why Ferndale still feels like home
- A brief detour toward teaching, and discovering banking instead
- Starting at Bank of Loleta/US Bank as a teller and moving through training roles
- The founding story of Redwood Capital Bank and John Dalby’s role in it
- Her upcoming move from chief operations officer and chief lending officer to president
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Transcript
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Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's me, Scott Hammond, with the 100% Humboldt Podcast with my amazing producer, Nick Flores. Hey, Nick, what's up? And my new best friend, Jennifer Budwig. Hi, Jennifer.
Jennifer Budwig: Hi, Scott.
Scott Hammond: How's your day?
Jennifer Budwig: So good.
Scott Hammond: Missed you at Rotary this week.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, shh.
Scott Hammond: Shh.
Jennifer Budwig: I, busy. I was busy.
Scott Hammond: I was busy.
Jennifer Budwig: Uh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: I was surprised. Rotary a- actually has a lot of… It's a great club, but it's not like the old Rotary where they'll kill you if you
Scott Hammond: don't come.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. It's- Which actually is kinda nice from the standpoint of the-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … requirements for attendance. But I will say, um, the upshot of that was p- there was more people attended just because of those requirements, so-
Scott Hammond: Right. Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … that's the, the offset, right?
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: I was gonna say, it's my first meeting in three weeks, so I have no room to-
Jennifer Budwig: Oh.
Scott Hammond: … brag or, or accuse, or, or condemn. So tell us the Jennifer story. Where, where are you from? Who are you, and, uh, what do you want?
Jennifer Budwig: Okay. We could start out with, uh, Ferndale, native born.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, four generations. Um-
Scott Hammond: You're almost local and almost accepted.
Jennifer Budwig: I'm so close. If I was that fifth generation, I would've made the cut.
Scott Hammond: Oh, man.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, yeah. My, uh, great-grandfather settled here, um, oh, gosh, I don't even know what year it was. Uh, got into the dairy industry-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Jennifer Budwig: … and brought my grandpa with him as a young man.
Jennifer Budwig: And then-
Jennifer Budwig: … um, yeah, so anyway, grew up in Ferndale. Um, moved away, I don't know, three times out of the area, and ended up coming back every time and
Jennifer Budwig: just-
Scott Hammond: Huh
Jennifer Budwig: … finally decided that this is where I wanna be.
Scott Hammond: This is home.
Jennifer Budwig: This is home. So yeah, so, uh, my husband and I have been married now for 28 years.
Scott Hammond: Congrats.
Jennifer Budwig: Thank you.
Scott Hammond: Kids?
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. We don't have kids. Um-
Scott Hammond: Animals?
Jennifer Budwig: So fur babies, six little darlings.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Um-
Scott Hammond: Six?
Jennifer Budwig: Six. Yeah. We're cat people.
Scott Hammond: Oh, you're… Okay. You're them.
Jennifer Budwig: We're, we, we're them, yeah. Yeah, we love our little fur babies.
Scott Hammond: Are you still in Ferndale?
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: That's cool.
Jennifer Budwig: Well, we, we lived in Hyattsville for about 20 years-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … and built a house over there, and um, it was, it was fantastic. Beautiful place. Weather's really amazing over in Hyattsville.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: But I just kinda miss the Ferndale community and, um, my whole family's in Ferndale, and, um, a lot of my friends, and I, I was finding myself going over there very regularly, and so-
Scott Hammond: Might as well move
Jennifer Budwig: … yeah, about five years ago, I was like, "Do you mind if we move back to Ferndale?" So it took us a while to get there, but-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Jennifer Budwig: … we moved back about three years ago, so super happy to be back there.
Scott Hammond: You bet.
Jennifer Budwig: I love, love, love Ferndale.
Scott Hammond: Ferndale's got a great vibe.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: We've had Paul from The Steeple on the show.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: He's a great guy.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: He's done a lot with-
Scott Hammond: Edie, yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … with The Steeple.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And Tia's Tacos. Hey, Glory.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh. Tia's is the best. I just tell you-
Scott Hammond: So good
Jennifer Budwig: … they… Oh, they're so good. They're open seven days a week.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.
Jennifer Budwig: Those people provide the best service and the best food, consistent. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I remember going to the Rotary in, uh, Ferndale, being blown away 'cause I was touring with my, my new book, which is now an old book.
Jennifer Budwig: Ooh.
Scott Hammond: Um, How to Become a Better Father, and they had, "Yeah, we'll put you on the program." And here they are, like seventh, 7:00 at night, like, "Let's drink."
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, yeah. They are the social club-
Scott Hammond: Oh, they were very social
Jennifer Budwig: … of the county, uh-huh.
Scott Hammond: But they were… Yeah, they're very polite, and it was fun, and what's her name, um, made all the lasagna.
Scott Hammond: Um, Karen K- uh, she has the dress shop, used to.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, Pingatore.
Scott Hammond: Pingatore.
Jennifer Budwig: Uh-huh. Yeah, Karen.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Karen. She, she moved out of the area now.
Scott Hammond: She's gone, right?
Jennifer Budwig: She's down in Nevada. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: But she, what a won- wonderful lady. She had the clothing shop there for years.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And the lasagna was pretty dang good.
Jennifer Budwig: Well, that doesn't surprise me.
Scott Hammond: It was tasty. So you went to Ferndale High?
Jennifer Budwig: Yep, went to Ferndale High.
Scott Hammond: Where'd you go to college?
Jennifer Budwig: Uh, went to CR for two years.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Transferred down to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
Scott Hammond: Sweet.
Jennifer Budwig: Was down there for almost a year, and then I broke my ankle. Um, pretty bad break. Came back. At that point, I had, uh, gone into liberal studies,
Jennifer Budwig: so-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … I was gonna be a teacher, and a lot of teachers in my family.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so, uh, came home. I was on crutches, and it was hard to get around and all the things.
Jennifer Budwig: So came back to recover from that.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And then my mom, um, who was teaching a fifth/ sixth grade combination class at the time said, "Well, why don't you come and help me in my classroom?"
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, and it was the best thing I ever could have done because within 15 minutes, I knew I didn't wanna be a teacher, so
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Jennifer Budwig: It was quite something. I, I have so much respects for, respect for teachers.
Scott Hammond: Oh, they're amazing.
Jennifer Budwig: My husband's a teacher. I know, I know. They're just absolutely amazing, patient, all the things.
Jennifer Budwig: And so-
Scott Hammond: What does he teach?
Jennifer Budwig: He's at Winship.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Junior high, monster people.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm. And he does special ed.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, he's a-
Scott Hammond: Good for him
Jennifer Budwig: … he's, he's a saint. Yes, in my opinion.
Scott Hammond: Special, special ed folks are saints.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, my goodness.
Scott Hammond: It's the-
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, he's been doing special ed for almost 20 years.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, fast track to heaven for those guys.
Jennifer Budwig: That's right.
Scott Hammond: It's really true.
Jennifer Budwig: Free pass. Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: So having a special needs kid, or two or three-
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm, yeah
Scott Hammond: … and, uh, actually, I was a liberal arts major at Humboldt and taught at St. Mary's and Dallas Prairie School-
Jennifer Budwig: Wow
Scott Hammond: … and did all the things and discovered, oh, I really hate kids. So, so forget that. We're gonna go have nine of our own.
Scott Hammond: So Jen-
Jennifer Budwig: I was just gonna say, Scott, how many children do you have?
Scott Hammond: Just nine, just nine. More than that, 11 grandkids.
Jennifer Budwig: Wow.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, it gets really fun after a while.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So yeah, no, I, um… And Catholic school is very different and interesting, so that was-
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … like the test of my, uh, mettle.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: You know, I'm gonna lay down the law. Oh, wait, you are? You think you are? Oh.
Jennifer Budwig: How'd that work out for you?
Scott Hammond: Not so good. I gave, I gave out some D's and some C's and couple
Scott Hammond: F's and, you know, um, folks don't like that. Kids and their folks don't like that when you do that, and yeah, your kid's an idiot, so sorry. Sorry, bro. Uh, deal with it. So at the end of the year, I had one friend, Sister Judith, the principal. And a whole bag of lessons about life, so. Anyway, the podcast is not about me. Well, it is n- back to you. So, uh, you taught for a while, and then,
Scott Hammond: then what?
Jennifer Budwig: Um, oh, I just hung out in the classroom and helped her while I healed up.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And then I was kinda like, "Eh, I think I wanna come back to Humboldt County." So transferred back to Humboldt State at the time.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And finished up there, got a degree in business management.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Jennifer Budwig: And then I still had no idea what I wanted to do when I got done with college.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: So,
Jennifer Budwig: um, I had tr- I kinda figured out more, like, what I didn't want.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: So while I was going to college, I worked a lot of jobs, and it was everything from babysitting to Taco Bell to Figuerido's
Jennifer Budwig: Videos to-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … um, Del's Liquors, to-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Jennifer Budwig: … but it was always weekends, nights, holidays.
Scott Hammond: Figuerido's.
Jennifer Budwig: Figuerido's Videos.
Scott Hammond: Saw Bob Figuerido read some poetry a couple months ago.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, Bob's great.
Scott Hammond: Bob's cool.
Jennifer Budwig: I haven't seen him probably in 10 years.
Scott Hammond: Super hip. He-
Jennifer Budwig: Awe
Scott Hammond: … actually is a pretty dang good poet.
Jennifer Budwig: Really?
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: That doesn't surprise me.
Scott Hammond: You have these po- these poet events in Arcata. What do they call them? Poet, uh… Pop outs, rip outs, poet… I'll think of it in a minute.
Jennifer Budwig: Hmm.
Scott Hammond: But people get r- You know, there's the, the featured poet, our friend Jeff Woodke. But all the other guys kinda took turns, and it was really… Bob was deep.
Jennifer Budwig: Hmm. That doesn't-
Scott Hammond: You know?
Jennifer Budwig: … surprise me. He's always been very artistic kind of a person.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, he was great to work for.
Scott Hammond: I bet.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, he was fantastic. Um, but anyway, that kinda told me what I didn't want. I didn't wanna work weekends, holidays, nights.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Miss our family gatherings. We have a very large family, very close family.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Jennifer Budwig: So, um, yeah.
Scott Hammond: What's your, what's your maiden name? Is-
Jennifer Budwig: It is Cahill.
Scott Hammond: Ca- Oh, you're Cahills.
Jennifer Budwig: I'm a Cahill, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Really?
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yep.
Scott Hammond: So Jennifer Cahill-
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … from the Journal, is she married to s- your old-
Jennifer Budwig: No. No, she's from New York. She… So no relation at all.
Scott Hammond: There's a Cahill that used to have a filling station in Arcata.
Jennifer Budwig: That was my uncle, my Uncle Bill.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Bill's cool.
Jennifer Budwig: So cool.
Scott Hammond: Is he, has he passed?
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, he did. He passed away a few years back.
Scott Hammond: So you were that part of the Cahills.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And he had a son that too, right, that ran or was part of that?
Jennifer Budwig: Two. Yeah, Scott worked there for many, many years.
Scott Hammond: Scott, mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And then when his dad passed, he… That was a really, really sad-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … unforeseen accident. So when that happened-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … then Scott kinda took over and ran the business for a while.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: And they, they've since closed.
Jennifer Budwig: But yeah, that, that, that's my… The Cahill clan is Arcata, and then-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … the Ferndahl clan is Wrigley's.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Jennifer Budwig: That's that side of the family, so.
Scott Hammond: It's a small world after all. Spell Humboldt world. Look at my map, my prop. Hey, uh, there's Ferndale.
Jennifer Budwig: Uh-huh. I see it way down there.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. So, so Ferndale's a trip, right? It's, you gotta be accepted and generational and to be, like, local and
Scott Hammond: beloved.
Jennifer Budwig: I think it, it can be very hard for people coming in that weren't raised there or-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … don't have a lot of connections there.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: But I will say that, um, that part of that too is what you put back into it, you know. So if you go out-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … of your way to meet people and get to-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … know people and that kinda thing-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … I mean, you just kinda need one person to take you under their wing, and then they can get you introduced to all kind of people, and-
Scott Hammond: I love it
Jennifer Budwig: … and, but I know that's frustrating for people, and I completely understand it 'cause people say that-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Jennifer Budwig: … all the time, you know, that it's like, oh, you're an outsider unless you've been there for 30 years or been born there or whatever it is.
Scott Hammond: That's the rep. It's not ever completely true.
Jennifer Budwig: I know. I agree. I agree.
Scott Hammond: So Don Brown bucked that, for sure, in Fortuna.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: He got really involved.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And we'll put a pin in Don real quick. We'll come back to Don.
Jennifer Budwig: Okay.
Scott Hammond: So Ferndale, you know Shannon Dixon.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Hey, Shannon. What's up?
Jennifer Budwig: Shannon was a year ahead of me in school. His sister was in my class.
Scott Hammond: Oh, is that right?
Jennifer Budwig: Uh-huh. Yep.
Scott Hammond: Wow, it is a small world.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And do you know Bill Morrill?
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Whose grandmother was Zipporah, great-grandmother?
Jennifer Budwig: Russ, yeah.
Scott Hammond: She was a, he was a Russ.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yep.
Scott Hammond: He still is a Russ.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Hi, Bill. I haven't seen Bill, Billy for a little while.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Uh, I coached his son Lincoln in soccer.
Scott Hammond: Lincoln's a nice kid.
Jennifer Budwig: Many years ago, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Jennifer Budwig: Hmm.
Scott Hammond: That's going back. And then my former, um, friend,
Scott Hammond: um, that, uh, that died f- the agent with State
Scott Hammond: Farm-
Jennifer Budwig: Mm
Scott Hammond: … getting closer.
Jennifer Budwig: Don Brown?
Scott Hammond: Not Don Brown.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Uh, Ken Elder- Elderkin.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Ken, yeah.
Scott Hammond: He was the Ferndale guy.
Jennifer Budwig: Kevin.
Scott Hammond: Kevin, I'm sorry.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, he, the, him and Linda, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Jeez, I should get his name right.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yeah. That was really sad.
Scott Hammond: Really sad.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: He had that big dog, Montauk.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: It was, it was this big, folks.
Jennifer Budwig: Uh, weren't there two of them, or was there just one of them?
Scott Hammond: He might… Well, he had one at, toward the end. I, he was like-
Jennifer Budwig: Okay
Scott Hammond: … a horse.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: He was known around town about-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … because of those dogs, that dog, yes.
Scott Hammond: And of course, Kahum came into town with Patrick Cleary-
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … and everybody.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And now they're gone, right? They're in D- Old Town.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. They relocated into Eureka.
Scott Hammond: Not far from you or me.
Jennifer Budwig: No. Mm-mm.
Scott Hammond: Have you been up to their studio?
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Beautiful.
Jennifer Budwig: Pat Cleary gave me a tour and kinda gave me the history on getting it put
Jennifer Budwig: together-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … and all. They jumped through a lot of hoops to make that happen-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Jennifer Budwig: … but it's beautiful up there.
Scott Hammond: It's really nice.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So graduated Humboldt, didn't know where to go and what to do?
Jennifer Budwig: Didn't know what to do, where I was gonna… All I knew was, okay, I'm ready to get a job 'cause I really want to make money. And so, um, one of, uh, a family friend of mine,
Jennifer Budwig: um, I was over at US Bank in Fortuna, and I'd gone in there to make a deposit or do something, and I saw her. And this was probably about four years before I graduated. And so, and I didn't know she worked there, so I went over and I was talking with her, and I said, "Oh, how long have you been working for the bank?" And she kinda gave me her whole history and her story and what she did. I think she was-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … the assistant manager there. And so, um, fast-forward, when I'm trying to figure out what I wanna do from a career standpoint, I just remember she was telling me that she really, really enjoyed her banking career-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Jennifer Budwig: … and how much she liked it and why and, and so I kinda thought about that, and I thought, "Okay, where's…" I, and I put a lot of applications in once-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … I, uh, actually graduated. Um, but it was really frustrating because
Jennifer Budwig: I was, I don't know, there was a lot of, "Oh, you're overqualified," or, "We're not,"
Jennifer Budwig: um, it… Well, I was also trying to make sure I was finding a place that I was able to grow with-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Jennifer Budwig: … an organization.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Jennifer Budwig: That there were multiple opportunities.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, you know, that kind of a thing.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: So anyway, I ended up taking a job at Bank of… Well, it was Bank of Lolita back in the day-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … had just become US Bank.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: And so six months prior was when they were bought out.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Jennifer Budwig: And so I took a job there as a teller, and I was thrilled to death. I was making $1,200 a month.
Scott Hammond: Whoa.
Jennifer Budwig: I did not know what to do with all that money. I was like, "This is the most-
Scott Hammond: Bank.
Jennifer Budwig: I was feeling so rich. I'm like, you know, when I got my check after taxes and all the things, I was like, "What am I gonna do with all this money? This is amazing," and-
Scott Hammond: Just loaded
Jennifer Budwig: … oh, I was so loaded.
Scott Hammond: With money.
Jennifer Budwig: And so Anyway, it was the best thing ever. And, uh, so but I had been a kinda starving college student for quite a while, so I was very used to budgeting and making a dollar really stretch. And I was so used to not having money.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Jennifer Budwig: It truly was a lot of money.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: And benefits and everything that came with it.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so was a teller for, I think about a year, and then they had a management training program there. So they had selected me to go through that.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Jennifer Budwig: And that was… I was very fortunate to have that opportunity.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: So I moved around within, I don't know, there was probably five different positions in the bank-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … that they had me cross-train with, so consumer loans, residential loans.
Scott Hammond: How many branches do they have or did they?
Jennifer Budwig: At that time?
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Well, US Bank was their, um… The first move into California was buying Bank of Lolita.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.
Jennifer Budwig: So at that time, they only had the Bank of Lolita branches. I think there were eight.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Jennifer Budwig: And so they were pretty heavy in Oregon and Washington, but not California.
Scott Hammond: Who's Lolita owned by? Was it owned by the-
Jennifer Budwig: Bank of Lolita?
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Local shareholders.
Scott Hammond: Who started it?
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Um, oh, gosh. It's a really good question. They were a very old bank when I was-
Scott Hammond: And had a good rep, right?
Jennifer Budwig: Super good reputation, yeah. When I started there, Bruce Roberts was the president.
Scott Hammond: Know the name.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, very, very respected man in the community.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And they had a, a great board.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, really, really solid local board.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, and-
Scott Hammond: Kinda like Redwood Capital.
Jennifer Budwig: I couldn't agree with you more.
Scott Hammond: We haven't mentioned that yet.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh.
Scott Hammond: So who are you with?
Jennifer Budwig: Uh, Redwood Capital Bank.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Jennifer Budwig: Yes. Yes.
Scott Hammond: Is that, is that in Eureka?
Jennifer Budwig: Uh, Eureka, Tucky.
Scott Hammond: Eureka, Tucky. And-
Jennifer Budwig: Right here. Yep
Scott Hammond: … and Fort Tucky and-
Jennifer Budwig: And-
Scott Hammond: Arcata
Jennifer Budwig: … Arcata, Tucky. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Arcata, Tucky.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I like that.
Jennifer Budwig: So we have the two branches in Eureka-
Scott Hammond: That's right
Jennifer Budwig: … main and Henderson Center.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And then Fortuna and Arcata, so-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … the four branches. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And, uh, J- I guess John Dalby bears some mention.
Jennifer Budwig: He does.
Scott Hammond: Like, he's kinda like, um, he's sort of the legend, right?
Scott Hammond: Is he-
Jennifer Budwig: Totally
Scott Hammond: … he's the legend. Totally.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Humboldt Bank, and he drew… I, I was just talking to… Is, is it Bob that takes a walk a- along… He's at your branch. He's somebody upstairs, he might be an IT guy, and he always walks my neighborhood on his
Scott Hammond: break.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm.
Scott Hammond: I wanna call him Bob, but that's not his name.
Jennifer Budwig: He's in IT?
Scott Hammond: It might be. He's got glasses. He's always on a… I'll, we'll get it after the show. I'll tell you who it is.
Jennifer Budwig: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Really nice guy.
Jennifer Budwig: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Just talking to him about, you know, John's a legend.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: He brought all his Humboldt Bank people along and, and turns out found talent along the way at,
Scott Hammond: at US.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yeah. He was pretty insightful in that… Well, first of all, backing up, he had gone to Pacific Coast Banking School, and he-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … um, did his thesis on how to remain independent as a bank.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: And in the meantime, um, there were some signs that sh- it was getting pretty obvious that they were looking to possibly sell the
Jennifer Budwig: bank.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so he, you know, is such a strong believer in community banks. And, um, so what he did was he took a massive leap of faith, and he quit his
Jennifer Budwig: job.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, took him two years to actually get the green light to open the doors.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Jennifer Budwig: And I mean, it was so much work b- and people have no idea what would go into starting a bank 'cause you have to-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Jennifer Budwig: … get all this regulatory approval. Um, I mean, it's just, the application process in and of itself is just exhaustive. And then you have to, you know, sell your stock, and you have shareholders-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … and all the things. And so anyway, he was, um, we had a representative that was gonna sell our stock
Jennifer Budwig: for us.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so John, the guy said, "Well, you'll be lucky to raise," um, it was, like, 11 million they were shooting for.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And, "You'll be lucky to raise that in six months."
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, three days, we were oversold.
Scott Hammond: You guys blew it out of the water, right?
Jennifer Budwig: Blew it out of the water.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: And we actually had to purchase some back because it got oversold.
Jennifer Budwig: And so-
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, so, um, they went to the Windsorada area and, and actually purchased some of those back, and-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Jennifer Budwig: … it was, so it was a really amazing story, the support that the bank had.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And still has.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Most definitely.
Scott Hammond: Oh, you guys have a great rep.
Jennifer Budwig: Well, thank you.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And so your role's changing.
Jennifer Budwig: My role is changing.
Scott Hammond: Pray tell.
Jennifer Budwig: Pray tell. So I'm currently the chief operations
Jennifer Budwig: officer.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Kind of have a dual hat, and chief lending officer. Um, so within a c- few months, Q2, we haven't set a definitive date yet-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … but I will transition to president.
Jennifer Budwig: Um-
Scott Hammond: Congrats
Jennifer Budwig: … right now John Dalby's president and CEO.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so what we're gonna do is we're gonna split that role, so I'll be the president, and then he will be the CEO.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: But what that will do is that will allow him to kinda go part-time-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … um, which is very well deserved.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Jennifer Budwig: And then I can just kinda really focus on the bank-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … and getting my feet under me, and still continue to have him there as a resource, which is huge.
Scott Hammond: Of course.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, and I'm very appreciative of our board of directors-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … for planning this accordingly, just from the standpoint of it couldn't be a better, um, a better situation for setting us all up
Jennifer Budwig: for success-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … you know, which is so important.
Scott Hammond: Love it.
Jennifer Budwig: So yeah, so it's very exciting.
Jennifer Budwig: Um-
Scott Hammond: Congrats.
Jennifer Budwig: Thank you.
Scott Hammond: Huge congrats.
Jennifer Budwig: Thank you. Yeah, a lot of-
Scott Hammond: Ma- Madam President to be.
Jennifer Budwig: Ah, to be. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: The inauguration-
Jennifer Budwig: Oh
Scott Hammond: … is coming forward.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's great.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, so.
Scott Hammond: No, big shoes to fill, but that's cool 'cause he'll walk with you.
Jennifer Budwig: Yep, that's… You nailed it.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, and-
Scott Hammond: He's such a normal dude. He's, like, a real person.
Jennifer Budwig: He's such a good guy, and he– I've been so blessed to have him as a mentor for, like, 30 years.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, we were at Humboldt Bank together.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And then I've worked at Redwood Capital Bank almost for 20 years. Um, and John is just one of those people, first of all, everyone that knows him loves him.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Like, he's just a very likable person. Um, he is a man of his word. He's got great integrity.
Scott Hammond: Yep.
Jennifer Budwig: He cares so deeply about this community. Um, and that was the whole reason for starting the bank, right?
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: He just felt so strongly that this community needs a local bank, and one that will support it, support jobs.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, we make a ton of money in donations to our nonprofits every year.
Scott Hammond: Right. Right.
Jennifer Budwig: All that money that goes out in salaries, of course, the round trip dollar. Um, just being there to make loans. You know, a lot of institutions, especially the bigger ones-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … they don't necessarily know the area so well and/or wanna make
Jennifer Budwig: loans, um-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … locally or as many as, um, as we do 'cause I
Jennifer Budwig: think that-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … that's one of the things that we really excel in is-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … is understanding our customers, understanding the area and that kind of thing.
Scott Hammond: He just helped a friend of ours big time.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, good.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Good, good.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. I think he's gonna launch big time.
Jennifer Budwig: Go ahead.
Scott Hammond: So, uh, interesting. So if John gives you a hard time, that means he loves you.
Jennifer Budwig: Sure.
Scott Hammond: So he likes you. John loves me.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh.
Scott Hammond: This is like I ca- I can't escape without some sort of haranguing and
Scott Hammond: harassment-
Scott Hammond: … some sort of quip, you know.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: You know, my wife… Is it Sue?
Scott Hammond: Is his wife?
Jennifer Budwig: Sue, uh-huh.
Scott Hammond: Sue really likes you when you're on TV. I don't think much of you. It's like- … okay, thank you.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, that's so nice.
Scott Hammond: I love you, too.
Jennifer Budwig: He really loves you a lot.
Scott Hammond: He's so kind to me. Hey, so if you're just joining us, my new best friend, Jennifer Budwig from Redwood Capital Bank. And, um, we'll get to Don Brown, and we'll get to cannabis here in a minute. Uh, but f- before we do that, let's set the f- the, the, uh, the groundwork, tee it up here on how do you see Humboldt economically, philosophically in one minute? Just what's your overall take? We're, we're a boom and bust economy, clearly, from timber to weed to other things.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Our gas prices are six bucks, which is
Scott Hammond: lunacy. Um, and there's such a, you know, Pastor Jim in Arcata said a long time ago, "It's such
Scott Hammond: a, a, a paradoxical community in terms of natural beauty, and then we hold all the records for terrible stats in crime and sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and all the things that are awful."
Scott Hammond: And so I just told you my perspective. Uh, w- what's yours in terms of how you see this economically, where we've been, where we're at, where we're going?
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm. You absolutely nailed it from the standpoint of it went from fishing and logging to cannabis kinda backfilling the downfall of those
Jennifer Budwig: industries.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, I mean, those industries are still here, but they've shrunk tremendously-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … um, and without a lot of jobs. And so the cannabis industry kind of backfilled that. And then obviously, the cannabis industry has been having a lot of challenges lately, so there's a lot of money that's siphoned out of our county-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … as a result of that. Um, there's some benefits to that from the standpoint of, um… You know, I think there's a lot of people that were employed within the industry that took workers away from other employers. And so as those jobs have gone away, then that's brought more employer, employees into, um, the, the streamlined workforce, and so that's been helpful.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, I think that, um, in terms of what's gonna backfill that, um, remote work has…
Jennifer Budwig: is-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … continuing to grow a lot.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: You know, and I think we saw a pretty significant, um, increase of people moving into this area with COVID-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … um, just because remote work was becoming so prominent and-
Scott Hammond: During COVID, not with COVID.
Jennifer Budwig: Uh, yeah. During.
Scott Hammond: Maybe they had COVID.
Jennifer Budwig: But they were isolated. It didn't matter.
Scott Hammond: They worked at home, so-
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … you're safe.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, but that was pretty significant. I mean, we saw so much-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … real estate activity, pretty significant increase in housing prices, that kind
Jennifer Budwig: of thing.
Scott Hammond: Crazy.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, but there was a lot of people that were looking to come up here because just kinda wanting to get out of the rat race-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … of the, the larger cities and, and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … having more space. And you're right, I mean, there's just so much natural beauty here, and it's something that I think it's very easy to take for granted. Um, that's one thing I do like about traveling to other places, especially going through the Bay Area-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … going to, uh, metropolitan areas. It just gives me a, a renewed appreciation-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … of what we have here.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: And things like we don't have to plan around the weather. You know, we-
Scott Hammond: Or traffic.
Jennifer Budwig: Traffic's a biggie. It-
Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, 'cause you go, you go to Sacramento in the middle of the summer, and it's just
Jennifer Budwig: like, okay, I can't be out after 10:00, and, uh, and even the evenings, it's not even cooling off at that point.
Jennifer Budwig: But-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … and I'm just kind of a wimp that way.
Jennifer Budwig: I really-
Scott Hammond: Ferndale people-
Jennifer Budwig: I'm such-
Scott Hammond: … the fog
Jennifer Budwig: I'm terrible.
Scott Hammond: Fog dwellers.
Jennifer Budwig: Can't stand snow. I, I, I don't mind visiting snow, and I don't mind visiting
Jennifer Budwig: heat.
Scott Hammond: But you wanna go home.
Jennifer Budwig: But I wouldn't wanna live there, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Well-
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … air quality's good here.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, it's-
Scott Hammond: Like best in the world maybe.
Jennifer Budwig: So good.
Scott Hammond: Some of the best.
Jennifer Budwig: So good.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, some of the best air is just offshore Trinidad.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm.
Scott Hammond: They measure it. It's like-
Jennifer Budwig: That would, that would make sense
Scott Hammond: … parts, parts per amazing. It's just like-
Jennifer Budwig: Mm
Scott Hammond: … really good.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So yeah-
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … we've had this whole cycle and, and it's really an interesting… So where do you, where do you kinda land? Where do you kinda see it going economically in terms of looks like the fish farms gone?
Jennifer Budwig: Sadly, that's, that's not gonna happen. Very sad to see that that got pulled after seven years of fighting so hard to come in here. It's sad that that did not happen. I think that would've been a nice economic boom to our county-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … and provided a lot of jobs, a lot of ancillary jobs-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … and also a lot of fresh fish, right?
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, so that was unfortunate to see that didn't work out. Um, the wind farm I know is, it's, they're still moving, trying to move forward with it.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: It'll be very interesting to see what comes of that 'cause there's a lot of things that that could look like when it's done.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: And, and possible economic opportunities just with employment and, you know, if they assemble the windmills here and, and, um, assemble, if we build a factory here and we assemble parts for even, you know, other wind farms, other areas-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … that certainly can provide some great jobs.
Scott Hammond: It would.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, so we'll see where that goes.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, the Cal Poly Humboldt piece is
Jennifer Budwig: huge.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, when you look at the amount of money that Cal Poly Humboldt has been spending in our community just with all of the new buildings going up-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … and hiring new professors. Um, they're working on increasing their enrollment.
Jennifer Budwig: Um-
Scott Hammond: It's, it's already starting to happen a little, right?
Jennifer Budwig: It, it really is. I think their first year, the first couple years-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … it hadn't been as much as they had hoped.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: But I think they're trying to figure out as to why and address that.
Scott Hammond: New president, Richard?
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah
Scott Hammond: He's coming on the show-
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … in May.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, good, good.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: I did– I met him briefly.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, nice man.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Saw him at the, at Bougie Club in Ingomar.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh. Oh.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, okay.
Scott Hammond: We call it the Bougie Club.
Jennifer Budwig: The Bougie Club.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. You ever go?
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, yeah. Um-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … that's my, that's my lunch place. I like to, I love to-
Scott Hammond: Oh, it's great
Jennifer Budwig: … go to lunch there, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Oh, delicious. Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Ingomar's great. They-
Scott Hammond: Chef Rocco, what's up?
Jennifer Budwig: He's, he's… Chef Rocco, you rock. You are the Rocco of the rocks.
Scott Hammond: He is the Rocco.
Jennifer Budwig: He's, he's so good.
Scott Hammond: Rock star.
Jennifer Budwig: He is.
Scott Hammond: I'm telling ya.
Jennifer Budwig: Rocco Star. Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: He's the Rocco Star.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: I like that. That's funny. So yeah, it, it seems like we've done this whole thing
Scott Hammond: and, um, you're the second person in two weeks that said, "Hey, remote workers-
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … can provide an…" How do they provide a… And I guess they eat and drink and buy food here, but if they work here, they're not,
Scott Hammond: um-
Jennifer Budwig: Well, I mean, they're getting their paycheck, and they're gonna be spending money
Jennifer Budwig: here.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: So that's better than not, right?
Scott Hammond: But a lack of housing is gonna be affecting that in some way, right?
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, yeah. And I think that has impacted housing. I mean, you're right. At the end of the day, it's so expensive to live here with gas prices being what they are.
Scott Hammond: It's crazy.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, the inflation aspect of it-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … I mean, that's hitting everyone. Um, but housing-
Scott Hammond: And it's-
Jennifer Budwig: You know, when you kinda look at, call it a pie-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … and you look at how much of people's income goes towards housing, you know, we are very, very high 'cause rents are high.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Properties are expensive, and you do that in, as compared to salaries-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … as the, our salaries aren't commensurate with our cost of living here.
Scott Hammond: Right. Food.
Jennifer Budwig: And yeah, all of it.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And, and it's just all going up, right?
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so, um, it's like food for people, they are a great example of how they've, um, been significantly impacted by… They kinda got a triple hit, so first of all, they, you know, got a lot of their grant funding cut.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: When DOGE came in, they lost a lot.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: And then secondly, in- with inflation, their, you know, dollars are going less far, and so they're buying groceries at a higher cost.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: So they can buy a lot less. And then thirdly, their demand has gone up significantly, and so-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … as that inflation's hitting everybody, then a lot more families are becoming more reliant on getting that extra help, and so their-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … services and the demand's gone up.
Jennifer Budwig: And so-
Scott Hammond: Food Bank.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, and the-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … and those people, I gotta tell you, Carly Robbins.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Hey, Carly, right?
Scott Hammond: Hi, Carly.
Jennifer Budwig: Love Carly, and she's-
Scott Hammond: Hi, David
Jennifer Budwig: … Yeah, and Da-
Scott Hammond: You know Dave Reed?
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, Dave's great. Dave's great. And I always thought, you know, Ann Holcomb was gonna be such a hard act to follow because you talk about Salado, they are a fantastic, amazing lady.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And when she was gonna retire, it was just like, Carly, you couldn't have a better successor than Carly.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: She is amazing.
Scott Hammond: She is.
Jennifer Budwig: And she just is doing an incredible job, um, and doing the best that they can possibly do.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: But that's just an example of, um, you know, that shrinkage of resources in our community-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … to help those families that continue to struggle. Um, you know, housing, there's definitely been a full court press with the, um, the RHNA mandates, the RHNA-
Scott Hammond: Mm. Right
Jennifer Budwig: … mandates from the state, and housing being required
Jennifer Budwig: to be-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … increased. Um, and so I think Arcada's doing a pretty good job with that. Eureka, they're doing the, um, the low-income housing units that we were just talking about. And then, um, the, I, there's a little bit going on in Fortuna right now, and there's three multifamily proper- or apartment complexes
Jennifer Budwig: going up.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Jennifer Budwig: So there is more housing going up.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And of course, with that is, um, as those units come online, especially the low-income housing units-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … that should continue to help with the, especially the low-income
Jennifer Budwig: waged-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … um, folks because-
Scott Hammond: Starbucks folks.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, I mean-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … people that are making 17, 18, $20 an hour.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: You know, 'cause a lot of people are having to work two jobs just to be able to make
Jennifer Budwig: ends meet.
Scott Hammond: Or more, yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: You know, and that's… Yeah, and that's really tough. You know, how do you-
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: And then how do you ever get ahead enough to save money to buy a home?
Scott Hammond: I have a 21-year-old that's done the math. He goes, "Dad, I, I don't know how… You know, you got, you and mom had nine kids on one income. How, what?" He goes, "I'll never do that. I'll be lucky to own a house."
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I said, "You might get lucky in North Dakota."
Jennifer Budwig: It's true, though. I mean, if you were to go-
Scott Hammond: You could live in Iowa.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, I mean, there's places you go back there, and you, for here, $300,000 will get you a starter of 800 square feet. You go back there-
Scott Hammond: Something
Jennifer Budwig: … and you can buy a really beautiful sizable piece of land-
Scott Hammond: Oh, something
Jennifer Budwig: … with a home and a barn and a-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … all the things.
Scott Hammond: And all the snow.
Jennifer Budwig: And all the snow and-
Scott Hammond: All the snow you could ever want.
Jennifer Budwig: And all that fantastic humidity in the summertime.
Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh. Yeah, I'm from-
Jennifer Budwig: Giant bugs
Scott Hammond: … I'm from Sioux City, Iowa.
Scott Hammond: I know.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Hey, let's take a break. Ready?
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Uh, let's do the quiz. You ready?
Jennifer Budwig: Okay. Okay.
Scott Hammond: Oh, I have my bell.
Jennifer Budwig: Okay.
Scott Hammond: You're going, "What is it?" Are you ready? You're playing for all the marbles, which include-
Jennifer Budwig: Ooh. I see a Dick Taylor chocolate bar bag over there.
Scott Hammond: Oh, no.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, what is that?
Scott Hammond: A Dick Taylor. Tanzania, 65% dark cho- Do you like chocolate?
Jennifer Budwig: I love chocolate, and I e- even what I love more than chocolate is I love Adam and Dustin, who own Dick Taylor
Jennifer Budwig: Chocolates.
Scott Hammond: Yes.
Jennifer Budwig: Those guys are the salt of the earth.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Best guys. Anywho, sorry. I, I digress.
Scott Hammond: And they both have great wives who are probably-
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, they are like the-
Scott Hammond: … make who they are
Jennifer Budwig: … best family people ever. No, seriously, like they-
Scott Hammond: They're great
Jennifer Budwig: … yeah, um, energy, like, you know, the Duracell bunnies on steroids.
Scott Hammond: Oh, they're, they're lovely. We have two of their band members in our worship team at Catalyst Church in Arcada.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, yeah, yeah. Very nice.
Scott Hammond: And got to see them at the, uh, steep- the old Steeple.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: At that show.
Jennifer Budwig: I heard they were down.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Jennifer Budwig: I missed them, and I was so sad.
Scott Hammond: We gotta go.
Jennifer Budwig: I didn't know till afterwards that they had been there.
Scott Hammond: Oh, they, they bring down the house.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: They're pretty cool. They're okay. Whatever. They're, they provide jobs and have done… Th- you know, and it's always interesting 'cause they're always hustling.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: So I'll see, I'll see Dustin the day after the show, and it's Monday, and he's sweeping or breaking down cardboard. I go, "How does it feel coming back after the, the adulation of Mick Jagger to sweeping with your broom, Dust- Dustin?" He goes, "It's just what we do." He goes, "Actually, I kinda like this." It's, he goes, "It's a big relief we're not practicing every night
Scott Hammond: and-"
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: He goes, "It's good to come back to reality."
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Super humble, to your point.
Jennifer Budwig: Little slice of humble pie, right?
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yep. So hey, uh, question number one.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: For all the money. Some of the money.
Scott Hammond: So Jennifer, question one: What's soul-crushing for you, and what's life-giving? What takes it away and what-
Jennifer Budwig: Hmm
Scott Hammond: … replaces it for you?
Jennifer Budwig: Soul crushing is the news nowadays and all of the despair in the world.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, that's, that's… I, I honestly hardly watch the news anymore 'cause it just is so depressing-
Scott Hammond: Me too
Jennifer Budwig: … and sad.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, and it, it makes me sad. 'Cause, I mean, I always like to stay informed of what's going on in the world.
Scott Hammond: It's like a common theme now.
Jennifer Budwig: I know. I know. It's, it's… Yeah, so that can k- kind of suck the life out of me.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, sorry, what… second part of your question?
Scott Hammond: What's life-giving?
Jennifer Budwig: Life-giving. Um, I love, love, love, love my family, and my friends, and my husband.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Jennifer Budwig: I'm so blessed to have them in my life.
Scott Hammond: What's his name again?
Jennifer Budwig: Robert.
Scott Hammond: Robert.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. And my sweet little nephew and his wife and three kids moved around the corner from us recently.
Jennifer Budwig: And so I am so lucky. I get to almost every single weekend-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Jennifer Budwig: … I go and get them, the four-year-old and two-year-old, and we just hit the streets of Ferndale, and we do it all. We go have lunch-
Scott Hammond: Go for it
Jennifer Budwig: … and ice cream and shop-
Scott Hammond: Parks
Jennifer Budwig: … and hit the parks, and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … we go visit Andy and Denise.
Jennifer Budwig: It's just-
Scott Hammond: What's the park, the hike park up with the little-
Jennifer Budwig: … joy. Oh, Russ. Yeah, Russ Park.
Scott Hammond: That's Russ, right?
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: That's fun. Joni hikes that a lot.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Great little park.
Scott Hammond: I love the fact that you love, love, love your husband and speak it
Scott Hammond: openly.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I think it's so cool couples can do that.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: It's like, "Oh, I adore Joni. She's amazing. I married way up."
Scott Hammond: It's true.
Jennifer Budwig: Would she agree with that?
Scott Hammond: Um, she, I think she would, she would probably just roll her eyes and just go-
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … "What, what are you talking about?"
Jennifer Budwig: Right.
Scott Hammond: Anyway, so… Yeah, she might. Uh, I, I think that's true. So, uh, question number two. You get the whole day, say with Robert, to do whatever you wanna do.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Go wherever you wanna go.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Money's not an object. Uh, w- nine to 9:00 PM, what do you do?
Jennifer Budwig: My first thing I would love to do, not wake up to an alarm clock, and then just take the first at least hour to have my coffee,
Jennifer Budwig: decompress-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … you know, whatever that might look like.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Scroll, spend a little time on a little social media, but more like, you know, maybe check some news out or whatever.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: I mean, just not be in a hurry.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: And then just kinda chill-
Scott Hammond: I like it
Jennifer Budwig: … 'cause I don't get to do that very often.
Jennifer Budwig: So-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … that's like a treat for me to be able just to enjoy my morning that way.
Scott Hammond: As opposed to flying out the door.
Jennifer Budwig: As opp- yeah, as opposed to-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … being, jump up, throw clothes on and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … off you go. And then my second thing I would do is I have a, a group of girls in Ferndale, we call ourselves the walkie talkies.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Jennifer Budwig: And so we usually walk, walk every Saturday morning and Sunday mornings.
Jennifer Budwig: And so-
Scott Hammond: Cool
Jennifer Budwig: … but it's so fun because we get in about three miles, but we're talking the whole entire time so it doesn't even feel like-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Jennifer Budwig: … exercise. It's the best. So then that would be the second thing I'd wanna do.
Scott Hammond: Where do you go?
Jennifer Budwig: Um, we just… All kinds of different places.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: So sometimes we'll go out Williams Creek, sometimes we'll just do the big loop in
Jennifer Budwig: Ferndale.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Sometimes we'll mix it up and just kinda go wherever.
Scott Hammond: Great.
Jennifer Budwig: Might head out towards Port Canyon way or-
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. So, um, get a little exercise, get the old blood pumping, get my friend time in, social time.
Scott Hammond: I love it.
Jennifer Budwig: And then I would wanna do something with my husband, um, whatever that looks like. Um, we were just talking the other day, um, his spring break's coming up, so we're gonna head up to Harbor, Oregon and-
Scott Hammond: Ah
Jennifer Budwig: … spend, uh, Saturday, Sunday up there.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: They have that little, used to be Best Western right on the beach there.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: Just absolutely beautiful. And so-
Scott Hammond: Is he a fisherman?
Jennifer Budwig: Um, he does like to fish.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, this would just be more enjoying the ocean-
Scott Hammond: Hanging out
Jennifer Budwig: … and, yeah.
Scott Hammond: It's a great spot though.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, it's a beautiful, beautiful spot.
Scott Hammond: I love going up there.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, so whatever that looks like.
Scott Hammond: It's-
Jennifer Budwig: Maybe go out to the ocean, maybe, you know, whatever that might be.
Scott Hammond: My hairdresser's from Brookings, said it's-
Jennifer Budwig: Oh
Scott Hammond: … the, one of the very few authentic banana belts-
Jennifer Budwig: It truly is
Scott Hammond: … in America.
Jennifer Budwig: It, it absolutely 100%-
Scott Hammond: Maybe in the world, yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … is. Yep. Yep.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: I know a couple people that live up there, and they, they say that-
Scott Hammond: It's beautiful
Jennifer Budwig: … and they're not wrong. It's crazy how that one little area in there can just get so warm and toasty, and being on the coast you wouldn't think that would happen.
Scott Hammond: No.
Jennifer Budwig: But it absolutely does.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, people swim in that ocean.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, it's beautiful up there. Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I don't know how.
Jennifer Budwig: Unlike Centerville.
Scott Hammond: Unlike, yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: You could swim there, you just have to layer up pretty good.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: A couple swim, or a couple of, uh, wetsuits.
Scott Hammond: Wetsuits.
Jennifer Budwig: Yep.
Scott Hammond: So Harbor, then w- how's the-
Jennifer Budwig: And then, yeah, um, well, that wouldn't be like a day thing. But, um, but yeah, something, we would do something together. Maybe hike Russ Park, something like that.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, whatever that might look like. And then I would wanna end the day… Oh, and then midday, um, I would go and do a lunch with, uh, my girlfriends-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … 'cause I'm really, really… I love my friends, and they are just rocks for me, right?
Jennifer Budwig: So-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … I kinda have a different group than my walkie talkie friends. And so go maybe have like a, you know, afternoon beer with them.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And then finish it off with, uh, my husband and I doing something with my family.
Scott Hammond: Fun.
Jennifer Budwig: That would be-
Scott Hammond: That's a full day
Jennifer Budwig: … to me… It's a full day, but it's a perfect day.
Scott Hammond: That and Harbor, Oregon.
Jennifer Budwig: Well, yeah. Like I said, that wouldn't be the one day or-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … that would be more a weekender, but-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … yeah.
Scott Hammond: I love it. And then, uh, last question. If you could change one thing about Humboldt, what would you
Scott Hammond: change?
Jennifer Budwig: Hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: I would change, um… I would say that if there's a way to provide housing for all of the homeless in our county-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … that would be a dream.
Scott Hammond: Wow, that's huge.
Jennifer Budwig: So we didn't have, yeah, so we didn't have people that were homeless, and were fed and were taken care of-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … for their benefit, but also the benefit of the county as a whole.
Scott Hammond: Sure. Good one. Well, hey, congratulations.
Jennifer Budwig: Did I pass?
Scott Hammond: You did pass.
Jennifer Budwig: Did I, did I win the d-
Scott Hammond: Winner, winner-
Jennifer Budwig: Ooh
Scott Hammond: … chocolate dinner. And this is for you. It's a Tanzania from Dick Taylor.
Jennifer Budwig: Beautiful.
Scott Hammond: Enjoy that.
Jennifer Budwig: Thank you. I'm going to.
Scott Hammond: My wife Joni tells me that most every woman on Earth loves dark chocolate.
Jennifer Budwig: I'm not gonna lie, I'm a milk chocolate girl.
Scott Hammond: They have good milk chocolate-
Jennifer Budwig: But-
Scott Hammond: … at Taylor
Jennifer Budwig: … they, they absolutely do, but-
Scott Hammond: Wait, wait. What? Hold on. Sorry.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh.
Scott Hammond: I thought I had a milk.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, no, I'm, I'm-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Jennifer Budwig: … but I'm not, believe me, I'm not complaining.
Scott Hammond: No.
Jennifer Budwig: I am very excited.
Scott Hammond: You're fine.
Jennifer Budwig: I haven't tried this one before, so-
Scott Hammond: It's really quite good
Jennifer Budwig: … I'm looking forward to it. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I don't think they have a bad chocolate.
Jennifer Budwig: They do not have a bad chocolate bar.
Scott Hammond: They have some really interesting month to month things that are special.
Jennifer Budwig: Their specials are pretty cool.
Scott Hammond: Something bars. They're-
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: I should know all this. I don't have any idea what they're called, but you know what I'm talking about.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Well, cool. Hey, let's talk about Don Brown.
Jennifer Budwig: Don Brown.
Scott Hammond: So Don Brown was a legendary State Farm agent in Fortuna, California, and, uh, one day I got sent down in my, uh, early days when I was a Padawan learner of Lisa Fryrear, who said, "Hey, uh, go, go down to Don's for the day." And instead… And I showed up in my suit, the sport coat, and my little satchel, and was all dutiful and ready to go. Here's my story. And he goes, "Scott, go right in there in my bedroom and get changed into those shorts and those flips. We're going kayaking."
Jennifer Budwig: Mm.
Scott Hammond: And I go, "Heck yeah, we are." And I threw all my stuff off, and he had his kayaks, his cherry kayaks on his Subaru. He's ready to go to Hookton Slough, baby. Got in the water, and we're paddling around, and it was just this Zen moment for me in my early training of, "Wow, who is this guy?" He started regaling stories, and he goes, "You know, you gotta enjoy this beautiful Humboldt County while you're here. And while you have time, just get out, enjoy it." "Okay, good." He goes, "The other thing, you gotta sell life insurance." He goes, "I want you to not come with a casserole to this celebration of life. I want you to come with a big, fat life insurance check." And I go, "Cool. Cool. I like that." And he goes, "Lastly," he goes, "you gotta get involved in the community. Find something and put your name on it and own it. Own that ground and do that stuff." And I go, "Yes, sir." And so, uh, Tuesday morning we got recognized for 10 years doing Humboldt Heroes, our veterans recognition.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, that's fantastic.
Scott Hammond: This, the supervise- Rex put us up for it, and the supervisors voted unanimously to, uh, honor Humboldt Heroes, and that was a really big deal.
Scott Hammond: So Don-
Jennifer Budwig: Congratulations
Scott Hammond: … Don, I listened to your words. Anyway, so t- You, you knew Don. He's the legend of Fortuna.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm. Yeah. Amazing man. He got involved in so many things, and there's nobody that didn't love Don. I mean, he had that amazing Texas accent.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: But he was so authentic, and he just truly loved people.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And I remember we did a, um, a rafting trip with, uh, it was, I don't know, there was probably 12 to 15 of us, and we went out to kind of the Eel River area-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … and we launched there. And then we actually did an overnighter, so we all put our boats in the water, and we did the river, came down.
Scott Hammond: Oh, cool.
Jennifer Budwig: I mean, we spent, like, four hours-
Scott Hammond: That's way out there, right?
Jennifer Budwig: … on day one. Way out there. And then we all, uh, stopped in one spot, and we all had our camping stuff there, and we set up camp and just had the best time. And then the next morning we disassembled camp, and we jumped back into our canoes and went, like, another, I don't know, five or six
Jennifer Budwig: hours.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so it was a two-dayer, and it was-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Jennifer Budwig: … so much fun.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Such a good time. George Brightman. Uh, there was a slew of us there. We had a… It was-
Scott Hammond: Was it-
Jennifer Budwig: … many, many, many years ago
Scott Hammond: … were these bank people or chamber people, or just-
Jennifer Budwig: No, just friends.
Scott Hammond: Just friends.
Jennifer Budwig: Just friends. Yeah, Don put it all together and-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Jennifer Budwig: … invited us, and we just had a, a really great time.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. But he was definitely a good man, and it was so sad when he
Jennifer Budwig: passed.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: You know, I think he… And he gave it such a good fight. You know, he had brain cancer.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: And it was horrible.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: But, um, he was our State Farm agent. He was our agent forever.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: You know? And, and he was so cute because he was just like, "I just want you to know if your house ever burns down, I'm gonna be the first person there with donuts. No matter what, I can guarantee you, it could be 3:00 in the morning, I'm gonna show up with donuts." "Just know that's gonna happen." It was like-
Scott Hammond: And coffee
Jennifer Budwig: … well, thank God. Yeah, thank God our house didn't burn down, so.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yeah, but he was all about service.
Jennifer Budwig: That was-
Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … his mantra.
Scott Hammond: No, he was-
Jennifer Budwig: For sure
Scott Hammond: … Mr. Chili too. Chili cook-off.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, yeah, yeah, the rodeo. The big… He was all about the rodeo and-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … very involved in rotary.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, just-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … yeah. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, I was really impressed. He is really bright and went to Baylor in, uh, Waco, Texas, and he was poor. The kids that went to Baylor were rich, and-
Jennifer Budwig: Mm
Scott Hammond: … I always loved the bootstrap guy.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: The p- the po- the po' man that figured it out and had… He told me, he goes, "I sold Bibles door to door, Scott." I go,
Scott Hammond: "Bro, way to go, man. I love that."
Jennifer Budwig: Just to put himself through school.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: You put yourself through school. Who does that?
Scott Hammond: Don Brown.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Anyway, our tribute to Don Brown.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Brought to you by Don Brown State Farm. Wait, he's Don… Anyway, we love you, Don. So, uh, let's talk about weed.
Jennifer Budwig: All right.
Scott Hammond: From Don to weed, and then we'll, we'll wrap up with, uh, your legacy and what you wanna be known for 'cause you get to re- write your script as a bank
Scott Hammond: president.
Jennifer Budwig: Ooh.
Scott Hammond: That's gonna be exciting.
Jennifer Budwig: Ooh, that could be.
Scott Hammond: And community everything. Uh, so, uh, you did this, you went to this univers- this school, right? Pacific School of Banking?
Jennifer Budwig: Uh, Pacific Coast Banking School, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Jennifer Budwig: Uh-huh.
Scott Hammond: And you, and you ended up with this cannabis study for a- all of us. Uh, tell, tell me more. I'm trying to tell you what it is.
Scott Hammond: You tell me.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, it kinda took a life on of its own. So, um, when you… So banking school, it's a three-year program.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: You go up to Seattle, Washington. Uh, you stay at the campus of University of Washington in the dorms. It's quite a-
Scott Hammond: Cool
Jennifer Budwig: … humbling thing when you have to-
Scott Hammond: Back to the dorms.
Jennifer Budwig: I know, and you're sleeping on, you know, beds that are rock hard and all the things, eating cafeteria food. It was, it was pretty funny. But anyway, it was such a good experience. So anyway, you go up for two weeks at a time, and you could do three years. And so your last year, you take on a project. It's kind of basically a thesis.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, the whole program in and of itself is basically getting, like, a master's in
Jennifer Budwig: banking.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so they hit on every aspect of banking. It's a great program. So anyway, I was trying to figure out what to write my
Jennifer Budwig: paper on.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so it ended up being the potential economic impact to Humboldt County if, uh, marijuana is, is legalized, cannabis is
Jennifer Budwig: legalized.
Scott Hammond: How'd you wind up with that one? Just, I'm curious of your process.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, because it was kind of on the horizon.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, Prop 19 had just passed, and so it was kinda like, okay, well, what does that mean, and what does that look like?
Scott Hammond: Huh.
Jennifer Budwig: And that was when medical marijuana was approved.
Scott Hammond: What year is this now?
Jennifer Budwig: Um, it was 2009 was my first year. 2011 was when I writ my-
Scott Hammond: This is-
Jennifer Budwig: … wrote my paper
Scott Hammond: … very early cannabis ev- evolution
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: But again, the proposition had just passed.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so it was kind of hitting everyone's radar, like, "Well, what does this mean for
Jennifer Budwig: our county?"
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so it was kind of a big question mark, and I thought, "You know, it'd be really interesting to take a deeper dive on that and try to understand what the potential impacts could be."
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Uh, because there was that fear of that it- it's, once it's legalized, then prices, supply goes up, prices go down-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … um, and all the things that come with it. And so anyway, that was how I ended up on that particular topic. So I wrote my paper. Um, I came up with an estimated– There was, like, a methodology that went behind it, and there were several people that helped me from the standpoint of the resources and people that provided input, feedback. I did a ton of interviews, um, to understand all, all aspects of it.
Jennifer Budwig: But, um-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … without going into too much detail, the methodology, but I kind of backed into about 1.2 billion a year-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … contributed to our economic base in Humboldt County.
Scott Hammond: That stayed here.
Jennifer Budwig: And, yeah-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … the, the money circulating in our county-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … as a result of cannabis.
Scott Hammond: That's a lot.
Jennifer Budwig: And so it's a tremendous amount of money.
Scott Hammond: What do you think it is today-
Jennifer Budwig: Um-
Scott Hammond: … through, through a DART pass?
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, I have absolutely zero,
Jennifer Budwig: zero idea-
Scott Hammond: Idea
Jennifer Budwig: … as to what it would be today. I mean, because now you have the legalization, so you have the cannabis shops.
Jennifer Budwig: Um-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … and then you still have– There's definitely still people that are growing and selling, um, to those states that don't have anything legalized yet.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so that money's still coming in. But, um, yeah, I mean, it's just a, such a minor amount compared to what it used to be.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, 'cause you have two things going on. One is the, the amount of cannabis grown here is, um, significantly less, but then the other part is c- uh, prices have gone down so much.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: So it's both, you know. And so in terms of you're just looking at your gross income from it, it's gone down tremendously.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: I just– But I don't have any clue as to what that number might look like.
Scott Hammond: Right. Right, right.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, but anyway, so it was– So one of the things behind the paper was looking at, okay, like if, if, how, how this gets rolled out is really going to determine how much it's impacting our county and how fast.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And so it was looking at kind of these different scenarios of, you know, if this happens, this is most likely the outcome and that kind of thing. Um, and so I ha- didn't have any intentions of sharing the information with anybody.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: I just wrote the paper because I wanted to understand a little bit. I kind of wrote it for the bank, honestly.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Jennifer Budwig: Just so the bank would maybe have an understanding of what's to come. Um, and then with that, because when we make loans, we depend on, you know-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Jennifer Budwig: … what's the, the viability of a loan being paid back. Well, that's dependent upon, you know, people's livelihoods and the ability to make those payments.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: But, um, so I got done with it, and then it happened that John Dalby was on the Eureka Chamber of Commerce board at that time, and it had come up that they were– That was the exact question they were asking, like, "What does this mean for the future of our county?"
Scott Hammond: He goes, "I know somebody that might have that info."
Jennifer Budwig: John goes, "Well, you know what? I know somebody that just wrote a paper on that," so they w-
Scott Hammond: So I love the choice 'cause the choice is to do this is, is logical, smart, it's local, it's pertinent. It, uh, at that time was legalization was, I mean, medical legalization. It's, it's all a big deal. I mean, everybody had their eyes on what's, what's that gonna do.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And then it had-
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … it turned out to have a big impact.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: 1.2 billion is a lot of money.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Um, but top three, say, demographic takeaways that are subjective and top three economic, that quantifiable de- uh, takeaways that you, that just come to mind, uh, starting with the numbers. So 1.2 billion, and it, it has done this.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Anything else that was significant, like employment? Was it half of our employ-
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, it wasn't. I wouldn't say it-
Scott Hammond: How could it be that at all?
Jennifer Budwig: I wouldn't say that.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, it w- I wouldn't have said, said it was that high, but it was also very, very, very good paying jobs.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: You know, so people would go out and they would, you know, trim and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … um, that kind of thing and be making 50 to $100 an
Jennifer Budwig: hour.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: And it wasn't, it was all cash-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … so there was no taxes being paid.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: And so when you think about that, what's that, $150 an hour? Well, that's gonna be more like-
Scott Hammond: 75
Jennifer Budwig: … 75 an hour after tax, right?
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Jennifer Budwig: And so, and then with that, those people were spending money here. And so you had a lot of people that would come here from out
Jennifer Budwig: of the area-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … looking for jobs, or they would move up here-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … to grow. Um, and so much of that was sold out of the area, right? So that was out of the area money coming into our county.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: And so once it hits our county, then it gets circulated and there's the round trip dollar, which it's speculated five to six times.
Jennifer Budwig: So-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Jennifer Budwig: … you know, if you take that dollar and then you spend it at the grocery store-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … well, then that turns around and it pays employees, it pays, you know, whatever it is, and then they turn around and they use that money to… So it circulates six, five to six times-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … in your community before it's gone, call it.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: So that round trip dollar impact was huge.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, and so, you know, that piece of it is, is, it's deteriorated, you know, significantly.
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Jennifer Budwig: And so, but again, there's still money from it for sure, but then their margins are so much lower than-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … they used to be. I mean, they, they used to… It was insane. When I did my study, if I remember right-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … it was about $4,500 a pound was-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … what cannabis was going for-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Jennifer Budwig: … at that time. But it was, um, it had topped out around 6,000. That was for your really premium stuff.
Scott Hammond: Killer weed.
Jennifer Budwig: So it was starting to, yeah, it was starting to come down a bit. Um, and so, but still $4,500. And then the estimate to grow it, I don't know, it
Jennifer Budwig: was roughly, if I remember right, 500 to 600 a pound.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, you know, so when you look at that kind of margins-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … that's a lot of discretionary cash.
Scott Hammond: That's a lot of profit.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Not no more.
Jennifer Budwig: Not anymore.
Scott Hammond: No more.
Jennifer Budwig: Nope.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. My daughter could buy it, I think, in Oregon for four or 500 a pound. It's cra- it's this crazy-
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, it was-
Scott Hammond: … blood of, of, it may be different weed, but it's still, um, I don't know.
Jennifer Budwig: It's funny you say that 'cause I was just driving in from Arcata to come here, and on the side of, I think it's, is it Blue Canoe? The, a cannabis shop right as you come into town on the left-hand side.
Scott Hammond: Which one?
Jennifer Budwig: Um, yeah, I think it's the first one. Anyway, they had a little sign out and it said $40 an ounce.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: And, and it's funny, I haven't even thought about the price of cannabis in a long
Jennifer Budwig: time.
Scott Hammond: 40 times 16 must be about, yeah,
Scott Hammond: 600.
Jennifer Budwig: Well, and I was sitting there going, "I, I haven't even thought about, like, the, what the price is of
Jennifer Budwig: cannabis-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … you know, have been for so long." So it was just like, "Oh, 40 an ounce. That, that seems high." But then I'm like, "Well, how much cannabis is an
Jennifer Budwig: ounce?"
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: You know, like, how, how far can you stretch an ounce?
Jennifer Budwig: And anyway-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … it just, I hadn't thought about in a long time, and then I saw that sign-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … and then you're bringing it up. It's just a little ironic.
Scott Hammond: It's real. It's, I, I love, I love the issue because there's such a complexity and nuance to it all. You had this, these hippies that came in the late '60s, '70s.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Grandma and Grandpas planted s- their own weed and their own tomatoes-
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … up in the hills of Garberville, and all the history that came out of that, and somebody, and they brought the seeds from s- from India or
Scott Hammond: wherever, uh, overseas, and they started this, propagating this weed that no one had ever seen or heard of. And just taking the, the, the criminal element out, they were having, um, they were self-sufficient. So I respect that. And then, and then everybody started growing, and then here we go. And the, the, the tough thing about the underground economy, we could talk about all that, is there's often cash and guns and, and crooks. And so there's that.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Um, and I'm sure, and I've heard of really upright, really dutiful grower managers that did it right, got permitted.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And they got permitted out of business because we taxed the dickens out of them.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Which is kind of a paradox when I think of, well, if I was anti-marijuana, but I'm not, I'm also anti-heavy government taxation.
Jennifer Budwig: Right.
Scott Hammond: So it's like the, the complexity around this and then the moralistic, the theories about, hey, well, I, I do actually use it for my shoulder, and it's amazing when I put the
Scott Hammond: cream on.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm. CBD.
Scott Hammond: The CBDs are amazing.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: It's like, oh, I'm, it's not supposed to work, but it's amazing. I don't even hurt right now, so. Um, and I, I just look at that and then all the high-profile Murder Mountain special on Discovery Channel to all the anecdotal stories of the disappearance of how many people, I don't
Scott Hammond: know.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: You know, it's sad. I mean, there… And Billy Honsal would tell us that's real.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And, um, and then to get where we're at, it's, it's sort of an interesting paradoxical trippy issue.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: You know? And there's, and the, the hard thing is there's people, and then there's kids, and then there's grandkids that are all part of, part of that, the families that are part of that.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And the trickle down to, uh, where we're at and I guess it's just sad. I guess the steel industry did it. Um, the dotcom-
Jennifer Budwig: Bubble
Scott Hammond: … dropped off. The bu- Everything has a bubble and I guess what makes me sad, and, and I, I'm off my high horse in a second. One more second.
Jennifer Budwig: Love Hounds and Wine. Okay.
Scott Hammond: Two. You're done.
Scott Hammond: My turn.
Jennifer Budwig: Keep going.
Scott Hammond: No, I, I just, I- it makes me sad because I, when I think of development and jobs and kids and a community,
Scott Hammond: and the only thing that people are trying to do is, about 83% of we have in common, is raise kids and have a, and have families and communities-
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … and do our thing. And it's like, okay, so that, that was interesting. Now we're, what are we gonna do to replace that?
Jennifer Budwig: Well, and I, and I also worry about, you know, these kids that grew up with it that were making so much money.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: And then all of a sudden they weren't. And you know, how many of them really, probably some of them didn't graduate high school.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: A lot of them didn't go on to college.
Jennifer Budwig: They don't-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … have another skill set. So now all of a sudden when your livelihood's gone, what, what do you do? You know-
Scott Hammond: What are you gonna do?
Jennifer Budwig: … what's, what's next, you know? So how are they surviving-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … and how do,
Jennifer Budwig: how do they-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … uh, continue on financially, uh, when their options are pretty limited?
Scott Hammond: Right. So d- it has a demographic back- backlash, I guess. I don't know.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Um, they said Garberville's pretty much desolate now. It's kind of a sad town.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Which makes me sad, uh, 'cause that was culturally the hub, if you will.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Um, Sheriff Downey had it down when we were homeschool weirdos 20 years ago. He was telling me about some stories generationally of just, like, it's, it's a hard life 'cause you get used to a, a standard of living, and then the kids and grandkids and value systems go out the window, and there's, there's some of the backlash of that.
Scott Hammond: But anyway, not my journey. Way above my pay grade.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And God bless us, and God bless all, all of that,
Scott Hammond: them.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yes.
Scott Hammond: Anyway, uh, where do we go from there? Let's talk, let's talk about your legacy. What do you wanna, what do you wanna be known for?
Jennifer Budwig: Ooh.
Scott Hammond: What are we gonna say at your, uh, funeral and your celebration of life?
Jennifer Budwig: I think probably the most important thing to me was that I was an authentic person. Um, what you see is what you get. I try to be as transparent as possible. I try to be kind to everybody.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, I really, uh, value my relationships.
Jennifer Budwig: Um-
Scott Hammond: I get that about you. You're a person, people person.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, totally. That is-
Scott Hammond: Connector
Jennifer Budwig: … yeah, that is definitely something that I, um, I just, I love people. I mean-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … to me, at the end of the day, that's what life's all about, right?
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: I'm not a really a materialistic person in that regard.
Scott Hammond: So you're energized by people.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, 100%.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah. Yeah. No, I-
Scott Hammond: And often we're married by peop- with people that are not energized by that.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That takes a real effort.
Scott Hammond: We love you-
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, isn't that funny?
Scott Hammond: … all out there.
Jennifer Budwig: That's, that's, you nailed it. You nailed ours, our, our-
Scott Hammond: It's true
Jennifer Budwig: … relationship. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Jennifer Budwig: And, but it, but sometimes that can be a great counterbalance, right?
Jennifer Budwig: And so-
Scott Hammond: It's true
Jennifer Budwig: … um, but I think that, that for me, I, um, I definitely am… I'm really involved in a lot of community things. I think I'm, like, on eight boards right now, and so-
Scott Hammond: What do you s- how do you serve? What do you do in the community?
Jennifer Budwig: Um, well, um-
Scott Hammond: Rotarian, we know that
Jennifer Budwig: … I'm a Rotarian. Yeah, I, um, we have a little group in Ferndale. It's a nonprofit called, um, um… Sorry, I got it mixed up with a different one. I was thinking Spirit of Ferndale. I'm on that board. Um, but then there's a second one that's called Noel for Neighbors, and we just started it a couple years ago.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Jennifer Budwig: So during the holidays what we do is we fundraise and then
Jennifer Budwig: we-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Jennifer Budwig: … get names from s- those schools, uh, Ferndale, Fortuna, Loleta,
Jennifer Budwig: and Scotia-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Jennifer Budwig: … of families that maybe could use some extra help.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Jennifer Budwig: And then we go and we shop and we give them gift ba- or food baskets-
Scott Hammond: That's sweet
Jennifer Budwig: … and then, yeah, the kids all get a, um, s- a, uh, toy and an, an article of clothing.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, and that's a tremendous lift. But it, we have just a great little group, little small board. There's five of us. We're a nonprofit.
Jennifer Budwig: But, um, uh, the other gals on that board are the ones that make it happen. They do all the shopping. It's, it's amazing.
Jennifer Budwig: Um-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … and I'm on the blood bank board.
Jennifer Budwig: Um-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Jennifer Budwig: … I am I'm trying to think of… I, there's, there's a bunch of others, but-
Scott Hammond: How many gallons do those, those blood people, man, they're like… Leroy the barber in McKinleyville has given, like, a million gallons of
Scott Hammond: blood.
Jennifer Budwig: Isn't it amazing?
Scott Hammond: He's a trip, man.
Jennifer Budwig: The regulars. I know.
Scott Hammond: I know. And I, God bless him. I think it's really cool.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, it's huge. It's huge. For every gallon of blood that you give, you save two lives.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Jennifer Budwig: You know? And so if you haven't done it before, think about it, because it's really something that is-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … and I understand, like, if you have a phobia of needles or you don't qualify because, like, I'm always borderline anemic, so-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … um, I'm always kinda… I always can do it, but I'm, like, right there.
Scott Hammond: Take your iron every day.
Jennifer Budwig: So some people… I know. Some people, uh, just can't, and totally understand it. But, um, if it's ever anything you've thought about, please, please, please donate.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Budwig: We always need more blood at the blood bank, and they-
Scott Hammond: Right
Jennifer Budwig: … are an amazing group of people down there. They do an incredible job.
Scott Hammond: Love it.
Jennifer Budwig: Really important service to our community.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Small community blood banks are… There's not a lot of them left.
Scott Hammond: They're critical, right?
Jennifer Budwig: They're, oh, they're so important-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … and we're really fortunate to have one in our backyard-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Jennifer Budwig: … 'cause it gives us that constant supply of blood, which is something you don't think about until you end up in the hospital, and you're so grateful that all of a sudden you have five pints of blood, like, right there.
Scott Hammond: It's in the fridge.
Jennifer Budwig: It's in the fridge. Pull it out and they give it to you, and-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Jennifer Budwig: … you wouldn't know to appreciate that unless all of a sudden you don't have it.
Scott Hammond: What's the one that's really rare? I don't know enough about blood.
Scott Hammond: There's-
Jennifer Budwig: I, I'll be honest, I
Scott Hammond: … O negative something.
Jennifer Budwig: I don't either. I think it's O negative.
Scott Hammond: Or something.
Jennifer Budwig: It's either O negative or O positive. It's very, very rare. And so-
Scott Hammond: So if that's you-
Jennifer Budwig: Yes. If that's you-
Scott Hammond: Go for it
Jennifer Budwig: … get in. They'd love to see you.
Scott Hammond: Well, thanks for coming.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Really appreciate you.
Jennifer Budwig: Thanks for having me. This is-
Scott Hammond: And congrats on your new job.
Jennifer Budwig: Well, thank you. I'm very excited about it. I'm really looking forward to-
Scott Hammond: Oh, I was gonna mention that Joni hikes with the Fortuna, uh, hikers on
Scott Hammond: Wednesdays.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh.
Scott Hammond: And they're on time or early. In fact, if you're not there at 8:30, they're probably gone.
Jennifer Budwig: They're gonna leave you.
Scott Hammond: I mean, they-
Jennifer Budwig: Do, do they do the park up behind the park?
Jennifer Budwig: The-
Scott Hammond: They do everything.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, okay. Okay.
Scott Hammond: They do, like, back roads and backwaters and Prairie Creek and-
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, nice. Oh, very nice
Scott Hammond: … that Williams whatever. I recognized one of the places you talked-
Jennifer Budwig: Williams Creek? Uh-huh.
Scott Hammond: There's the ranch that goes up above, um, Ferndale and goes over to Readel over that way.
Jennifer Budwig: Oh, um, yeah, the Russ Ranch. Well, there's Monument Road.
Scott Hammond: Monument Road.
Jennifer Budwig: Uh-huh.
Scott Hammond: It's right there on the map.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And then they do Copenhagen going out to Loleta.
Jennifer Budwig: Okay.
Scott Hammond: And Loleta's got a little renaissance going, right?
Jennifer Budwig: They do.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: They do. Yeah, yeah. Um, you know who's really taken Loleta by storm is the Jersey Boys.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Jennifer Budwig: Um, they are Scoops. Scoops.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Jennifer Budwig: So Foggy Bottom Boys.
Scott Hammond: Foggy Bottom.
Jennifer Budwig: Yeah, so they're an amazing duo right there.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Great guys.
Jennifer Budwig: Uh, they got all kinds of things going on. Yeah, they are-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Jennifer Budwig: … phenomenal. Talk about energy. They're like the Dick Taylor boys. They are such a success story-
Scott Hammond: I wanna hear it
Jennifer Budwig: … and they just endless energy, and they are movers and shakers. They got a lot going on.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, they're fun.
Jennifer Budwig: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Well, thanks again.
Jennifer Budwig: Thank you.
Scott Hammond: Hey, uh, and if you would like to, um, like us, love us, leave messages, subscribe, uh, gold bullion's fine too, uh, donate. We're on all the podcast platforms. We're on, uh, Humboldt, um,
Scott Hammond: uh… Gosh, isn't it weird? At the, as you get older, you just, like, things slip. Um, we're on YouTube, and we're on, uh, all the Humboldt channels, the, uh, the public channels. Humboldt… Access Humboldt. If I just got the Access in front of the Humboldt, I'll be there. Anyway, thanks for joining us. Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt, and thank you, Jennifer.
Jennifer Budwig: Thanks for having me.
Scott Hammond: Thank you.
Jennifer Budwig: This was very fun.