Central Valley Opportunity Fund

06/16/2026

What’s on your plate, Merced? 🍽️✨
Food is more than what we eat — it shapes how we gather, tell stories, welcome visitors, support local businesses, and build a stronger sense of place.
Join us for What’s on Our Plate? The Future of Food, an evening conversation with chefs, hospitality leaders, food entrepreneurs, and tourism experts exploring the future of Merced’s food scene and the role food can play in economic growth, community identity, and regional connection.
📍 UC Merced on Main
655 W. Main Street, Merced, CA 95340
🗓️ Thursday, June 18
⏰ 5:30–7 PM
🎟️ Free community event — scan the QR code to register! Or visit bit.ly/PlacemakerLab
Come hungry for big ideas. 🌱

05/27/2026

Join us for conversations over two days that explore how food, hospitality, storytelling, tourism, and culinary culture help build stronger, more connected communities.

📍 June 17 | Food as Place: How Culinary Culture Shapes Community
A full-day experience featuring nationally recognized chefs, hospitality leaders, food systems experts, and entrepreneurs exploring the future of food, destination development, local identity, and community-building through culinary culture.

✔ Attend the full day (lunch included)
✔ Or register for individual sessions that interest you most
✔ Free and open to the public

Sessions include:
• Culinary Training as a Catalyst for Food Culture
• Edible Infrastructure: Food, Markets & Agriculture
• Hospitality as Place Strategy
• Chef-Led Storytelling & Food Identity

📍 June 18 | What’s on Our Plate? The Future of Food
An evening conversation bringing together leaders from food, hospitality, agriculture, and tourism to discuss emerging trends, entrepreneurship, local sourcing, and the future of the Welcome Economy.

Featured speakers and panelists include:
Master Chef Daryl Shular, Chef Marshal Shafkowitz, Chef Nina Curtis, Anthony Mirisciotta, Juan Solano, Maryam Ahmed, Chef Matt Cooper, Chef Colin Sato, and Chef Rafael Rios.

📍 Locations:
MCOE Mondo Building + UC Merced on Main
🎟 Free Community Seminars
📝 Registration required: bit.ly/PlacemakerLab

Presented by Placemaker Lab in partnership with North Valley Thrive and UC Merced Professional & Continuing Education.

05/20/2026

Big things are coming to Main Street! ✨
Join us for Storefront Design: Designing Storefronts for Small Business Success on Wednesday, June 10 from 5:30–7:00 PM at Mainzer Cinema. This workshop will feature Jaime Izurieta of Storefront Mastery, who will share practical, creative ways small businesses can make their storefronts more inviting, eye-catching, and effective.
Plus, attendees will learn about the Merced Downtown Storefront Program — a new grant opportunity for eligible Downtown Merced businesses offering up to $10,000, along with additional design consulting support.
Whether you own a business, support downtown revitalization, or just want to see Main Street thrive, this is a session you won’t want to miss. 🌆
📍 Mainzer Cinema | 655 W. Main St., Merced
📅 Wednesday, June 10 | 5:30–7:00 PM
🔗 Register: bit.ly/PlacemakerLab

05/13/2026

🎨 MERCED AF IS COMING.
For one week, Downtown Merced turns into an open-air creative festival filled with murals, music, photography, film, workshops, and community experiences happening all across downtown.
Expect artists painting live in real time, local businesses hosting activations, photographers documenting the city, and a huge downtown takeover during the Art Flop on May 23rd. 💥
Whether you’re into art, music, culture, photography, or just want to experience something different in Merced — this is for you.
✨ Highlights include:
🎨 Live mural installations
📸 Photography exhibitions + mural photo walks
🎶 Performances at Bob Hart Square
🛍️ 30+ participating downtown businesses
🎥 Documentary filming throughout the festival
🤝 Community workshops + panels
📍 Downtown Merced
📅 May 18–24
🎉 Free + open to all ages
This is about celebrating local creativity and showing what’s possible when a community comes together to make something exciting happen.
Follow .af for updates 👀 Downtown Merced City of Merced, CA USA

05/06/2026

What does it take to move a downtown project from vision to reality?

Join us for From Vision to Viable: Making Place-Based Development Pencil, a Placemaker Lab session designed for downtown, Business Improvement District (BID), and district leaders navigating the intersection of community vision and development feasibility. This session explores why promising projects stall and how intentional alignment across market demand, public policy, and community priorities can help move them forward.
Through real-world examples, participants will gain practical insight into how deals are evaluated, where friction occurs, and how to serve as effective bridges between cities, developers, and the community.
This session will feature Wes Craiglow, AICP, Executive Director of Urban Land Institute Northwest Arkansas. Special thanks to Daniel Hintz for his partnership in bringing this session to the Placemaker Lab series.

📅 Thursday, May 7
🕠 5:30 – 7:00 PM
💻 Virtual session
🔗 Register: bit.ly/PlacemakerLab

04/06/2026

What makes great places work?
Join us for Placemaking 101: Understanding What Makes Great Places Work, a full-day placemaking experience and the kickoff to the Placemaker Lab series in Merced.
From urban design and economic vitality to destination strategy and implementation, this session brings together nationally recognized experts to explore what it takes to turn vision into action across our region.
Hosted by North Valley THRIVE and UC Merced Division of Professional & Continuing Education.
📅 April 15 | 9 AM – 4 PM
📍 UC Merced on Main
Open to the public. Registration required:
🔗 bit.ly/PlacemakerLab

01/08/2026

💼✨ Strong communities start with strong youth! Thanks to the Central Valley Opportunity Fund, the Boys & Girls Club’s Teen Workforce Readiness Program is giving Merced teens real-world job experience, mentorship, and essential skills like teamwork, goal setting, and financial literacy.
Students complete 40 hours of classroom instruction + 60 hours of hands-on work experience with local businesses—building confidence, preparing for the future, and opening doors to school, career, and life success. 🌟
Investing in teens today = empowered youth building a thriving community!

12/18/2025

🎄✨ MERCED HISTORY IN THE MAKING — 2025 MERCED CHRISTMAS PARADE ✨🎄

The biggest Merced Christmas Parade yet 🎉

Over 109 floats, thousands lining the streets, and the entire community showing up to celebrate the season together. This year wasn’t just a parade — it was a moment for Merced.

From local businesses and schools to clubs, creatives, and families, downtown Merced was filled with lights, music, and hometown pride. This is what community looks like. ❤️

The parade was made possible by a partnership of the following groups Central Valley Opportunity Fund; Merced DNA - Downtown Neighborhood Association Downtown Merced; Merced Main Street Association and City of Merced - Home

We are so grateful to our Presenting Sponsor Mercy Medical Center Merced, our Gold Sponsor UC Merced, our Silver Sponsors Merced College, Fluetsch and Busby Insurance Doug Fluetsch, City of Merced - Home and our Bronze Sponsor Joseph Gallo Farms!

Thank you to everyone who made the 2025 Merced Christmas Parade unforgettable. We’re already counting down to next year.

📍 Downtown Merced

🎅🎁🌟

🎄✨ MERGED HISTORY IN THE MAKING — 2025 MERCED CHRISTMAS PARADE ✨🎄The biggest Merced Christmas Parade yet 🎉Over 108 floats, thousands lining the streets, a...

12/10/2025

Honored to support our Boys and Girls club! Great things are happen there!

11/17/2025

Time Well Spent in Bob Hart Square. Downtown Merced, CA.

For nearly 100 years, a clock has stood in Downtown Merced—a familiar landmark, a meeting spot, and a symbol of our community’s heartbeat. The current clock, beloved but no longer functioning, is slated for removal. Now is our moment to honor the past and invest in the future with a brand-new community clock in Bob Hart Square.

Purchase a “Save the Clock” t-shirt, and your support goes directly toward the replacement of the Downtown Merced clock. Even better: Every dollar raised through t-shirt sales will be matched by the Central Valley Opportunity Fund (CVOF) up to $27,000, doubling your impact.

Buy a shirt. Spread the word. Save the clock.
Buy on Bonfire here:
https://bit.ly/4r3j2pP