GroundWork / Tuscola County starter brief / Public discussion draft, May 2026

Agricultural access, land-based learning, and youth readiness through existing local infrastructure.

GroundWork is a public-facing youth agriculture and land-access initiative for Tuscola County, built to convene the actors and infrastructure already on the ground.

Prepared by Northstar Civic Institute / Community Equity Lab Series 2026 Initiative briefs

Purpose of this brief

This brief is not a request for appropriations, endorsement, or legislation. The goal is to test whether GroundWork is feasible in Tuscola County and identify the right local starters across education, 4-H and FFA, land, conservation, and agricultural workforce partners.

01Executive summary

The opportunity is convening and validation, not new bureaucracy.

GroundWork uses existing institutions, 4-H, FFA, MSU Extension, career and technical education, county GIS and land-bank tools, conservation partners, local farms, and community foundations, to create supervised land-based learning opportunities for young people.

The immediate opportunity in Tuscola County is not to create a new bureaucracy. It is to convene the right local actors, validate one or two practical sites, and test a small pilot that connects youth development, food security, agricultural workforce exposure, and productive land reuse.

02Why Tuscola County

The infrastructure is already here. The connection is missing.

Five reasons Tuscola County is the right place to test GroundWork before expanding the model elsewhere.

District leadership in the 97th House District spans portions of Bay, Genesee, Saginaw, and Tuscola counties, and includes chairmanship of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Public Health and Food Security.

ii.

Tuscola County already has practical education infrastructure. Tuscola Technology Center is a Tuscola ISD career and technical education facility in Caro, offering nineteen programs to 11th and 12th grade students and adult residents.

iii.

Tuscola County 4-H is already active through MSU Extension, with hands-on youth development programming that includes agriculture but is not limited to farm youth.

iv.

The county has public GIS tools for property boundaries, school districts, flood zones, and tax and sales information, which can support a practical site-screening process.

A Tuscola County Land Bank Authority exists and has publicly noticed meetings concerning land-bank agreement progress, which makes land reuse a realistic validation lane rather than a theoretical concept.

03What GroundWork would do

Four workstreams, each with a near-term, public deliverable.

The brief is built to test feasibility, not to launch a full program. Each workstream produces a tangible output a partner can review, adapt, or decline.

Workstream

Public-facing description

Near-term output

Youth agriculture access

Use 4-H, FFA, school, and community partners to expose youth to agricultural careers, food systems, conservation, ag technology, and land entrepreneurship.

Recruitment map and partner list for one starter cohort.

Site activation

Identify safe, accessible, publicly controlled or nonprofit-controlled land or facilities that can host supervised learning projects.

Site readiness matrix with three to five candidate locations.

Cross-community cohort

Bring together students from rural, small-town, and adjacent urban or suburban communities around a common land-based project.

One eight to twelve week pilot design with transportation and supervision plan.

Measurement and accountability

Track participation, attendance, skills gained, family engagement, community benefit, and youth movement into 4-H, FFA, CTE, or related pathways.

Simple public reporting template.

04Candidate sites and assets

Local assets worth validating, not commitments.

The list below identifies candidate site types and local assets to assess. These are not commitments from any partner and should not be presented as approved sites.

Important caveat

The locations below are candidate site types and local assets to validate. They are not commitments from any partner and should not be presented as approved sites.

i. Education hub

Caro / Tuscola Technology Center area

Central county education hub. Practical fit for orientation, career exposure, workshops, and school-connected recruitment.

ii. Youth development

MSU Extension / Tuscola 4-H network

Existing youth development structure with volunteer, family, project, and club experience.

iii. Public showcase

Tuscola County Fairgrounds

Natural venue for public demonstration, family engagement, agriculture visibility, and youth showcases through fair, 4-H, and FFA activities.

iv. Community bridge

Vassar / Millington connector

Useful bridge between rural Tuscola, Saginaw-area opportunity, and small-town youth access. Strong fit for a modest community garden or conservation project.

v. Land reuse

County land bank or tax-reverted parcel

Could turn an underused parcel into a supervised learning site, if safe and properly controlled.

vi. Environmental learning

Tuscola Conservation District site

Adds soil health, water quality, pollinator habitat, nature journaling, and conservation education.

vii. Career exposure

Local farms, co-ops, agribusinesses

Provides career exposure, mentoring, equipment literacy, and real employer context through Farm Bureau members and young farmers.

viii. Readiness factors

Cross-cutting screen

Every candidate site is screened against site control, safety and access, water and soil condition, program fit, community benefit, and sustainability.

ix. Decision authority

Public and nonprofit validators

School administrators, MSU Extension, the Conservation District, county GIS, EGLE if needed, and community foundation partners help validate readiness at each site.

05Pilot ladder

Four pilot levels, each tied to a clear use case.

A real budget should be built after site validation, partner commitments, insurance review, and transportation planning. The figures below are planning estimates only.

i. Best first step

Site validation sprint

Forty-five to sixty days. Stakeholder interviews, site scan, risk screen, and draft implementation plan.

Pre-cohort feasibility

ii. Tests feasibility

Micro-pilot

Eight weeks. Twelve to eighteen youth, one site, four to six workshops, simple project output.

Without overbuilding

iii. Proof of concept

Seasonal demonstration

Ten to twelve weeks. Twenty to thirty youth, one or two sites, family session, youth showcase, public outcome report.

Funder-ready

iv. Only after proof

Countywide cohort

Multi-site, school-connected cohort across several districts with transportation, partner stipends, and evaluation.

Post-pilot expansion

06The right starter introductions

The most useful first step is a warm introduction to local starters.

Not an endorsement, funding request, or legislative commitment. One or two local relationships are enough to start.

i. Education alignment

Tuscola ISD / Tuscola Technology Center

Facilities, recruitment, transportation, and CTE pathway fit.

ii. Youth development

MSU Extension / Tuscola County 4-H

Youth-development structure, volunteers, curriculum experience, and family trust.

iii. Producer credibility

Tuscola County Farm Bureau

Young Farmer leadership, employer visibility, mentors, site visits, and ag workforce insight.

iv. Public-sector

Land Bank, Treasurer, GIS, EDC, Planning

Site identification, parcel screening, land reuse, and public-sector coordination.

v. Environmental

Tuscola Conservation District

Soil, water, habitat, conservation education, and low-cost demonstration projects.

vi. Community legitimacy

Tuscola County Community Foundation

Youth voice, small grants, and family or community legitimacy through Future Youth Involvement.