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You Asked, VLCT's Federal Funding Assistance Program Is Here to Help

December 14, 2022

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When you talk, VLCT listens. Consistently, respondents to our annual Member Survey have cited funding, access to grants, research and writing, as the top area for needing help. It was the #1 service need for 67.7% of respondents this year! We understand that capacity is a major concern for towns of all sizes.

“Unprecedented,” “Watershed,” “Historic Investment,” “Life-changing,” “Transformational." . . . Are you feeling the pressure?   

Lack of paid staff and often only a small group of elected officials to shoulder all the work are challenging. Developing smart, sustainable projects – big or small – takes time, planning, resources, sustained commitment, and expertise. It starts with prioritizing local needs, assessing the funding landscape, and creating an implementation plan. In this watershed moment of federal funding opportunities, now is the time to turn your ideas into actions, but you need help. Whether it is taking the very first step or removing a stumbling block along the way, we can provide added capacity that allows your important projects to access additional funds and reach successful completion.

In this watershed moment of federal funding opportunities, now is the time to turn your ideas into actions but you need help. Whether it is taking the very first step or removing a stumbling block along the way, we can provide added capacity ...  

Federal Funding Assistance Program

VLCT has created the Federal Funding Assistance Program (FFA) with this at the forefront of our minds. Modeled after our highly successful ARPA Assistance and Coordination Program, FFA takes our work with ARPA under its wing and expands it to include the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL, aka Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, IIJA), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and other new and existing state and federal grant programs. We do the work of sifting through the tsunami of information, and we work with our broad network of state, federal, statewide, and national partners to be your voice in their processes and to curate only programs and resources for which you are eligible and that are relevant to our Vermont scale. We know that no two projects are the same, but most have a lot in common. Creating consistency and support systems gives us bandwidth to work with you on drilling down to the unique challenges.  

Our FFA team is small but mighty! Katie Buckley and Bonnie Waninger bring decades of experience working for and with municipalities and the State of Vermont. We’ve led and supported local projects and tackled complex challenges with creative solutions. As VLCT’s FFA Program launches, we have built these critical resources to get you started.

  • New Federal Funding Assistance Program webpage 
  • VLCT's Vermont Federal Funding Guidebook – modeled after the 500-page “Building A Better America,” in this book we have distilled the hundreds of funding opportunities enacted by BIL and IRA down to the ones that are relevant to Vermont municipalities. 
  • “Consults On Call” – You can easily book a 15-minute meeting with our FFA team during our weekly office hours. We know many of you have full time jobs outside of local government, so we have evening hours to meet your schedules. Interested? Book your appointment HERE. Need more than 15 minutes?  Email us at ffa@vlct.org to schedule a longer consultation. 
  • FFA Tip of the Week  
  • And more to come … 

As federal funding opportunities abound (aka overwhelm!), please consider us as your navigators! 

 

VLCT proposed the idea of the FFA Program to the Vermont General Assembly during the 2022 legislative session.  We are grateful to the legislators and Governor Scott for supporting our proposal. The FFA Program is funded by a two-year grant through the State of Vermont.