Our municipal and private sector clients are prioritizing the need to repair crumbling infrastructure, revitalize older communities, and embrace Smart Growth, but they are often faced with tight budgets. With a strain on financial resources, communities and businesses are turning to federal, state, and county programs to assist in accomplishing these repairs. This includes planning and revitalization, implementation, recreational improvements, and other quality of life and sustainability issues. Pennoni takes great pride in helping to create opportunities for our clients.
Grant writing is an extension of the knowledge, resources and project experience we offer to our clients. We have assisted our clients in securing grant money for a variety of purposes, including parks and trails, community development, recreation space, land acquisitions, feasibility studies, energy initiatives, green infrastructure, transportation improvements, and more. Through our research and grant writing, numerous clients have improved their communities by using these funds for their projects. Beyond securing the grants, our experts can also design and complete projects once funds are awarded.
We understand grants can be difficult to obtain, and we know the process can seem cumbersome. Each grant is unique in length, purpose, and parties involved. Our full-service capabilities and expertise in a variety of project sizes sets our grant writing apart. Our grant writing team, consisting of diverse engineers, landscape architects, and land planners, provides a unique combination of creativity and practical knowledge. Winning grants requires writing expertise to know what “buzz words” need to be included in the application to cue the granting agency in on the uniqueness of the project and how the award will satisfy the funding requirements.
As an example, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf recently announced an investment of $50 million for 280 projects across the state that will create recreational opportunities and, in turn, conserve natural resources and revitalize local communities. This will be awarded through grants by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).
Through the DCNR program, we recently helped four clients secure grants for their projects. One of these municipalities needed funding for a comprehensive recreation, park and open space feasibility study. As Municipal engineer, we already had the background knowledge and were able to approach them with this grant opportunity. We worked with them to decide how to best utilize the grant source and assisted in completing the application. They were recently notified that they were selected, and our engineers will begin assisting in implementing the funds for their study to help the municipality gain information to use as a reference for the development of future projects and initiatives.
For more information on Pennoni’s grant writing services, please contact Joseph Viscuso, Senior Vice President and Director of Strategic Growth at JViscuso@Pennoni.com.