Grants in Wyoming: Constraints and Solutions

Wyoming communities are reliant on grants to fund local priorities, yet the grants system is not effectively meeting the needs of many communities across the state. This problem is central to the growth challenges of many rural economies across the state. Although this problem pre-dates the recent expansion of federal grant programs, the importance of this problem has grown in the last several years as the scale and complexity of federal grant opportunities — particularly discretionary grants — has increased. Wyoming communities are struggling to navigate and benefit from these federal funding opportunities. As of late 2023, the state is significantly underperforming many comparator states in the number of federal grants received and the distribution of federal grants across the state. Grant writers and administrators face a sometimes impossible task in navigating an ever-shifting grants landscape. This is a challenge for local governments across the country but may be especially important in Wyoming due to narrow local tax bases and the rural nature of the state. Through an eight-month effort combining research and action, we have explored the causes of this problem to inform potential solutions. We have identified four principal constraints that are most to blame for Wyoming’s underperformance: (1) Lack of relationships between communities and funders; (2) Inability to follow changing grant opportunities (esp. federal); (3) Shortage of prioritized community needs and “grant ready” project plans; and (4) Overreliance on “local heroes” – especially for smaller communities. We argue that these challenges are “principal constraints” because they are binding for the largest number of communities, especially smaller communities. However, there are additional constraints that are critical for other communities, especially those that have more experience with accessing state and federal grants. This note summarizes key evidence we have found on each of these principal constraints. These constraints occur early in the grants process, meaning many potentially promising grant opportunities are never pursued. We find that many federal grant programs and discretionary award processes are inconsistent with the realities of scarce staff, resources, and bandwidth of local governments, especially in small communities. However, we find widespread examples and evidence that these constraints can be overcome through actions to enable a strong state-wide network that supports local leaders and grant administrators. Examples of success within the state and in other states show that building the capabilities of the network and enabling all communities to access the knowhow of the network can lead to much better grant outcomes. The note closes with a discussion of how to target a network-enabling response to the grants problem. We outline a first-best option that centers on establishing regional officers who would be responsible for a set of tasks that would respond directly to the principal constraints identified. This approach would require annual funding, but preliminary analysis shows the return on investment overall would be very high and the approach would have the greatest benefits for smaller communities across the state. Very initial designs have been explored for how to establish such a system building on existing assets. Finally, we compare this first-best approach to alternative approaches that are closer to the current support actions underway in the state.