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County hears pitch from KO Consulting on grant writing and strategic funding; commissioners ask for proposal
Summary
KO Consulting presented a countywide grant strategy and offered to scale services from research and planning to full grant writing and compliance; commissioners asked for a formal proposal and discussed piloting a limited contract.
KO Consulting (KO), a Northeast Ohio grants and community development firm, presented to commissioners its approach to strategic grant planning, grant writing and compliance services and said it could scale work to county needs, from a short planning engagement to longer monthly contracts.
Why it matters: County leaders said they want more capacity to pursue state, federal, foundation and corporate funding and named both large capital requests and smaller recurring grants as targets. Commissioners and county department heads noted that implementation and administration capacity matters if the county wins large grants and asked KO to propose a scope that prioritizes strategic planning and capacity building.
What KO proposed: KO Consulting described a “funding‑readiness assessment,” a grant strategy calendar and a suite of services including research, application drafting, compliance, draw‑down assistance and reporting. KO said its pricing is typically $75 per hour and that contracts are tailored; staff said they use a month‑to‑month out clause to provide flexibility. KO said most federal grants take 60–100 hours to prepare while smaller foundation grants can take about 10 hours.
County response and next steps: Commissioners asked the firm to submit a written proposal with scaled options (planning only; small contract; larger contract for application and compliance). Several department heads and commissioners emphasized the need for KO to avoid bidding competitively against the county on the same opportunities and to coordinate with existing county grant efforts (planning, sanitary, port authority). KO agreed to deliver a proposal by the end of the week and indicated staff could support early planning work with a modest initial investment.
What was said: “We look at our firm as an add‑on — how can we help you get more dollars?” KO’s CEO said. County staff said they want an initial strategic planning engagement before pursuing large solicitations to ensure the county can implement awards.
Ending: Commissioners asked staff to review KO’s proposal when submitted and consider a small pilot purchase that emphasizes strategic planning and capacity building before committing to larger monthly contracts.
