Beatrice hears federal funding strategy from Merchant McIntyre Associates

Brent, a representative of Merchant McIntyre Associates, told the Beatrice City Council the firm has more than $11,000,000 in grant applications pending on the city’s behalf and highlighted a $782,000 earmark currently included in Senate appropriations language.

The presentation, delivered during the council’s discussion period, described Merchant McIntyre’s approach to federal funding: reviewing presidential budget requests, committee reports and agency guidance, and engaging directly with program officers to build competitive applications.

“The environment is certainly more challenging in some ways, but we also have worked extremely hard this year to prepare the city,” Brent said. He and other consultants said Merchant McIntyre has a team in Washington, D.C., that focuses on congressional appropriations and discretionary grants for local governments.

Charlie Pistner, another consultant, described a targeted push to prepare a Brownfields Cleanup Grant application for the Dempster site in Beatrice and said the application is expected to be due in late November. He said the consultants are working with the Nebraska Department of Environment, Energy and Water and technical assistance providers to assemble the application.

Mary Ellen Golczewski and other consultants outlined Department of Justice opportunities they recommend the city consider. They identified the DOJ body-worn camera grant (50% required local match; $2,000 per camera cap) with a short timeline, and a community-based violence intervention and prevention grant that requires no local match and has an award ceiling the consultants said is “around $500,000.” Both DOJ proposals had application windows with full proposals due Nov. 3, according to the presentation.

Brent also summarized an estimate of the city’s return on its payment to Merchant McIntyre: he said the city has received about $21,600,000 in grant awards to date, which the firm described as a roughly $112 return for every dollar paid to the firm. He noted that this figure does not include city staff time and that a large single grant accounts for a significant share of the total.

Council members thanked the consultants for visiting the Dempster site and for outlining both federal and state cleanup grant paths. Tobias J. Templemeyer, the city administrator, was repeatedly credited in the presentation as the staff partner who helped assemble documentation and facilitate agency conversations.

The consultants recommended the city plan now for FY 2027 congressional earmark requests and noted that the timing for receipt of the $782,000 earmark (currently in appropriations language) could be about a year and a half after appropriations are finalized. They also urged the council to prioritize readymade projects that demonstrate the city will spend federal dollars effectively.

Council members asked for follow-up on grant timelines and cost estimates; the consultants said they would provide more detailed next-step materials to city staff. The presentation closed with an offer to assist the city in preparing the Brownfields application and other competitive grant submissions.