Consultant urges Plymouth to centralize grant management and hire a contract grant manager

Abby Kendall, who conducted a gap analysis of grant management across Plymouth departments, told the Select Board she found $928,000 in actively managed grants and notable risks from decentralized recordkeeping and uneven compliance. "There is $928,000 in grants being actively managed," Kendall said, adding that the largest single award in the portfolio is the FEMA SAFER grant, at about $774,000.

Kendall identified four recurring problems: capacity gaps (department heads lack time to manage grants), the absence of standardized application templates and reporting procedures, collaboration gaps that prevented departments from identifying complementary opportunities, and technology gaps (scattered files on thumb drives and personal servers). "There's a lot of risk that comes with that," she said, urging the town to centralize its grant records and processes.

Her primary recommendation was hiring a contract grant manager (not necessarily full-time) to inventory the grant portfolio, tighten FEMA compliance, develop policies and standard operating procedures, and support departments with application and reporting work. Kendall proposed a first‑year budget range of $51,000–$71,000 to fund a contract grant manager, grant management software, cloud document storage and professional memberships. "The 1st step would be hiring a contract grant manager," she told the board.

Board members expressed general support and asked staff to place the proposal on a future agenda for further discussion. Select Board members noted potential near‑term opportunities (transportation funding for recreation, television station operational grants, and library HVAC/solar repairs) a centralized grant manager might pursue.

Next steps: the board requested staff follow up to place the recommendations on a future agenda and consider budget and scope for a contract grant manager.