OGM director says new office is paying for itself after $12M in awards

Rafael P. Murphy, director of Montgomery County's Office of Grants Management, told the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee that the office has significantly increased the county's grant activity and yield. "We sent out 346 grants opportunities to Montgomery County Government stakeholders," Murphy said, and described an average 2.6-day turnaround from when an opportunity posts to when departments receive notice. He added that the office uses a five-person contract pool of grant writers to respond quickly to tight deadlines.

Murphy highlighted the office's return on investment, saying $82,000 spent through the grant-writer contract helped net roughly $10 million from a single Department of Public Safety-related award (still under negotiation) and that the office helped bring in over $12 million in FY24 and about $15 million year-to-date in FY25. He also described internal responsibilities that include process navigation, project management and training for department stakeholders. "I approve things in 0.5 a day on average," Murphy said, citing an expedited internal approval authority that speeds application submission.

Murphy framed those gains as part of OGM's dual mission: increasing incoming (state, federal, private) funding while also running outgoing competitive grants for community partners. He told the committee the office plans to expand training, public outreach and a spring conference to build grant-readiness across county departments and nonprofit partners. The committee thanked Murphy for the update and acknowledged the office remains new and building capacity.