The Member Support & Strategy team assists local governments in addressing operational challenges and opportunities. Local governments face a growing list of responsibilities and public expectations, often with limited staff capacity and resources.
Our work aims to ensure local community demand is met in a fiscally responsible way and to meet the following goals:
- Offer a variety of assistance to support the diverse needs of our members.
- Increase capacity on hard-to-fill or duplicative assistance areas.
- Serve as a source of guidance, technical expertise, and advocacy.
- Provide cost-effective and locally-driven expertise
Grant Writing and Administration
Our Grant Assistance Program provides member governments with holistic assistance to meet their grant goals by:
- tracking funding programs
- developing project concepts and proposals
- writing and/or reviewing applications
- assisting with reporting and administration of awarded grants
- engaging funding agency and conducting proactive outreach on programs
- evaluating application successes and longer-term trends
- facilitating internal prioritization and coordination of grant processes
- advocacy support from CPRC's federal consultant Strategics Consulting.
Learn about successful grants and we support participating communities
American Rescue Plan SLFRF Implementation
The American Rescue Plan (ARPA), passed into law in March 2021, allocated +$750M in direct financial assistance to local governments in our region to help with economic recovery from COVID-19. This substantial investment means that every local government in our region received direct federal funding, which comes with specific rules, compliance, and opportunities.
In order to ensure cities, towns, and counties can use their ARPA funds to make the best impact in their communities, the NC General Assembly provided direct funding to CPRC and the statewide COG network.
CPRC continues to assist local governments with receiving, spending, administering and reporting on their ARPA funds, including the administration of $20M of non-profit sub-award projects for Wake County.
For direct assistance or guidance on ARPA and State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), reach out to Tara Nattress, tnattress@centralpinesnc.gov.
See our tips and guidance on grants and federal or state funding.
Public Workforce Initiative
Strong communities require a strong and supported public workforce. Our newly launched Public Workforce Initiative assists local governments across the region as they continue to face unprecedented challenges to recruit, retain, and support the wellbeing of their workforce.
Through focus groups with regional managers and human resources staff, and a regional survey of supervisory-level staff, four goals have emerged:
- better data
- an increased candidate pool
- improved employee wellbeing
- stronger public awareness & marketing of career opportunities
In the summer of 2022, we partnered with RTI International to conduct a survey of 300+ public sector managers in our region to get a foundational understanding of the impact of the state of the workforce on our local government organizations. The results of this survey are key drivers of the Public Workforce Initiative.
Trends in the Data
- Wages are a driving factor
- Staff are working beyond their normal hours and responsibilities
- Most local governments have not scaled back services due to limited capacity
- It is more difficult to recruit
- Concern that staff are not highly valued by constituents and elected officials
- Public Safety continues to face unique challenges