Helping Wyoming Establish a Grants Management Office

Project Overview

In 2024, Governor Mark Gordon directed the Wyoming State Budget Department (SBD) to establish the State’s first centralized Grants Management Office (GMO); designed to support state agencies, local and Tribal governments, small businesses, and nonprofits in identifying, securing, and managing grant funding.

To bring this vision to life, SBD engaged Hagerty to design and launch two transformational initiatives: the Wyoming Grant Assistance Program (WYGAP) and the Wyoming Grants Connect Hub. Together, these efforts equip communities across Wyoming with the tools and support needed to navigate historic levels of federal and state funding, including resources from the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA), Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS and Science Act, and One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Understanding the Mission

Ultimately, Governor Gordon’s initiative represents a long-term commitment to building statewide capacity for securing and managing federal funding. By launching the GMO and WYGAP, Wyoming is investing in its ability to pursue transformative projects and compete for critical federal resources. Overall, these grant management initiatives are designed not only to meet today’s needs but to position future generations for success.

The Hagerty Approach

Within 90 days, Hagerty supported the State in standing up a fully operational GMO tailored to Wyoming’s unique grant management needs.  We delivered staffing plans, workflows, stakeholder engagement strategies, and a robust communications framework to launch operations quickly and effectively.

Through WYGAP, Hagerty provides technical assistance across the full grant lifecycle—including project planning, grant research and writing, and compliance support. Our services are responsive and tailored, helping communities address challenges like wildfire recovery, unmet housing needs, water and sewer infrastructure needs, and community infrastructure planning.

The GMO’s approach is rooted in collaboration. Instead of prescribing solutions, the GMO, with Hagerty’s support, responds directly to community-identified priorities. This “meet-you-where-you-are” model ensures that assistance is accessible, relevant, and sustainable—empowering communities to build internal grant management capacity.

Achieving Results

In just one year, the GMO has become a trusted partner across all 23 Wyoming counties. To date, WYGAP has delivered support to more than 400 state agencies, Tribal and local governments, nonprofits, small businesses, and other organizations.

In its first year, WYGAP fielded 430 technical assistance requests—an average of 36 per month—and delivered 525 individual services. These services included:

• 25 grant application reviews that strengthened competitive submissions
• More than 100 one-on-one consultations
• 163 opportunity scans summarizing funding opportunities for specific projects
• 32 grant summaries outlining eligibility and submission requirements
• Over 150 resource referrals connecting communities with funding and planning partners

WYGAP also hosted two statewide and two Tribal Funding Summits in Riverton, Wyoming, training over 300 participants in grant planning, writing, and management.

To date, GMO and Hagerty have supported Wyoming communities in securing over $9 million in state and federal grant funding. This includes assisting Big Horn County with an application for its Orchard Bench Road Safety Project, which was awarded a $4 million grant by the United States (US) Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Grant Program. The team also helped the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services secure a $3 million Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund Grant from the US Department of Labor.

Together, Hagerty and the State of Wyoming are building a strong foundation that enables communities to successfully pursue and manage funding now and in the future.