I wanted to talk to you this month about getting your fair share of available Federal dollars. As you are probably aware, the current highway bill created dozens of new discretionary funding programs to help pay for all kinds of transportation related projects. The key to capturing those funds is to make sure your project fits in well with a particular grant program. This will give you the best shot at having your project funded. So, the right project needs to be paired with the right grant. Check out the USDOT Discretionary Grants Dashboard. It provides communities with an overview of discretionary grant opportunities that can help meet their transportation infrastructure needs. Also check out the calendar of open and upcoming grant opportunities! Also, there has never been a better time for local public agencies to team up with some of their neighbors to submit a grant. Larger projects with lots of agency partners tend to favor well in the competitive selection process. I know that NACO is working to match groups of counties and projects together to make effective grant applications. They have also developed and posted a list of consultants that can help counties prepare and apply for federal grants, along with an RFQ template which counties can use to identify their own consultant. NACOs web site includes many resources for counties pursuing federal money: https://nebraskacounties.org/resources/infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act.html. If you have any questions about how to get started, shoot me an email.