The Permian Strategic Partnership announced on July 27 an initiative to provide professional grant writing, management, and training expertise to local governments, school districts, and non-profits in rural West Texas counties to strengthen their ability to successfully compete for state, federal, and private grant programs.

Said Tracee Bentley, CEO of the Partnership, “Many local communities, governments and organizations simply do not have the staff or expertise available to perform this work, and PSP is delighted to help provide these services to build capacity for local governments and non-profits.”

The Partnership will provide $250,000 in funding to support the program. Eligible rural counties include Andrews, Crane, Culberson, Gaines, Glasscock, Howard, Martin, Loving, Pecos, Reeves, Upton, Ward, Winkler and Yoakum.

The Partnership has contracted with Resource Match, LLC, to serve as the grant writing and administration consultant for this initiative. Resource Match is a group of strategic planning and grant-writing consultants focused on small communities. The team helps organizations focus priorities, find available resources, and realize their vision. Their goal is to help make it easier to identify and pursue various grant opportunities to expedite projects in the 14 counties.

Rural America consists of 90% of the nation’s territory and 19% of its population, yet only 5%-6% of private philanthropic dollars are granted to these regions. As a result, rural areas miss out on securing funds for critical community development projects.

PSP funds will support eligible grant applications in the five PSP areas of focus - public education, housing, healthcare, road safety, and workforce development.

“The founding principle of PSP was to work in partnership with local governments and organizations to help our Permian Basin communities flourish, and we believe this investment will enhance capacity for local governments and organizations in West Texas counties,” concluded Bentley.

For more information or to speak with a member of the grants team, contact info@resourcematching.com.