Don't WIG out at the Last Minute on Grant Writing

by John Kelley, The Beck Group Consulting

Service Spotlight: Grant Writing Assistance

If you’re in the timber industry, you have probably heard of US Forest Service Wood Innovation Grants, commonly called WIGs. In essence, these are a family of incentive programs for stimulating US wood products and wood energy markets, which translate into enhanced ability to manage forests into the future. While the program is open to all wood utilization technologies, a focus is new and/or better ways to utilize small diameter timber and biomass resulting from forest management thinning.

The family of WIG program grants varies, and we do not yet know what specific grant programs will be offered this year. However, if past tendencies hold, there will be a few forms of grants on offer; they will require recipients to make matching contributions for any monies received, and the program will be open to for-profit entities, state and local governments, Indian tribes, school districts, communities, not-for-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, and special purpose districts (such as fire districts, ports, conservation districts, etc.).

The call for applications will likely open during National Forest Products Week, which begins on October 20, 2024. Applications will likely need to be complete by early-to-mid December. Since this means a lot of supporting documentation, now is the time to lay groundwork.

The first step would be to review the USFS page on the Wood Innovations Program, to get an idea of what was on offer last year and what proposals were funded. While there is no guarantee that the same sorts of grants will be offered, BECK believes they will. We recommend starting now by:

Reviewing the past grant offerings to see which, if offered again, would best suit your organization’s needs. Operate on the assumption that those, or something similar, will again be on offer. If it turns out not to be, but others are, you will have gathered the information to help you decide.
Contacting The Beck Group to speak with one of our consultants. We’ll be glad to give you feedback about your plans and discuss how we might be able to assist in preparing your grant proposal.
Obtaining letters of support from local associates and allies in the community. Bankers always want to see their customers invest in the community and bring in Federal funds. Clients who might be ready consumers of new material would be good calls, as would local vendors who would be glad to show that they appreciate your business; this is where the goodwill you have created pays off. The USFS likes to hear that small communities with limited opportunities will have improved economic prospects with more employment.
Getting quotations and/or estimates for any new equipment and/or contracting that might be necessary. That data collection can take some time, and it would be crippling not to know how much money you really need until the holiday shopping season kicks off.
Thinking about your angle. In addition to rural jobs and small diameter timber utilization, does your project benefit women, minority enterprises, and/or underserved communities? Tribal interests? Something else? Consider all the good things that would happen to your area if the USFS contributed funding. The USFS representatives across the West are eager to deploy their funding wisely and to the benefit of as many people as possible. We at BECK have found them very helpful when it comes to grant applications.

Finally, here’s what a few of our past clients had to say about BECK’s grant proposal assistance services:

“It was a pleasure working with Roy Anderson at The Beck Group. Roy’s hard work in preparing a strong Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance Grant proposal was not something I could have accomplished on my own. I was jumping up and down when I got the news our project was funded!”

Jerry Gingerich, Stillwater Post & Pole, Olney, Montana

"Hearing that we got the USFS grants was quite exciting. Thank you, Beck Group, for all of your help. What a ride that was down to the last minute!"

Katie Heck, Controller, Vaagen Bros. Lumber, Inc.

Contact our office at info@beckgroupconsulting.com or call (503) 684-3406 to talk with a BECK consultant and begin making plans now – while it’s much easier than it will be in late November. If you decide to engage our assistance with your grant application, we will reserve your spot on our schedule. In that case, we in turn will plan to make the process as easy and straightforward for you as any Federal grant application can possibly be.

United States Forest Service Factsheets (WIG, CW, WPIA grants):