Concord. Devens. Dedham. Holliston. Holyoke. New Bedford. Milton. Northampton. Wakefield. Watertown. Wellesley. Weston.
To say we’ve been busy helping all of these clients with their Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) work is an understatement. We tap our experience working with cities of all shapes and sizes nationwide - from Encinitas, CA, to San Antonio, TX, and West Palm Beach, FL - and bring to the table a range of innovative approaches to climate, resilience and overall sustainability with strong results for smaller Massachusetts communities.
And with a new round of MVP funding just announced, we're ready to keep rolling.
The MVP program “provides support for cities and towns in Massachusetts to plan for resiliency and 
implement key climate change adaptation actions for resiliency. The state awards communities with funding to complete vulnerability assessments and develop action-oriented resiliency plans. Communities who complete the MVP program become certified as an MVP community and are eligible for MVP Action grant funding and other opportunities.”
This is an incredible opportunity for Massachusetts communities. Kudos to the Commonwealth for recognizing the need for collective climate resilience -- that we’re in this together and that climate change won’t impact Concord and leave Weston untouched and v/v -- and for stepping up with the structure and resources to turn talk into action.
It is a robust program, and it just got bigger and better:
- 71% of Massachusetts communities (249) are MVP designated
- $17M has been award for planning and action grants to date
A new round of funding was just announced today, and KLA's Angela Cleveland was on hand for it. Here is what we know:
- Communities will be eligible for $15K-$100K in funding for planning grants with projects completed by 6/30/20. There is $1M total for these projects.
- MVP communities will be eligible for $25K-$2M in funding for action grants with projects completed by 6/30/20 or 6/30/21. There is $10M total for these projects annually.
- Awards announced in January 2020.
- If your community has not received MVP certification but you're finished listening sessions and workshops, you are still eligible for an action grant.
Are you ready to go after that money? KLA can help.
We've already worked with clients to secure more than $630,000 for both planning and action grants.
Don't leave money on the table.
When KLA has written proposals with an enhanced scope for planning grants our clients we have averaged $54K as opposed to $25K when our clients have written proposals on their own.
If there are projects related to community engagement, GHG inventories or similar, we can build that into the planning grant proposals which allow for up to $100K in funding.
We start by putting together MVP applications for free, no strings attached. The implementation services we offer include:
- Interactive facilitation for community workshops (Holliston bottom left)
- Online surveys and community dashboard
- Climate vulnerability assessments
- Multi-hazard mitigation plan updates
- GHG inventories
- Branding, marketing and communications strategy (Dedham and Wakefield logos at right)
- Weekly social media content
- Climate action and resilience plans
Contact KLA today to see how we can help you get the most out of the new MVP funding.
