Johnson Mayor 'Shaky' Over Grant Promises
Last updated Monday, February 7, 2005 10:19 PM CST in News
By John T. Anderson
The Morning News
ROGERS -- Six months after signing a contract with a Little Rock firm that guaranteed his city $125,000 in grants, Johnson Mayor Richard Long has not seen a dime.
"We have seen nothing," Long said Monday. "They've had a problem. ... I'm a little shaky but I'm hoping it will work out."
Finnegan & Associates Inc. of Little Rock has cut staff and struggled to find the grants, according to Stephen Finnegan, president of the firm.
"It's a tough business," Finnegan said Monday. "There were three people who left."
The firm had six employees and planned to hire a seventh last summer. There are now four employees on staff, Finnegan said. One of those employees no longer with Finnegan is Anthony "Tony" McMoran, who accompanied Finnegan to Northwest Arkansas last summer to assist in pitching the grant-writing company's services to several cities.
"I had to lay him off," Finnegan said.
Finnegan said his firm suffered while Finnegan was away from the office during training, and subsequent injury, as an Army reservist. Mayor Long and Johnson aldermen "should not be scared" about the promised grants, Finnegan said. However, Finnegan admits he promised the city results within six months of signing the contract.
"If you asked me, 'Stephen, how long will it be before we see some of the fruits of your labor?' I would say about six months," Finnegan said Aug. 10 during his pitch to Johnson aldermen.
He now predicts grant opportunities will pick up. Johnson seeks grants for city playground equipment and firefighting equipment. Finnegan said his firm will begin next month writing a grant proposal for $250,000 in firefighting equipment for Johnson.
"I'm back in the office," Finnegan said. "Frankly, I wasn't happy with the way those people were taking care of our clients. ... Things are really starting to pick up on the federal grants."
January through June represents the best grant-gathering season, he said. He still is courting three Northwest Arkansas cities to pay for his services, he said. He will not reveal those cities.
Cave Springs is one city that may be off the list. Last summer Mayor Thekla Wallis said, "I don't see a downside" to signing on with Finnegan. On Monday, she said, she no longer considers the firm a good fit for the city. Wallis said she took a grant-writing course and can probably provide the service her city needs. She said she did not see much evidence of results from Finnegan and the cities for which he claimed to be working.
She also said she "had been told by a lot of people not to get involved" with the firm.
Jeff Hawkins, director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, said cities can usually handle their own grant-writing chores. The Web site grants.gov is the best resource, he said.
"They do the research for you," Hawkins said. "It is not that difficult to access the grants that are out there. Very few of the federal grants are highly technical. Most of them, if you can follow directions you can prepare the grant. ... A lot of times (government) officials are led to believe there is a lot of money out there and all you have to do is know where to look."
The contract between Finnegan and Johnson allows the city to recoup its $25,000 investment if $125,000 in grants are not received.
"But if they don't have any money, how are you going to get blood out of a turnip?" Long asked.
Last year, Long, in response to a question from The Morning News concerning whether he worried about Finnegan going broke, said: "There is always that possibility."
An Oregon client, who Finnegan listed as a reference, said he has not received any grant money yet. William Lay, CEO for Pioneer Youth Corps, located near Eugene, Ore., said the company has written some "good" grants.
"They have written a lot of grants for us," Lay said, "but there hasn't been any money yet."
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