County Of Unicoi

County Of Unicoi, a Tennessee local government entity headquartered in Erwin, Tennessee, operates as a federal grant recipient (11% of recent awards) and sub-recipient (89% of recent awards), with no federal contracts and no contract prime vehicles in its footprint. The county receives and distributes federal grant funding to support emergency management, natural resource conservation, public health, broadband infrastructure, and community development programs.

County Of Unicoi's federal award footprint is heavily concentrated in pandemic-era emergency management and recovery funding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency accounts for 26 of the county's recent 63 total awards (41% of award count), flowing through cooperative agreements with Tennessee Emergency Management Agency for emergency protective measures, pandemic-related emergency sheltering, medical services, vaccine distribution, and community engagement during the COVID-19 response. A secondary customer base includes the Department of Agriculture's National Resources Conservation Service (2 awards), Rural Utilities Service (2 awards), and Food and Nutrition Service (2 awards), alongside the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2 awards). The top five funding sources account for 54% of recent awards by count. Combined dollars obligated across all prime and sub awards total $104.5 million since 2007.

Activity has accelerated sharply in the past two years — the county received one award in 2023, two in 2024, and eight in 2025, with two additional awards flowing in the first four months of 2026. Only one award carries an ultimate completion date within the next twenty-four months, limiting immediate recompete exposure. Recent representative work includes a cooperative agreement with the National Resources Conservation Service awarded March 27, 2025, for streambank stabilization at 25 sites across Unicoi County (ultimate completion August 1, 2026); multiple sub-awards from Tennessee Emergency Management Agency for FEMA emergency protective measures reimbursement flowing to the county as a local government entity (awards dated between March 2025 and April 2026); sub-awards from Tennessee Department of Health for immunization facility renovations (2023 and 2024); and a broadband-readiness grant sub-award (October 1, 2024). The county maintains a subsidiary structure that includes Unicoi County Jail as a named local-government entity, though the jail does not appear in the grant award history. County Of Unicoi's federal footprint is characteristic of rural local government entities: majority sub-recipient status, heavy reliance on state pass-through funding, and project-specific grants for infrastructure, emergency management, and public health — not vendor procurement relationships.