Land-0F-Sky Regional Council

Land-of-Sky Regional Council, a multi-county Council of Governments based in Asheville, North Carolina, serves as a federal grant recipient delivering workforce development, economic development, environmental sustainability, and senior services programs across Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania Counties in western North Carolina. The organization operates as a U.S. local government entity and competes predominantly as a direct federal grant recipient (73% of recent awards) rather than as a federal contractor; it holds no federal contract vehicles and does not function as a prime contractor on federal contracts, though it frequently acts as a sub-recipient on Department of Labor and state pass-through grants.

Land-of-Sky's federal footprint centers on workforce development and community services delivered through grant awards from the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Economic Development Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service. The organization is a prime recipient on a $846,014 three-year AmeriCorps Seniors Senior Companion Program award (CFDA 94.016) from the Corporation for National and Community Service, effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029, which consolidates two prior awards and delivers companionship, transportation assistance, and light household support to vulnerable adults across the four-county service area. A parallel $382,034 AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program award (CFDA 94.011) funds intergenerational mentoring, tutoring, and educational services to children with special needs or academic disadvantage in schools and childcare centers, also running through June 30, 2029. The organization received a $999,879 Appalachian Regional Commission Project Grant (CFDA 23.002) for workforce training, performance period October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2027, and a $1,966,263 ARC award for sector-based economic strategies running through October 31, 2026. A $500,000 Economic Development Administration Project Grant (CFDA 11.307) funds development of an economic resilience strategy and regional workforce gap assessment for the Asheville area, completing September 3, 2027. Recent grants also include a $130,000 Department of Energy Cooperative Agreement (CFDA 81.086) for Clean Cities and Communities Coalition stakeholder engagement and alternative transportation technology deployment (April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027), a $75,000 EPA Region 4 Cooperative Agreement for food waste reduction and circular economy technical assistance to event-hosting facilities and businesses across North Carolina (July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027), and HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes funding for an Older Adult Home Modification Program delivering home safety and accessibility repairs to low-income elderly homeowners (April 1, 2025 through April 3, 2028).

Customer concentration aligns heavily with federal workforce and regional development programs. The Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration accounts for 41 awards, the Appalachian Regional Commission for 28, the Economic Development Administration for 15, the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service for 14, and the Environmental Protection Agency for 12, representing 69% of the organization's award count. Across the past five years, Land-of-Sky's award activity has grown from 8 awards in 2022 to 26 in 2025, with 18 awards in 2024 and 8 recorded through mid-2026. Eight awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, presenting recompete opportunity for incumbent and new competitors. The organization operates as a sub-recipient on the majority of its Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) grants, receiving pass-through funding from the North Carolina Department of Commerce for Adult, Youth, and Dislocated Worker programs serving job seekers across the region, as well as Disaster Recovery Dislocated Worker Grants addressing employment impacts from the September–October 2024 hurricanes. Combined obligated dollars across all 160 awards in the source period total $77.4 million.