Mississippi Rural Water Association, Inc.

Mississippi Rural Water Association, Inc., a tax-exempt non-profit corporation based in Pearl, Mississippi, operates as a federal grant recipient focused on water and wastewater operator training and technical assistance to rural communities, with the vast majority of its federal footprint delivered as a sub-recipient under National Rural Water Association grants rather than as a prime grant recipient.

The organization holds two prime federal grant awards. The primary prime grant is a $1 million apprenticeship training program funded by the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, awarded April 1, 2023, with a thirty-six-month performance period ending March 31, 2026. The program trains water and wastewater treatment operators for certification in rural Mississippi communities using augmented reality and virtual reality learning components to address operator shortages statewide. Mississippi Rural Water Association also received a project grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development awarded February 17, 2023, running through August 31, 2030, designated as an Economic Development Initiative community project funding award.

The overwhelming majority of Mississippi Rural Water Association's federal activity flows through sub-recipient positions under National Rural Water Association as prime grantee. Since 2023, the organization has received fifteen grant sub-awards from NRWA spanning the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service and the Environmental Protection Agency's Office for Water. These sub-awards employ Mississippi Rural Water Association staff — including Water Quality Action Specialists, Training Specialists, Wastewater Technicians, Energy Efficiency Technicians, Funded Specialists, Manufactured Housing Specialists, and an Apprenticeship Coordinator — to deliver on-the-ground training and technical assistance to publicly-owned treatment works, decentralized wastewater systems, small and tribal water systems, and municipalities across Mississippi. Sub-awards began in September 2023 and have continued monthly through September 2025, reflecting continuous federal support for operator training and compliance capacity-building in rural water infrastructure.

Activity has accelerated year over year: four awards in 2023, six in 2024, and seven in 2025. Combined obligated dollars across all prime and sub awards total $3.2 million. The organization serves four distinct federal agencies, with the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (8 awards) and the EPA Office for Water (7 awards) accounting for the full award count. Mississippi Rural Water Association competes exclusively as a sub-recipient or subcontractor; it holds no prime contracts and no parent IDIQ or GWAC seats. Service Contract Inventory data is minimal — two SCI records as named subcontractor, FY2022–FY2024, capturing roughly 4 FTEs in FY2022 and 3 FTEs in FY2024, below the $150,000 SCI threshold and therefore representing only a narrow slice of the organization's federal grant activity.