Holden Arboretum

Holden Arboretum, a tax-exempt nonprofit based in Kirtland, Ohio, operates as a prime recipient of federal grants in tree pathology research, forest resilience, and botanical education, with no contract vehicles and no prime contract awards. The organization serves the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the National Science Foundation across fourteen recent awards totaling $4.5 million in combined obligated dollars against a combined potential value of $245 thousand — an obligated-to-potential ratio of 1,840% reflecting the organization's status as a grant recipient rather than a contract performer, where grant budgets fully obligate upon award.

Holden Arboretum's capability portfolio centers on tree genetic resistance breeding, forest pathogen diagnostics, and invasive pest mitigation in the Great Lakes region. Recent prime grant work includes a $1.89 million Cooperative Agreement from the USDA Forest Service's Inflation Reduction Act Landscape Scale Restoration program (CFDA 10.731) awarded September 2024, running through July 2028, to deliver technical assistance and cost-sharing enabling private forest landowners to participate in carbon offset and ecosystem services programs. The organization holds a $272.5 thousand Project Grant under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance program (CFDA 10.664) from the USDA Forest Service Region 9–Eastern Region, awarded April 2026, to produce pest-resistant trees and improved seed sources for ash, beech, hemlock, and elm species threatened by invasive pests and pathogens across the Great Lakes. A $335 thousand Project Grant under the Community Project Funds program (CFDA 10.730) from the same regional office, awarded September 2023 through December 2027, funds forest resiliency and urban canopy expansion. Two prime grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the Museums for America program (CFDA 45.301) support institutional infrastructure: a $501.5 thousand award in September 2023 for a GIS-based interactive mapping application of the organization's living collections, and a $237.9 thousand award in October 2025 for a Master Interpretive Plan spanning both the Cleveland Botanical Garden and Holden Arboretum campuses. A $134.9 thousand grant under CFDA 10.664 from the Forest Service for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative hardwood propagation and screening runs through December 2026.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted to the USDA Forest Service: the Forest Service R9–Eastern Region accounts for seven awards; the Forest Service Northern Research Station holds one $233.8 thousand diagnostic sampling purchase order from August 2022 for the NRS-16 ash and beech resistance breeding program, and the State and Private Forestry Program holds one $10.7 thousand diagnostic sampling purchase order from August 2022 for the Oconto River Seed Orchard, together covering 86% of recent award count. The Institute of Museum and Library Services accounts for two grants. The organization also receives cooperative agreements from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for invasive pest public education and awareness in the Southern Great Lakes region, and National Science Foundation funding for collaborative research on synthetic microbial consortia for plant resilience.

Holden Arboretum operates as a prime recipient on 93% of its recent awards and as a sub-recipient on one cooperative agreement sub-grant from the State of Ohio Department of Natural Resources, where it delivers the Tree Corps CREW training program in Cleveland neighborhoods to increase arboricultural capacity among economically disadvantaged participants. Two awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. The organization does not hold seats on government-wide vehicles or federal contract IDVs.