Town Of Richlands

Town of Richlands, doing business as Utility Office, is a U.S. local government entity based in Richlands, Virginia that acts as a federal grant recipient (38% of recent awards) and federal grant sub-recipient (62%) in emergency management, watershed protection, and rural enterprise development. The municipality does not hold federal contracts or contract vehicles; its federal footprint is grant-funded only, concentrated in disaster recovery and community infrastructure work under cooperative agreements and project grants.

The Town of Richlands' customer base spans six federal agencies, with 88% of awards concentrated among the Federal Emergency Management Agency (3 awards), the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (1 award), Rural Business Cooperative Services (1 award), the Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (1 award), and the Environmental Protection Agency Region 3 (1 award). Recent prime grant work includes a $557,216.25 cooperative agreement with NRCS under the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (CFDA 10.923), awarded May 6, 2026, to implement emergency recovery efforts for a February 2025 flooding event in Tazewell County with an ultimate completion date of November 1, 2027. The Town assumed responsibility for local cost-sharing, land rights, permits, and long-term operation and maintenance of recovery measures. Earlier prime grants include a March 2025 Appalachian Regional Commission project grant for organizational capacity and a July 2022 Rural Business Cooperative Services project grant for rural business cooperative and rural enterprise development (completed July 2024).

In its sub-recipient role, the Town of Richlands has received five sub-awards from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (debris removal and emergency protective measures, awarded November 2025, September 2025, and June 2025), the Virginia Department of Health (lead service line inventory, February 2025), and the Virginia Department of Energy (installation and implementation of a 4.6 MW Solar Mercury 50 natural gas-fired turbine and generator for power generation, August 2024). Combined obligated dollars across all eight awards total $3 million. Activity has accelerated recently — one award per year in 2022 and 2024, five awards in 2025, and one in 2026 — with only one award (the NRCS cooperative agreement) facing ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. The Town of Richlands Police Department is listed as a subsidiary government entity.