Town Of Sharon

Town of Sharon, a municipality based in Sharon, Massachusetts, is a U.S. local government entity that acts as a prime recipient of federal grants focused on public safety, emergency response, drinking-water infrastructure, and K-12 education support, while serving as a sub-recipient on food-service and special-education grants flow-passed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The town does not hold federal contracts and operates exclusively in the federal grants ecosystem, where 84% of its recent award footprint consists of sub-awards passed through state intermediaries.

Sharon's prime federal grant work centers on three core capability areas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency funds the town's fire department staffing and equipment enhancements: a $2.33 million Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant (CFDA 97.083) effective March 23, 2026 through March 22, 2029, supporting recruitment and retention of frontline firefighters and volunteer firefighters, and a $1.07 million Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) (CFDA 97.044) awarded September 15, 2023, for equipment procurement, personal protective equipment, emergency response vehicles, and health and wellness programs. In drinking-water infrastructure, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA Region 1) awarded a cooperative agreement effective September 1, 2024, through November 30, 2026, to construct a water treatment plant treating raw water from three existing groundwater source wells to remove iron, manganese, and PFAS and achieve compliance with federal and state drinking-water standards. Sharon also received a Project Grant from the Community Oriented Policing Program (COPS Hiring Program) on October 1, 2023, with ultimate completion September 30, 2028, to hire and rehire career law enforcement officers and advance community-policing capacity.

Sub-award activity is heavily concentrated in education and nutrition programs administered through state pass-throughs. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is the source of 32 sub-awards across multiple federal programs, including the National School Lunch Program (CFDA 10.555), the School Breakfast Program (CFDA 10.553), the Farm to School Program, English Language Acquisition grants, Title I grants for disadvantaged students, Title II grants for teacher quality, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Parts B and C grants. The Massachusetts Clean Water Trust passed through two sub-awards related to PFAS treatment facility construction planning and service-line materials screening and documentation. A single sub-award from the Department of Public Safety (FFY24 Municipal Road Safety Grant Program) funded overtime traffic enforcement and pedestrian safety equipment distribution.

Awards per year show sharp growth in 2024, with 32 awards received that year against one award in 2020 and five in 2023, reflecting increasing engagement with state intermediary grant programs. Combined obligated dollars across all 43 awards total $11.6 million, with prime work concentrated in the $2.33 million SAFER grant and the EPA drinking-water cooperative agreement. Only one award is positioned to reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, limiting near-term recompete exposure. Across its federal grant footprint, Sharon serves nine distinct customer agencies, with the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service and the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education dominating the award count by virtue of their sub-award passthrough volume.