Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council, Inc.

Western Dairyland Economic Opportunity Council, Inc., a Wisconsin-based Community Action Agency and tax-exempt nonprofit, functions primarily as a federal grant recipient (41% of awards as prime recipient, 59% as sub-recipient) delivering homelessness prevention, housing assistance, early childhood education, small business training, and community development services across Buffalo, Eau Claire, Jackson, Trempealeau, and Pepin Counties in west-central Wisconsin.

The organization's federal footprint centers on HUD's Continuum of Care (CoC) Program (CFDA 14.267), which dominates the prime-recipient activity. Recent CoC awards include a $592,771 project grant obligated December 1, 2025, with completion by November 30, 2026; a $374,997 grant obligated September 1, 2025, completing August 31, 2026; a $537,248 award from December 1, 2024 through November 30, 2025; and a $355,601 award dated May 21, 2024. Each CoC grant funds permanent housing (including permanent supportive housing for persons with disabilities and rapid rehousing), transitional housing, supportive services only, Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), and homelessness prevention across five program components. Western Dairyland also holds a three-year SBA Women's Business Ownership Assistance grant (CFDA 59.043) for $300,000, awarded September 30, 2021 through September 29, 2024, providing entrepreneurship training and counseling to women-owned small businesses. A $120,000 USDA Rural Housing Preservation Grant (CFDA 10.433) from October 28, 2023 through July 28, 2024 supported housing rehabilitation for low-income rural residents. The organization received a Head Start and Early Head Start project grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Head Start, obligated May 1, 2023 with completion April 30, 2028. A Senior Corps (RSVP) program grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, Office of Grants Management, awarded April 1, 2024 and completing March 31, 2027, provided one-time additional travel funds for training in 2024 and sustained programming through 2027. A September 30, 2024 cooperative agreement with the SBA Office of Entrepreneurial Development, completing September 29, 2026, continues women's business ownership assistance delivery.

Customer concentration is severe. HUD's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development anchors 35 awards; the USDA Food and Nutrition Service accounts for 70 awards; the HHS Administration for Children and Families holds 11 awards; the SBA Office of Entrepreneurial Development fields 6 awards; and the Corporation for National and Community Service Office of Grants Management manages 6 awards. These five agencies represent 69% of all 186 awards. The FNS dominance reflects Western Dairyland's role as a sub-recipient on Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and National School Lunch Program (NSLP) sub-awards flowing through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction—the source lists dozens of monthly CACFP and NSLP sub-awards dating from 2023 through 2026, with the most recent in April 2026. Sub-recipient activity also includes Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) sub-awards from the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, TEFAP (Emergency Food Assistance Program) sub-awards from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, and Mobility Management and other transportation-related sub-awards with completion dates through October 2025.

Award activity has accelerated sharply. The organization received 7 prime or sub awards in 2022, 11 in 2023, 38 in 2024, and 54 in 2025, with 16 awards already recorded in 2026. Combined dollars obligated across all 186 awards total $187.4 million. Six awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating modest recompete exposure relative to the portfolio size. The organization operates across twenty distinct federal agencies, though the overwhelming majority of funding flows through HUD's CoC Program, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, and HHS Administration for Children and Families sub-awards. No federal contracts or IDVs appear in the award record; the footprint is exclusively grant-based, with prime recipients and sub-recipients flowing funding into local community development, housing stability, nutrition support, and entrepreneurship assistance.