- Local government agencies are invited to apply for records management grants of up to $50,000
- The deadline is Friday, March 1
OLYMPIA — State funding is now available to help local governments improve their records storage through the Washington State Archives’ Local Records Grant Program.
The Local Records Grant Program helps local government agencies upgrade technological resources for records management and better respond to requests for public records. Since its inception in 2005, the program has awarded more than $4.5 million to hundreds of agencies, including cities, towns, and counties; fire, school, hospital, port, and public-utility districts; transit authorities; and more.
Qualified agencies and entities can apply online for one of three grants, ranging from $20,000 to $50,000. The application deadline is Friday, March 1 and grant recipients will be announced in late May.
“I am grateful that our Local Records Grant Program has become an annual resource to help local governments on tight budgets preserve and protect irreplaceable records,” Washington State Archivist Heather Hirotaka said. “With the help of grants to assist organization, technology, and digital imaging, these important local agencies are able to provide services with greater efficiency and security.”
Washington State Archives will host a series of webinars to help local government agencies and entities prepare their grant applications through Feb. 20.
A division of the Office of the Secretary of State, Washington State Archives collects and preserves the state’s historical records and makes them available to the public, including government agencies, researchers, historians, and journalists. With branches in Bellevue, Bellingham, Cheney, Ellensburg, and Olympia, the State Archives offers access to records for research and records-management education and training for local and state agency staff.
Washington’s Office of the Secretary of State oversees areas within state government, including managing state elections, registering corporations and charities, and governing the use of the state flag and state seal. The office also operates the State Archives and the State Library, documents extraordinary stories in Washington’s history through Legacy Washington, and administers the Combined Fund Drive for charitable giving by state employees and the Productivity Board state employee suggestion program to provide incentives for efficiency improvements. The Secretary of State also oversees the state’s Address Confidentiality Program to help protect survivors of crime.
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