Case Studies

Brownfields Grant Writing Tool for the Environment: TAB EZ

Problem
A brownfield is a property that is complicated by pollutants, contaminants and hazardous waste. With an estimated 450,000 brownfields in the U.S, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wanted to assist small communities and nonprofits seeking cleanup funding in the writing of brownfields grant proposals. Many of the participants would be unfamiliar with grant writing, and the EPA guidelines themselves were vulnerable to change. Considering the audience and future funding limitations, the EPA wanted a tool that could successfully guide a range of individuals and organizations through the grant writing process, and cost effectively address frequent shifts in the proposal guideline content.

Solution
The EPA selected Kansas State University to manage this initiative. Through a competitive bidding process, KSU hired CABEM to work with their team to develop, build and deploy TAB EZ, an online tool to facilitate brownfields grant writing. CABEM created the visual identity for TAB EZ with sensitivity to the sponsor, the EPA. Designed for ease of use, the application employs a thoughtful user interface (GUI) that carefully guides participants through multiple layers of information. TAB EZ’s functionality allows the user to build and save proposals, access resources like “helpful hints”, and establish project teams for online collaboration. To further reduce program costs, CABEM included CABEM Livia_CMS, our Content Management System, providing KSU with admin capabilities for populating content, managing users and viewing site usage data. TAB EZ is on a continuous improvement track as CABEM works closely with KSU, the EPA and TAB EZ users to evolve this online tool.