Our Priorities
NEEFC works with communities to advance water, climate, and sustainability projects. We provide tailored assistance to identify and secure funding and build lasting solutions.
Water
Water Infrastructure
New England's drinking water and wastewater systems are aging, and many small and rural communities lack the staff capacity or capital planning tools to keep pace with rising costs and tightening standards. We help municipalities assess infrastructure needs, plan for long-term capital investment, and navigate the financing tools – from state revolving funds to federal grants – that make upgrades possible.
Stormwater Management
As New England sees more frequent and intense storms, aging stormwater systems are increasingly overwhelmed, straining budgets, degrading water quality, and putting communities at greater flood risk. We work with municipalities to assess stormwater program needs, explore nature-based and green infrastructure solutions, and build sustainable funding mechanisms like stormwater utilities to support long-term management.
Watershed Management
Healthy watersheds underpin drinking water quality, flood resilience, and coastal and freshwater habitat across the region, but protecting them requires coordination across town lines and land uses that often outpaces local capacity. We support communities with watershed-scale planning, habitat and water quality restoration project development, and the bylaw and ordinance updates that translate planning into lasting protection.
Climate
Adaptation & Resilience
New England communities are already facing the effects of a changing climate: more frequent flooding, warmer temperatures, and increasingly extreme weather that puts critical infrastructure and vulnerable populations at risk. We help states, tribes, and local governments understand their climate risk, identify and prioritize resilience projects, and secure the funding and financing – from grants and loans to capital planning and municipal budgeting – needed to turn plans into action.
Energy & Emissions
Reducing energy use and emissions is one of the most immediate, cost-effective steps communities and businesses can take to address climate change, but knowing where to start – from equipment upgrades to renewable sourcing – isn't always straightforward. We provide technical expertise to identify efficiency opportunities, implement upgrades like lighting and HVAC retrofits, and transition toward renewable energy sources.
Sustainability
Local & Green Economy
Small businesses and the communities in which they operate across New England, including craft beverage producers and hotels, often want to operate more sustainably but lack the time, staff, or technical know-how to identify where to start. We provide hands-on technical assistance, from operational benchmarking to pollution prevention training, and offer self-assessment tools and recognition programs that help organizations track their progress, improve efficiency, and showcase their sustainability commitments.
Materials & Waste
Managing waste responsibly, whether it's food waste in a school cafeteria, cleaning chemicals in a production facility, or spent grain from a brewery, often gets overlooked until it strains budgets, wastewater systems, or the environment. We help schools build composting, recycling, and reusable foodware programs, and work with craft beverage producers to adopt safer cleaning practices and find productive uses for production byproducts instead of sending them down the drain.
Organizational Sustainability
Even a well-designed environmental project can stall without the funding and capacity to carry it out – a challenge especially common for under-resourced municipalities, water utilities, nonprofits, and community-based organizations across New England. We provide fundraising strategy coaching, custom funding scans, grant proposal review, and hands-on support to help organizations build lasting capacity and secure the funding needed to pursue their priorities.
Community & Student Engagement
Environmental solutions work best when they reflect the priorities of the people they affect: residents, local officials, and stakeholders with firsthand knowledge of a place. Community engagement is woven throughout our water, climate, and sustainability work, ensuring solutions reflect local priorities and build lasting buy-in. As part of the University of Southern Maine, we also invest in the next generation of environmental practitioners, offering students hands-on service-learning and internship opportunities that connect academic training to real-world community impact.