N.C. DENR's Updated Grant System Enables Smarter Decisions

The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is responsible for managing EPA grants and State bond proceeds in excess of $1.2 billion for the purpose of constructing and maintaining drinking water treatment and waste-water treatment facilities.

DENR had a legacy client server application to track all activities pertaining to the management of these funds (developed and implemented in 1995 by Dunn Solutions Group), but each year it became increasingly difficult to maintain the hardware on which it ran. Additionally, DENR wanted to improve their reporting capabilities by extending ad hoc reporting capabilities across the department and add some additional functionality to the system.

DENR asked Dunn Solutions Group to not only revamp the application into a completely web-based solution, but also to design a robust business intelligence platform that would allow the State Controller’s Office, Budget and Planning Office, and groups within DENR to make business decisions from the application data.

The Loans and Grants System, designed and constructed by Dunn Solutions Group, provides DENR with the capability to meet North Carolina state audit requirements for fund traceability, and automates their business process by providing the following functions:

  • Complete fund disbursement and repayment modules, including electronic interfaces to the North Carolina Accounting System (NCAS).
  • Extensive financial reporting capabilities, including balance sheets and transaction histories.
  • Double-entry-accounting-style audit log.
  • Facility project-tracking including funding accounts, associated project milestones, permit tracking, engineer and contractor information, and municipality contact information.
  • Automated construction interest calculations and billing reports.
  • Repayment schedule tracking for project funding, including the generation of promissory notes for the State Treasurer's Office and importing of amortization schedules from Microsoft Excel.
  • Automated vendor list synchronization from NCAS.
  • Extensive EPA reporting.
  • Completely web-based reporting solution, which allows authorized agency personnel to build custom reports in an ad hoc manner.