Golden LEAF Foundation President Dan Gerlach doesn’t mince words.

Gerlach plowed through a review of 14 submitted grant proposals in less than an hour, pointing out each one’s promise and its faults to the proposals’ writers, all of whom are hoping to bring a slice of a $2-million pie home to Beaufort County.

The fifth meeting of the Golden LEAF Foundation’s Community Assistance Initiative took place Thursday at Beaufort County Community College. The deadline for proposals had come and gone Feb. 10. Those in attendance Thursday night had weathered the process and were there to find out how closely their proposals fit into the “sweet spot” of potential Golden LEAF funding: that clearly meet identified needs, do the most good for the community, have impact and provide return on investment, leverage additional funds, overcome barriers to economic transition and community progress and, most important of all, are sustainable.

The $2 million extended to Beaufort County comes from the current grant cycle of funds managed by the Golden LEAF Foundation, funds that originate from North Carolina’s share of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between 46 states and the tobacco industry, reimbursing the states for tobacco-related health-care costs.

Fourteen proposals submitted by 13 nonprofit entities were required to fall into one of three detailed categories under the broad headings of health and wellness, education and workforce development and economic development and infrastructure.

“You’ve got $4.5 million in projects here,” said Pat Cabe, Golden LEAF Foundation’s vice president of programs, before Gerlach took the floor. “But you’ve got a $2 million budget.”

First up was Beaufort County Community College’s proposal: “Enhancing and Expanding the BCCC Allied Health and Nursing Program.”

“This is a strong proposal,” said Gerlach.

Gerlach then elaborated, explaining how the proposal falls into Golden LEAF’s funding requirements: health jobs are in demand, the $1.3 million applied for would top off a $7.6 million project and the completed project would increase enrollment by 120 students to 140 students.

Gerlach then asked, “Can you do with less money?” and “How many jobs are available in health care in this area?” Further critique dealt with the generality of the proposal.

The City of Washington’s proposal for $240,000 to fund the Havens Gardens Walkway Connector was seen less favorably. Though the Golden LEAF request would leverage matching state parks and recreation money, Gerlach summed up his response by saying, “I understand it fits into a whole” — downtown Washington improvement/beautification  — “but why should we pay for it?”

From Vidant Beaufort Hospital came the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center Expansion Project, a request for $350,000 of a total $3.2 million project. Gerlach said he is familiar with the project, Golden LEAF having provided $200,000 to the cancer center in the recent past, but he raised concerns about how “the driving force” behind the clinic, its former director of medical oncology, Dr. Jennie Crews, is no longer with the hospital. Gerlach further questioned whether the grant would create additional revenue and strengthen the hospital’s bottom line, though he amended the assessment by saying “a hospital in a rural community is critical.”

The Town of Aurora received the highest review of the meeting for its proposal to rebuild the Hazel W. Guilford Memorial Library. Aurora’s library, destroyed Aug. 27, 2011, by Hurricane Irene, would cost $26,515 to replace. The proposal submitted to Golden LEAF asked for $16,551.

“Really, the demand for libraries in this type of economy is at a premium,” said Gerlach, further explaining how libraries represent access to computers, the ability to search and apply for jobs online — a vital source for employment. He then informed the writers of the grant “you want to ask for more money on this.”

For the other nine proposals, the issue of sustainability continued to crop up throughout the discussion, an overriding question of “what happens when the grant money is gone?”

Organizations were given one week to augment their proposals and resubmit them for review by a committee nominated at the end of the meeting. Nine people were selected from each of the three working groups — health and wellness: Sandra Harrison (Bath Historic Preservation Society), Rhonda Peterson (Marion Shepard Cancer Center) and Jonathan Moore (Metropolitan Community Health Services); education and workforce development: Michelle Oros (Beaufort County Schools), Philip Price (Beaufort County Community College) and Glenn Howel (Future Farmers of America); economic development and infrastructure: Karen Sayer (Bath Historic District Commission), Mark Boxer (resident) and Vail Stewart Rumley (media). Three alternates were chosen: Bubs Carson (Town of Bath/Beaufort County Schools), Lisa Woolard (Beaufort-Hyde Partnership for Children) and Clement Gibbs (Devotional Wellness Services).

The committee will ultimately whittle down $4.5 million to roughly $2 million in project proposals to be submitted to the Golden LEAF Foundation’s Board of Directors. Woolard volunteered to be an alternate, although the organization she represents declined to submit a proposal for review.

“This is still my community,” Woolard said. “I live in this community, and even if I don’t have a proposal in this, I still want to take part.”

The review committee is slated to meet March 19 and March 20 with Golden LEAF officers.