#ELGLHaverford 2017 Award Winners

Posted on August 1, 2018


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Welcome to the 2017 Tom Haverford Choice Award! The Haverford award honors the best companies (private sector, non-profits, or other) working with local governments.

Here are the nominees. Here are last year’s winners.

The ELGL Evaluation Team used three criteria in selecting and ranking the top 50 companies: number of nominations received by each company (50%), comments submitted on each company (25%), and input from ELGL Evaluation Team (25%). Learn more ELGL here.

ELGL all-in members are highlighted in red. 


1. Bloomberg Philanthropies – Government Innovation

 

The Government Innovation team’s mission is to give cities the support they need to get there. They promote public sector innovation capacity and spread proven and promising solutions among cities worldwide. They test and refine urban innovations and equip mayors and local leaders with practical tools and approaches to tackle tough issues and enable civic innovation to flourish.

ELGL members are most familiar with Bloomberg Philanthropies’ through:

ELGL’s Take

Employee engagement in local government stands at an underwhelming 29%. The younger generation is shying away from public service degrees. The private sector is embracing technology and innovation. The public sector considers it a “nice to have.”

Our faith that this dire outlook can change is steeped in the game-changing work being done from Bloomberg Philanthropies. What Works Cities is working with 77 cities in 36 states to “enhance their use of data and evidence to improve services, inform local decision making and engage residents.” To accomplish this monumental task, What Works Cities has enlisted an all-star cast of partners — The Behavioral Insights Team (BIT), The Government Performance Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School, The Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, Results for America, and The Sunlight Foundation.

Recently, What Works Cities announced a certification program that will allow a broad range of local governments to learn how they can provide better services to their residents.

In a recent GovLove episode, we learned about the fruits of the Mayors Challenge. The City of Santa Monica, California created the Wellbeing Project in response to the 2013 Mayors Challenge. The Wellbeing Project,

“defined the factors that contribute to wellbeing – personal outlook, environment/place, health, economic opportunity, learning and community connectedness – and is comprehensively measuring how its citizens and communities fare on these indicators. From there, the city is aligning resources, programs and policies to drive improvements.”

The Mayors Challenge “incentivizes local leaders to think creatively, test new approaches, and identify groundbreaking new innovations in any policy area – from public health to sustainability to arts and culture.”

Innovation Teams (i-teams) are the answer to the countless conversations that we’ve all had about how we could fix local government if we had more resources. The nearly 20 i-teams are here to help with that. We love the ongoing work of the i-team in Peoria and are confident the newly formed i-team in Durham will produce similar results. (Fun Fact: the City of Durham is one of the first council-manager form of government cities with an i-team.)

Supplemental Reading:


2. SeeClickFix

SeeClickFix empowers citizens to report quality-of-life issues to their local government. They have 300 partners and 1,000,000 users — with 3,000,000 issues reported.

Contact: Caroline Smith, caroline@seeclickfix.com

ELGL Profile: SeeClickFix

Supplemental Read: How a simple app can actually empower street-level democracy

Local Governments, with ELGL Members, that Employ SeeClickFix.

  • Chris Floore, Macon-Bibb County, GA
  • Dana Berchman, Gilbert, AZ

If your CEO were a character on “West Wing,” who would they be and why?

Ben Berkowitz would be Nick Offerman’s character on “West Wing” — where Offerman pitches a billion-dollar taxpayer-funded highway for . . . wolves.

The similarities are vast, obviously, but what stands out the most is that Offerman’s character is an advocate through and through. He deeply cares for the communities he is a part of — and will fight for them!

Haiku:

Potholes, graffiti
A chance for one citizen
To make a difference

User Comment:

Ben Berkowitz, CEO, and his team are always on the cutting edge!


3. Accela 

Accela designs and delivers productivity and engagement software to help government agencies be their best.

Contact: Accela Contact

Supplemental Read: Accela’s New CEO: Focus is on APIs, Gig Economy Tools

User Comment:

While we are still getting everyone on board, boards, commissions, councilors, we are amazed by the patience and quick response that we have gotten from Accela and in particular Ms. Leibrock. Accela is committed to making sure that what we want from the program is what we get. We have been and continue to be a tough customer as we try to get everyone onboard with the program while still performing our wide-range of duties. That is why the patience and response from Accela and Ms. Liebrock have been so important to us. We cannot drop everything and devote full-time to implementation and it is obvious to us that Accela and Ms. Liebrock appreciate that fact and go out of their way to make the most out of the time that we can dedicate to moving this matter forward.

Accela is pushing forward with creating services and a framework for local governments to provide unparalleled service to their constituents, from a small township up through county and state governments. Our commitment is to making sure each agency has the tools and service they need to provide the services for their citizens.


4. National Research Center, Inc. (NRC)

National Research Center, Inc. (NRC) is dedicated to helping communities move forward through survey research and evaluation. Their clients are local governments and other public sector entities who seek sound data for performance measurement, strategic planning, budgeting, community engagement and innovation.

Contact: Angelica Wedell angelica@n-r-c.com

ELGL Profile: NRC, Inc.

Supplemental Read: Bloomington’s First Community-Wide Survey Provides Data For Residents And City

Local Governments with ELGL members that Employ NRC, Inc.

  • City of Westminster, CO
  • City of Pearland, TX

If your CEO were a character on “West Wing,” who would they be and why?

I would say that our CEO and President Tom Miller would be Danny Concannon because the character is described as being very funny, often quirky, very intelligent, perceptive and honest.

Haiku:

citizen surveys
advancing community
livability

User Comments:

National Research Center provides exceptional service and expertise to local governments through the collection, analysis and evaluation of critical survey data and research.

Lakewood has worked with NRC on three surveys in the last 18 months and in many cases over the last decade. The service and level of expertise that NRC provides is exceptional. The team is highly capable, trustworthy and committed to helping local governments uncover how residents feel about particular issues. Their staff are exceptional at translating the information into digestible reports and presentations.

I will continue to trust the NRC with the important work of understanding the opinions of our residents.


5. OpenGov

OpenGov offers cloud-based software for public sector budgeting, reporting, and open data, powering more effective and accountable governments

Contact: Erin Walker-Anderson, ewalkeranderson@opengov.com

Supplemental Read: OpenGov Raises $30M in Series C Round, Plans More Product Launches

User Comment:

We’re all used to using technology in our private lives, whether it’s a Google search to find a restaurant or Uber to get a ride. So when citizens like me go to government websites and see old PDFs with government information, we question whether our democratic instituons are committed to engaging citizens.

That’s why OpenGov is so valuable. In an age where a lack of trust puts our instituons in danger, governments must turn to technology to build trust. OpenGov helps on multiple fronts. First, the open data component brings government information to citizens. Second, by offering tools such as budgeting and reporting, governments can become more effective which also boosts trust.

I’m excited to see what OpenGov does in the future.


6. Bang the Table

Bang the Table’s online community engagement platform is built by government professionals for government professionals. It is a flexible and comprehensive way to build community capacity through regular community engagement.

Contact: Casey Earp casey@bangthetable.com

ELGL Profile: Bang the Table

Supplemental Read: Podcast: Citizen Engagement with Matthew Crozier of Bang the Table

Haiku:

Ditch the open mic
Let people be more involved
Build community

User Comments:

I work with a number of municipalities and, among other matters, I encourage them to consider on line-engagement and Bang the Table in particular.

Our experience with Bang the Table has been very positive. The staff has been both flexible and supportive in helping us set up and manage our new EngagementHQ page. We’re excited to continue working together to engage our citizens and solicit valuable input.

This company helped our small non-profit introduce the first ever participatory budgeting process in the State of Oklahoma, Over 600 respondents navigated their way through a complicated maze of discretionary capital spending proposals to identify the best priorities. The results of the collected data was then shared with our elected officials. We look forward to further collaborations with them to build a more participatory democracy in our community.


7. ClearGov

ClearGov was launched with the goal of helping average citizens better understand how their tax dollars are spent and how their local government is performing.

Contact: Chris Bullock, cbullock@cleargov.com

Supplemental Read: Government data startup ClearGov gets a boost with new funding

User Comments:

ClearGov’s focus on bringing transparency to the citizens of local government is refreshing and much needed. Making information “consumable” in an easy to digest format has been a gap in local government for too long. Thank you ClearGov.

Cleargov provides a user friendly citizen approachable solution to budgeting. Where many data transparency projects are designed to check a box for officials ClearGov makes sense of the data for the average citizen and lets them compare how their City is performing in relation to their peers.

ClearGov feels like a great choice for the Thomas Haverford Choice Award. Chris Bullock’s initial vision came from his personal frustration with the lack of transparency into the financials of municipalities…. and has now expanded more broadly to help municipal governments and municipalities communicate with their respective constituencies.


8. NEOGOV

NEOGOV is the market and technology leader in on-demand workforce management for the public sector.

Contact: NEOGOV Contact Page

Supplemental Read: 6 Questions for NEOGOV – HERC



9. SalesForce

SalesForce offers a rich set of features that give departments and agencies the functionality they need to deploy modern tools, better enable employees, and deliver a higher quality mission — faster.

Contact: SalesForce

Supplemental Read: Salesforce, according to Marc Benioff


10. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. They invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Their goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.

Contact: Knight Foundation

Supplemental Read: Miami and five other cities receive Knight smart city technology grants


11. Novak Consulting Group

The Novak Consulting Group (TNCG) provides innovative thinking that strengthens organizations by bringing solutions into focus.

Contact: Julia Novak, jnovak@thenovakconsultinggroup.com

Supplemental Read: Podcast: Barn-Raising & Battling Incivility with Julia Novak


12. SAFEBuilt

SAFEBuilt offers customized full-service building department programs & supplemental services in short- and long-term engagements to public agencies.

Contact: Pamela Muse, pmuse@safebuilt.com

ELGL Profile: SAFEBuilt

Supplemental Read: Municipalities and Mary Jane

Haiku:

SAFEbuilt helps communities
redefine service, rethink staffing,
and realize savings.


13. Viewpoint Cloud

ViewPoint provides award-winning, user-friendly workflow management software that enables municipalities and state agencies across the country to offer next generation permitting, licensing, and code enforcement solutions. They pride ourselves on rapid implementation and personalization for all of our nationwide customers.

Contact: Nina Stepanov nstepanov@viewpointcloud.com

ELGL Profile: ViewPoint Government Solutions

Supplemental Read: Podcast: Customer Service & Permitting

Haiku:

local government,
processing permits can be
so much easier

User Comment:

We have been using ViewPoint only a short time. But their commitment to government services and design have been exceptional. The tool base they have devised will help us revolutionize our system and provide far better services for our citizens.

ViewPoint has completely changed the way the Town of North Haven, Connecticut does business in it’s Building and Zoning Departments – a welcome change to our past practices making us far more efficient than past practices and has saved us staff time as well. ViewPoint is an excellent company to work with and very responsive to North Haven’s needs. The Town of North Haven, Connecticut highly recommends ViewPoint for the 2017 ELGL Choice Award!!!


14. Strategic Government Resources (SGR)

SGR helps local governments recruit, assess and develop innovative, collaborative and authentic leaders.

Contact: Ron Holifield Ron@GovernmentResource.com

ELGL Profile: Strategic Government Resources

Supplemental Read: The Top 5 GovLove Episodes

Haiku:

Fired on a spring day
For reasons I am still proud of
Now help others dare same


15. Vendor Registry

Vendor Registry streamlines purchasing for cities, counties, school boards, utilities and suppliers to save time, build businesses and conserve taxpayer dollars.

Contact: Brian Strong bstrong@vendorregistry.com

ELGL Profile: Vendor Registry

Supplemental Read: Vendor Registry raises $1.8 million

Haiku:

Governments want more vendors
Vendors want to connect with governments
Vendor Registry makes it easy

User Comment:

The City of Murfreesboro, Tennesse has been a customer of Vendor Registry since December 2016. We have found their system to be user friendly for both our Purchasing Department and our vendors and we have already met our goal of expanding competition for City projectsand purchases.

VendorRegistry’s staff is easy to work with, always available to provide support and willing to visit on site to assist with setup and problems that arise. Our IT staff was very impressed with their technical expertise as well as their responsiveness.

The switch to VendorRegistry has assisted in our goal of reducing expenses through enhanced competition. Their commitment to great customer service made the switch one we are most happy with rather than dreaded.


16. CityBase

CityBase makes it easy for people to see and manage all of their local or state business in one place — online, on the phone or in person at a payment center.

Contact: CityBase Contact

Supplemental Read: CityBase, which helps cities collect money, raises $6.25 million


17. ProudCity

ProudCity makes it easy for governments to launch and manage all aspects of their digital operations. This including websites, forms, payments and so much more.

Contact: Luke Fretwell, luke@proudcity.com

ELGL Profile: ProudCity

Supplemental Read: ProudCity Offers Free Websites to Small Cities

Haiku:

Open source digital
Proudly serving government
Bringing civic joy


18. Patronicity

Patronicity works with state governments to run matching grant programs through crowdfunding for local municipalities where citizens vote with their dollars on projects they want to see in their community. While activating and creating vibrant public spaces and community places, Patronicity is democratizing the access to capital.

Contact: Ebrahim Varachia – ebrahim@patronicity.com

ELGL Profile: Patronicity

Supplemental Read: Michigan investing $1.5M in innovative crowdfunding

Haiku:

Communities first
We build places & spaces
Help to grant & fund

User Comments:

Patronicity, a civic crowdfunding platform that partners with state funding agencies to provide local municipalities and nonprofits with a new funding source: crowd-granting. Through crowdgranting, communities that want to improve their public spaces can crowdfund up to $50,000 in 30-60 days, and if successful will receive a matching grant from the state funder. Patronicity works one-on-one with each applicant to guide them through the application, approval, campaign and close-out processes. Because of that attention to detail and customer service, Patronicity has helped 3 state agencies fund over 100 public space projects in Michigan, Massachusetts and Indiana.

Patronicity provided an excellent platform and a nimble partnership on our campaign to raise funds for a local recreation center, unlike Gofundme, Patronicity found a way to get our donors to offset almost all the processing costs associated with their contributions, meaning that we got almost all of the money that was pledged, when we had expected to take an 8% haircut. it was a most pleasant surprise!!!

Amazing at using crowdfunding to help communities with placemaking initiatives.

Patronicity has figured out a way to empower local municipalities and non-profits to run successful crowdgranting campaigns where dollars they raise from their local community will be matched by the state. They’ve partnered with the Michigan Economic Development Corp, MassDevelopment, and the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority to develop and run crowdgranting programs for community development and public space projects. They provide an innovative platform allowing the state government partners to garner more community support to identify which projects are deserving of grant funding and transformed the grant evaluation and approval system for those organizations. Their work has impacted hundreds of communities and empowers everyday citizens to be a part of the process in advancing their own sustainable community development.

Patronicity! They could not be a better team to work with, and they are SO supportive to numerous local projects!

Patronicity is one of the most amazing community organizations I’ve seen, not only doing their own amazing work, but empowering grassroots organizations to shine in communities that need it most.


19. NextRequest

NextRequest is an all-in-one software platform that helps local governments streamline their records requests while improving public trust. We emphasize user friendly design and ease of setup and use.

Contact: Reed Duecy-Gibbs + reed@nextrequest.com

ELGL Profile: NextRequest

Supplemental Read: Podcast: Intersection of Local Government and Technology

Haiku:

Difficult FOIA
Important but so much time
NextRequest help us


20. Department of Better Technology

Department of Better Technology helps governments deliver great digital services to the people who depend on them. Their flagship product, Screendoor, replaces PDFs with mobile-friendly online forms, brings collaboration into a beautiful and intuitive web application, and automates digital workflows.

Contact: Joshua Goldstein (CEO) – hello@dobt.co

ELGL Profile: Department of Better Technology

Supplemental Read: Presidential Innovation Fellow Adam Becker launches the Department of Better Technology

Haiku:

We build better forms
so that you can focus on
serving citizens.

User Comment:

The Department of Better Technology, Inc. helps governments, non-profits, and businesses deliver great software to the people they serve. Their flagship product, Screendoor, helps streamline the intake and evaluation process for everything from hiring to innovation challenges, and the built-in suite of workflow tools makes it easy to make better, more collaborative decisions with your team.

Screendoor, a complex form builder made by the Dept of Better Technology, has made collecting reports, applications and information from our users both more effective and fun – we use their API to generate custom badges from their reports, so users get an engaging piece of content to share on social, and we incentivize reporting. The DOBT is always willing to help troubleshoot and brainstorm on our crazy new ideas and ways to use the platform.


21. State of Place

State of Place is an urban data analytics platform that helps placemakers identify and economically justify optimal development projects and investments.

Contact: Michelle Woodhouse, michelle@stateofplace.co

Supplemental Read: What Are the Top 5 Things I Can Do to Boost Walkability?


22. BoardSync

BoardSync is a meeting management and strategic planning/goals platform that includes agenda management, meeting minutes, board portal, citizen portal, electronic voting, and more. The strategic planning/goals solution manages all types strategic plans and links agenda items to specific plans and initiatives.

Contact: Doug Shumway – dshumway@boardsync.com

ELGL Profile: BoardSync

Supplemental Read: How Local Governments Can Use Big Data.

BoardSync Haiku:

Meetings become zen
City goals are met times ten
Public wins again


23. Municibid

Municibid is a convenient and easy-to-use online auction website for government agencies, schools, authorities and utilities to sell their surplus and forfeitures directly to the public.

Contact: Greg Berry, gberry@municibid.com

Supplemental Read: Municibid: the eBay for government surplus.


24. GovHR

GovHR USA provides comprehensive executive recruitment, human resources and management consulting services for public sector and not for profit clients.

Contact: Heidi Voorhees, hvoorhees@GovHRUSA.com

Supplemental Read: Podcast: The Executive Recruitment with Heidi Voorhees, GovHR


25. Soofa

Soofa is a solar-powered seat with the capability to charge two smart phones and collect air quality or other environmental data.

Contact: Edward Krafcik, edward@soofa.co

ELGL Profile: Soofa

Supplemental Read: Podcast: Smart Urban Furniture Appliances (aka Soofa) with Ed Krafcik

ResourceX Haiku:

Use solar power
Embed sensors to count
Innovate cities


26. CivicPlus

CivicPlus provides local government website design and professional services for cities, townships, and counties of any size with 24-hour customer support.

Contact:  Justin Hammon, jhammon@civicplus.com

Supplemental Read: Early feedback positive for new Aurora website


27. LiveStories

LiveStories is the data storytelling platform for the public sector. Governments use LiveStories to engage communities and promote data-driven decision-making.

Contact: LiveStories Contact

Supplemental Read: LiveStories Adds New Features to Increase Usability of Civic Data


28. Granicus

Granicus helps users leveraging technology to run their daily government information tasks including webcasting public meetings, managing and delivering legislative information, collaborating with citizens, and more.

Contact: Contact Center

Supplemental Read: Vista Equity buys another Denver tech firm, Granicus.


29. Esri 

Esri is an international supplier of geographic information system software, web GIS and geodatabase management applications.

Contact: Esri Contact Center

Supplemental Read: GIS Technology Has a Limitless Future for Local Governments


30. Denver Peak Academy

Peak Academy trains city employees at all levels on the principles of “Lean,” which teaches how to eliminate waste, improve efficiency and ultimately create a higher standard of government. Through Peak Academy, trainees learn techniques and strategies for implementing Peak Performance throughout their department, taking personal investment in the city’s continuous improvement initiatives.

Contact: Brian Elms, Brian.Elms@denvergov.org

Supplemental Read: On the Public Record with Brian Elms, Denver Peak Academy

 


31. Resource X/Center for Priority Based Budgeting

ResourceX creates software solutions that help local government leaders prioritize all of their community’s resources. They exist so that every community can unearth, marshal and re-direct all of our resources (our taxes, our people, our public and private institutions) to dramatically improve how we achieve safer communities, healthier people, thriving local economies and the Results that serve the betterment of society.

Contact: Chris Fabian cfabian@resourcex.net

ELGL Profile: ResourceX (Resource Exploration)

Supplemental Read: ResourceX in the Motor City for #ELGL17!

ResourceX Haiku:

How to P.B.B.
Set Goals, Align Resources
Realign the rest


32. Qscend Technologies 

QScend is a leader in Web-based software solutions and services for municipalities. Including website content management and CRM (311) capabilities.

Contact: Jessica Chase,  jessica@Qscend.com

Supplemental Read: App happy: Cities, groups connect with smartphone apps

User Comments:

Our experience with QScend has been very positive. We’ve been with them since about 2007 and during that time we’ve done one website re-vamp. The Technical Support Department staff is easy to work with and quick to respond to questions and troubleshooting issues. Jessica has reached out to us to help integrate our social media into the website platform and make suggestions for greater citizen engagement.

After an exhaustive search for a work order system that could track all of our service requests while also providing constituents a tool to report issues directly to us, we found QScend Technologies. Their QAlert product met all of our needs and has helped us to better organize and track repairs throughout the city.. QScend takes a hands-on approach to delivering their product, we were even visited by the CEO during one of our training sessions. I highly recommend their product to other communities looking for a easy to use, but comprehensive work order system.

QScend is always exceeding our expectations and staying ahead of the pack and competition. We look forward to many future years of business with QScend – going on 9 years strong now.


33. Citizinvestor 

Citizinvestor is a crowdfunding and civic engagement platform for local government projects. We empower citizens to invest in their community and create real change.

Contact: Joy Randels, joy@citizinvestor.com

ELGL Profile: Citizinvestor

Supplemental Read: Citizinvestor’s Tony DeSisto takes on new challenge

Citizinvestor Haiku

Citizens create
change and grow community
building public good


34. Neighborland 

Neighborland empowers civic leaders to collaborate with residents in an accessible, participatory, and enjoyable way. We provide real-world design tools and a powerfully simple platform to engage people on the web.

Contact Info: Dan Parham, dan@neighborland.com

Supplemental Reading: Neighborland: A Social Network For Neighborhoods


35. ZoomGrants 

ZoomGrants is the only service I’ve found that is built for the public sector by people who have worked in the public sector.

Contact: John Hall, john.hall@zoomgrants.com

Supplemental Read: ZoomGrants – The Overview – YouTube


36. Prichard Communications

Prichard has provided communications to social changemakers across the United States to help make the world a better place.

Contact: Mac Prichard, mac@prichardcommunications.com

Supplemental Read: How to Maximize Engagement on the Top 3 Social Media Platforms


37.  Springsted|Waters

Springsted|Waters has more than 30 years of experience helping identify, recruit and promote key staff for complex organizations.

Contact: Miguel Ozuna, mozuna@springsted.com

Supplemental Read: Manatee County selects firm to conduct national search

Springsted|Waters Haiku:

Springsted|Waters
is Executive recruitment
For public power


38. PlaceSpeak

PlaceSpeak is an award-winning, location-based citizen engagement platform designed to facilitate online consultation with people within specific geographic boundaries.

Contact: Mary Leong, mary@placespeak.com

Supplemental Read: PlaceSpeak aims to democratize your neighborhood and bring us all together


39. Tumml

Tumml empowers entrepreneurs to solve urban problems. A nonprofit, Tumml’s goal is to support the next generation of Zipcars and Revolution Foods.

Contact: info@tumml.org@TummlFacebook

Supplemental Read: These Two Millennials Are Taking on Big Urban Problems


40. Ralph Anderson & Associates

Ralph Andersen & Associates is a premier public sector executive search firm, specializing in local government recruiting and human resources consulting.

Contact: Hillari Bynum, Hillari@ralphandersen.com

Supplemental Read: Ralph Andersen and Associates – Civic Business Journal


41. GovSense 

GovSense empowers jurisdictions with flexible, easy-to-use solutions that meet their needs in financials, budgeting, economic development, land use planning, project review, regulatory management, permitting & inspections, code enforcement, CRM & citizen requests, asset & work order management and more.

Contact: Sierra Moore, Digital Marketing Manager,sierra@govsense.com678-264-2321

Supplemental Read: GovSense Featured on Tech Tuesday


42. PayIt 

PayIt brings speed and simplicity to the government payment processing experience.

Contact: Luke Norris, lukenorris@mobilgov.com

Supplemental Read: Kansas Chooses PayIt to Build Digital Citizen Services


43. Polco

Polco helps local governments post, share broadly, and collect verified and organized citizen input data on policy polls and constituent sentiment surveys. Polco strengthens community by fostering increased and improved civic engagement.

Contact: Nick Mastronardi, nick@polco.us

ELGL Profile: POLCO

Supplemental Read: Polco wins trip to Silicon Valley

POLCO Haiku:

Noooo! Same ten people!
But I know there are way more
Please help me, Polco!


44. Urban.Us

Urban.Us invests in startups that re-imagine city life. They work with over 1,500 people representing cities, companies, and investors interested in helping startups to make city life better.

Contact: Shaun Abrahamson, Managing Partner

Supplemental Read: Urban.us Raising $10 Million Fund To Invest In Startups


45. CGI Communications, Inc. 

CGI Communications is an innovative company helping small to medium sized businesses with their online marketing & advertising.

Contact: info@cgicommunications.com

Supplemental Read: Business spotlight: CGI Communications


46. Smarsh 

Description: Archive and produce all of your digital content: social media, websites, email, text messages, instant messaging and more—in one comprehensive archive from Smarsh.

Contact: Matt Dreese, advantage@smarsh.com

Supplemental Read: Making comprehensive archiving work for the public sector – GCN


47. CityGrows

CityGrows is a SaaS platform that helps all local governments, regardless of size or budget, transition paper-based processes for things like licensing and permitting into the cloud. CityGrows is building the GitHub of government process management.

Contact: Stephen Corwin – stephen@citygro.ws

ELGL Profile: CityGrows

Supplemental Read: CityGrows – Government Technology

CityGrows Haiku:

Paper processes
were okay 10 years ago
but not anymore

User Comment

I work for the City of Los Angeles Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, and our mission is to increase civic engagement and make government more responsive to local needs. We used CityGrows for our inaugural Neighborhood Council subdivision application. We are thrilled with how accessible and helpful Catherine Geanuracos is in helping us create the application for the public, making the process so very transparent. CityGrows was integral in making the online application happen because they were free, quick and easy to launch, which are not three words that typically go together. They offer an outstanding product and are so committed to serving the government sector where their services are badly needed. I really hope that they are recognized with the ELGL Choice Award for trying to make government open and accessible to its people. 


48. Teri Black & Company, LLC

Teri Black & Company offers premier comprehensive executive search services to cities, counties and special districts.

Contact: Teri Black, info@tbcrecruiting.com

Supplemental Read: Teri Black and Co. Heading Fire Chief Search


49. AppCityLife 

AppCityLife makes it easy for cities to deploy mobile apps for services, open data, beacons and wearables.

Contact: info@appcitylife.com

Supplemental Read: Young Startup Wants to Train AI Better, Faster Using Synthetic Data


50. Alliance Resource Consulting 

Alliance Resource Consulting is considered one of the premier public sector executive recruiting firms in the country.

Contact: Sherrill Uyeda, suyeda@alliancerc.com

Supplemental Read: Our Advantages

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