Best in Administration & Financial Management

Join us on this exciting journey as we embark on a special blog series dedicated to honoring the exceptional accomplishments of the counties that triumphed in the National Association of Counties (NACo) 2024 Achievement Awards.  Each week, we will shine a well-deserved spotlight on a few remarkable counties, taking a deeper dive into their accomplishments, innovative initiatives, and the profound impact they have had on their communities. 

County Administration & Management Awards

Howard County received two achievement awards in this category.

Creating an Ecosystem for Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging: Investing in Cross-System Leadership

In 2022, the Howard County Government, Maryland unveiled its “Racial Equity Framework for Howard County: Launching a Comprehensive Approach.” This report delves into both internal and external racial equity evaluations and provides recommendations. It reflects the experiences of racial, ethnic, and marginalized groups in terms of their sense of inclusion, belonging, and welcome within the government and broader community. The assessment yielded five key findings. The first finding is particularly optimistic: it emphasizes that government, public, and community leadership should lead the way in promoting Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives. To enact tangible change that promotes racial equity and reshapes organizational practices, Howard County’s Office of Human Rights & Equity, Equity and Restorative Practices Unit launched the Racial Equity Leadership Lab (RELL). RELL aims to empower leaders with essential skills, strategies, and tools, which equip them to act as catalysts for meaningful and lasting progress, fostering a more equitable and inclusive work environment and promoting culturally responsive community engagement. RELL, a pioneering initiative within Howard County Government, delves into the ways current leadership paradigms might perpetuate racialized dynamics. It also identifies key competencies linked to racial equity leadership. By prioritizing racial equity, the RELL program provides leaders with a framework to collaboratively develop new, equity-focused structures, systems, and practices.

Paperless Building Plans & Permit Applications

In Howard County applying for a building permit required the submittal of paper plans for review and approval. This program was developed and implemented requiring all applicants to submit their plans and permit applications via an online, paperless process. This resulted in savings in resources needed to print, transport, store, etc. However, other savings were realized as well, such as more efficient plan reviews and faster turn-around times. This new process also became a vital part of assisting and expanding remote telework options for employees.

Montgomery County received three achievement awards in this category.

Innovation Accelerator

The Accelerator is an introduction to a structured problem- solving course and community. Accelerators grow their ability to create change by creating change. With guidance, coaching, and experiential education, Accelerators use a mix of process improvement, human-centered design, and other methods to work on projects to improve outcomes for Montgomery County. The Accelerator is premised on the belief that the best people to fix those processes and systems are often those in those processes and systems themselves. Accelerators take on various projects and are supported with initial training, a peer mentor system, and regular coaching as they work to improve a range of county services. The program has shifted our organizational culture while delivering tangible impacts for residents from the over 300 projects launched so far. Accelerators create change and grow our capacity to create more change towards just, human, liberating futures.

Quarterly Procurement Compliance Forum

In Montgomery County, Maryland (among the most diverse in the nation), the Office of Procurement’s Division of Business Relations and Compliance, led by Grace Denno, convenes a quarterly Procurement Compliance Forum for procurement and compliance professionals across Maryland. The Forum emerged in response to the lack of spaces for sharing best practices. The Forum offers procurement compliance professionals opportunities to:

• Learn how jurisdictions across the region are implementing, setting goals, and measuring results of policies designed to create economic opportunities for local, small, minority, female, and disabled-owned businesses (MFD) preference programs.
• Learn how jurisdictions are managing compliance for prevailing wage and living wage policies in government procurement. • Share strategies for public education, outreach, and engagement to raise awareness and get feedback on the barriers that disadvantaged vendors face in the marketplace and increase their participation in the region’s government procurement opportunities.
• Consider appropriate procurement benchmarks and performance measures.

The Forum is a place for exchange of ideas, coordination, and collaboration around strategies to expand inclusion, equity, and diversity in procurement, and offers space for procurement compliance professionals to problem-solve. Feedback has been positive, and participation continues to grow. Procurement professionals from six Maryland counties, two municipalities, four state agencies/offices and a regional water utility regularly participate.

Streamlining Emergency Procurement Processes in County Government for Improved Goods and Services Acquisition

Ensuring responsible management of taxpayer dollars is a core duty of government entities, particularly regarding public procurement. Taxpayer funds represent the combined contributions of citizens, underscoring the importance of their efficient and effective utilization. By prioritizing prudent spending practices, governments can maximize the value derived from each dollar spent, ensuring that public services are delivered in the most cost-effective manner possible. This not only benefits taxpayers directly by minimizing waste and unnecessary expenditures but also enables governments to allocate resources towards important priorities such as infrastructure, healthcare, education, and public safety. The Office of Procurement is committed to conducting government activities in line with core principles such as openness, transparency, and due process. This commitment holds particular significance in the context of emergency procurement, where there is an urgent need to quickly acquire goods and services to safeguard public safety and well-being. Emergency procurement procedures typically involve simplified processes and expedited timelines compared to regular procurement methods to ensure prompt delivery and utilization of critical resources. Nonetheless, it remains imperative for emergency procurement practices to uphold standards of transparency and accountability to prevent mismanagement of public funds and guarantee the procurement of goods and services that meet essential quality criteria.

Financial Management Awards

Howard County – Grant Management (GM) Tool

The Grant Management (GM) Tool was developed to help organize information, documents, and emails to streamline complicated grant management procedures. The GM tool was developed in-house on an existing software platform, Microsoft 365 at no cost to the County. The new tool also works with other tools within the Facilities Bureau that were also developed with the Microsoft 365 platform.

Montgomery County received two achievement awards in this category.

Automated Physical Inventory

Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) has automated its year-end physical inventory, saving 848

work hours over the two-day inventory period. Prior to automation, inventory team members worked from 16 printed books listing all items in the warehouse; manually inputted, counted, and analyzed the data overnight; manually recounted and verified results multiple times; and presented the data to financial auditors. The process took two 16- hour days with 40 personnel working in double shifts. With the entire warehouse team devoted to inventory, regular wholesale business ceased during the inventory process, causing inconvenience to licensees and burnout for employees. ABS began its modernization effort in 2019, adding more automation to the process each year. Now with the upgrades nearly completed, the inventory team uses a live Power BI dashboard projected in a control room to monitor progress with auto-refresh every minute. Team members use embedded barcodes, hand-held radio frequency scanners, and a custom-built iPad application to complete counting in a six-hour shift with recounts and analysis finished in about two hours. Warehouse staff time has been reduced from 40 people for 32 hours to 18 people for 12 hours, which means that there is no longer an operational impact to the warehouse.

Loss Prevention

Over the last two years, Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) has consolidated and expanded its loss prevention efforts into a comprehensive Inventory Control Loss Prevention Unit. With the addition of a manager and

three field officers, ABS has strategized the approach, written new policies, implemented user- friendly systems, and leveraged technologies to prevent loss caused by theft, fraud, wasteful practices, and operational vulnerabilities. The program preserves profits that are then used for County programs. The department’s loss prevention enhancements include a new case management and incident reporting system, a revamped video monitoring strategy utilizing high-definition cameras in strategic locations and updates to operational procedures with increased employee training. This program takes a comprehensive view of the ways revenue can be lost and recovered and ensures ongoing accountability and support for the community ABS serves. Montgomery County functions as a “control jurisdiction,” which means that it controls the sale of alcohol at the wholesale and retail levels. Its profits are used to pay down debt and support resident services that otherwise would be funded with tax dollars.

Together, let’s explore the remarkable stories behind these award-winning counties, and draw inspiration from their passion, creativity, and commitment to making a positive difference.  View all 2024 NACo Achievement Award winners through their interactive and searchable map.