City Awards

Sacramento, Calif. – The most technology-advanced cities in America have been named by the Center for Digital Government based on its 2004 Digital Cities Survey. The annual study examines how city governments are utilizing digital technologies to better serve their citizens and streamline operations.

The first-place cities in their respective population categories are Virginia Beach, Va.; Des Moines, Iowa; Denton, Texas (tie); Ogden, Utah (tie); and Redmond, Wash.

The Center and the National League of Cities (NLC) developed the survey this past summer and invited more than 600 city mayors, managers and chief information officers to participate. The survey grouped cities into four population categories: 250,000 or greater, 125,000-249,999, 75,000-124,999, and 30,000-74,999. Officials responded to a set of 24 questions and ranked their jurisdictions according to a four-point scale, providing Web site addresses and background data for final verification and validation.

Survey questions focused on implementation and adoption of online service delivery; planning and governance; and the infrastructure and architecture that make the transformation to digital government possible. Open-ended questions were also asked that allowed cities to discuss their initiatives on collaboration, enterprise activities, spatial data, policy priorities, and structure data.

City officials in Des Moines say its jump from third place in 2003 to first place this year is a reflection of the hard work and effort put forth by the city’s entire organization to make the city a better place with the support of technology.

"The award recognizes the dedication of the city council, our IT department, and all of our operating departments to the pursuit of excellence in our city," said Mayor Frank Cownie. "This is a valuable benchmark that helps us measure our progress toward that sustained excellence."

125,000-249,999 population category:

1st Place: Des Moines, Iowa
2nd Place: Hampton, Va.
3rd Place: Winston-Salem, N.C.
4th Place: Madison, Wis.
5th Place: Norfolk, Va.
6th Place: Torrance, Calif.
7th Place: Chesapeake, Va.
8th Place: Hollywood, Fla.
9th Place: Chandler, Ariz.
10th Place: Naperville, Ill.

The All-America City Award, a 54-year-old program of the National Civic League recognizing civic excellence, annually honors 10 communities that best exemplify the spirit of grassroots citizen involvement and cross-sector collaborative problem solving. Since the program began in 1949, more than 4,000 communities (neighborhoods, towns, cities, counties, and regions) have competed and nearly 500 communities have been named All-America Cities.

The ten All-America City award recipients for 2003 are (in alphabetical order):

Tempe, Arizona
New Haven, Connecticut
Miami Beach, Florida
Des Moines, Iowa
Marquette County, Michigan
Laurinburg, North Carolina
Wilson, North Carolina
South Sioux City, Nebraska
Corpus Christi, Texas
Greater Racine Area, Wisconsin

Delegations comprised of government officials, neighborhood activists, business leaders and volunteers from each of the 30 AAC Finalist communities traveled to Washington, D.C. to compete in hearings before the 10-member All-America City Jury. Following extraordinary presentations from each community, the 10 All-America Cities were announced this evening at an awards ceremony at the Hilton Washington & Towers Hotel.

"These All-America Cities symbolize the best of our nation - the ability of citizens, government, businesses and nonprofit organizations to come together, effectively address their local issues, and produce tangible results," said Christopher T. Gates, president of the National Civic League. "The accomplishments of these 10 All-America Cities serve as an inspiration to communities across the United States that are facing similar challenges."

This year's AAC Finalists developed innovative programs and local solutions addressing current national issues including crime, education, poverty, cultural diversity, and the environment. The complete list of 2003 All-America City Finalists included:

Tempe, Arizona	Montevideo, Minnesota
New Haven, Connecticut	Red Wing, Minnesota
Stamford, Connecticut	Laurinburg, North Carolina
Deerfield Beach, Florida	Thomasville, North Carolina
Miami Beach, Florida	Wilson, North Carolina
Palm Bay, Florida	Ravenna, Nebraska
Pembroke Pines, Florida	South Sioux City, Nebraska
Marquette County, Michigan	Philippi, West Virginia
Pompano Beach, Florida	Springfield, Ohio
Walton County, Florida	Fossil, Oregon
Des Moines, Iowa	Chester, South Carolina
Evansville, Indiana	Corpus Christi, Texas
Parsons, Kansas	Grand Prairie, Texas
Gaithersburg, Maryland	Killeen, Texas
Grand Rapids, Michigan	Greater Racine Area, Wisconsin

For more information, digital photos and supporting materials please visit the National Civic League website at www.ncl.org.

Sponsors of the 2003 All-America City Awards include:

· Fannie Mae Foundation
· Hilton Washington & Towers
· International City/County Management Association - Retirement Corporation

The National Civic League is a 109-year-old non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to strengthening citizen democracy by transforming democratic institutions. NCL accomplishes its mission through technical assistance, training, publishing, research, and the All-America City Award. The National Civic League is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and has an office in Washington, D.C.
For more information, call 303-571-4343 or visit www.ncl.org .

HASTINGS, Minn. -- The City of Des Moines’ official web site recently was recognized for excellence by CityImage Communications, a municipal communications consultancy based in the Twin Cities area.

“Des Moines’ site exemplifies the best of what a city web site should offer,” said CityImage President Tom Bullington, who happened to grow up in the Des Moines metropolitan area. “The site brings residents face to face with helpful municipal information they need quickly and easily. Des Moines’ city officials and communications staff realize that more residents prefer to go online than call or visit City Hall to get basic information, obtain forms, or receive answers to basic questions.”

"The site is quite attractive visually, but its quality also shines through in helpful navigation and by how it informs residents, business and visitors in specialized ways," Bullington said. "More cities need to follow this type of design and organization."

Des Moines’ site (www.dmgov.org/) was reviewed by CityImage as part of the firm’s e-newsletter – WeeklyImage – which is published each week and distributed to city government communicators throughout the United States, Canada and Australia.

For more information about CityImage, one of the nation's few firms dedicated solely to city communications, visit www.city-image.com .

July 27, 2004
Contact: Tom Bullington
President, CityImage

Launched in June, the Digital Cities Survey examined and assessed how city governments are progressing in utilizing information technology to streamline operations and deliver quality service to their citizens. Officials responded to a set of 16 questions and ranked their jurisdictions according to a four-point scale, providing Web site addresses and background data for final verification and validation. Mayors, city managers and chief information officers in more than 300 cities across the nation were invited to participate in the survey, which grouped cities into three categories based on population: 250,000 or more, 125,000-249,999, and 75,000-124,999.

The top 10 digital cities behind Fort Wayne in the population category of 125,000-249,999 are Winston-Salem, N.C., Des Moines, Iowa, Plano, Texas (tied for fourth), Salt Lake City, Utah (tied for fourth), Richmond, Va., Lincoln, Neb. (tied for sixth), Norfolk, Va. (tied for sixth), Torrance, Calif. (tied for sixth), Irving, Texas, Hampton, Va., Bakersfield, Calif. (tied for ninth), Mobile, Ala. (tied for ninth), Madison, Wis. (tied for tenth), and Naperville, Ill. (tied for tenth).

Des Moines Heads List of Best Places in the U.S. to Locate a Company

Expansion Management is a monthly business magazine for executives of companies that are actively looking for a place to expand or relocate their facilities within the next one to three years. Every year, the magazine’s renowned research department compares communities according to a variety of characteristics important to corporate site selectors.This year’s top finishers in the Mayor’s Cup™, headed by Des Moines, Kansas City, Omaha and Minneapolis, are heavily represented by Midwestern cities. In fact, only three of this year’s Top 10 — No. 5 Seattle, No. 7 Lexington, Ky., and No. 9 Columbia, S.C. — are not located in America’s Heartland.Although the Midwest as a region still dominates, the results are a lot more spread out when it comes to the metros that finished in the Top 10 percent. In all, 18 states (21 when you consider multi-state MSAs) and the District of Columbia are represented among the top 33 finishers (there are 331 MSAs overall in the study).

To reflect the changing times, we changed the way we compile our ranking of Best Places For Business And Careers, turning to analysts at Economy.com, the West Chester, Pa.-based economic and financial research firm. In this, our fifth annual survey, we still kept a careful eye on income and job growth. But we also gave special attention to the cost-of-doing-business, which includes the prices of labor, energy, taxes and office space. We looked closely at the qualifications of the available pool of labor. For the first time our rankings also characterized the attractiveness of a region by figuring in crime rates, housing costs and net migration.
Austin, TX
Boise, ID
Raleigh-Durham, NC
Atlanta, GA
Madison, WI
Provo, UT
Omaha, NE
Des Moines, IA
Dallas, TX
Washington, DC-Northern VA

8. Des Moines, IA
Population: 463,000
Job Growth: 1.1%
Income Growth: 4.9% What's not to like? Des Moines' per capita income of $33,200 is $4,000 higher than Iowa's mean, but business costs are still 12% below the national average. Unemployment: currently 4.1%.
(Courtesy of www.forbes.com)

 

First Place! The 2002 Digital Cities Survey by Digital Government and Technology Magazine

The Center for Digital Government is proud to present the winners of this year's 2002 Digital Cities Survey. Underwritten by Microsoft, the 2002 survey examines how city governments have progressed in adopting and utilizing digital technologies to improve the delivery of services to their citizens. This year's 1st place winners in their respective categories are Honolulu, Hawaii and Tampa, Florida, which tied for first place in their category; Des Moines, Iowa; and Roanoke, Virginia.The mayors, chief information officers and city managers in over 300 of the nation's cities were invited to participate. The survey grouped cities into three categories based on population, which are communities with more than 250,000; populations of 125,000-250,000 and populations of 75,000-125,000. The following is the top 10 ranking cities for mid-size cities with populations between 125,000 and 250,000 residents.Mid-Size Populations: 125,000-250,000Rank City

1. Des Moines, IA
2. Plano, TX
3. Fort Wayne, IN
4. Richmond, VA
5. Torrance, CA
6. Lincoln, NE
7. Salt Lake City, UT
8. Durham, NC
9. Hollywood, FL
10. Hampton, VA

"This ranking is a wonderful recognition of the tremendous strides the City has made in its use of technology during the past few years. It is due to the efforts of literally hundreds of people, from the Mayor and Council, to the IT staff, to the people who work with this technology every day that we have achieved this superb ranking," said Michael Armstrong, Chief Information Officer for the City of Des Moines. The city will receive its award on December 4, 2002 during the National League of Cities annual meeting in Salt Lake City.The February 2003 issue of Government Technology magazine will contain an article on the results of the 2002 Digital Cities Survey. "This year we had a record turnout of cities participating in the survey," said Cathilea Robinett, executive director for the Center for Digital Government, "and we had many new cities appearing in the top 10 rankings. I think it shows that local governments are making digital government a top priority more than ever before."

 

City of Des Moines Web Site selected as Site of the Month by GovSpot.org

GovSpot.com, an nonpartisan government information portal designed to simplify the search for the best and most relevant government information online, awarded The City of Des Moines as Site of the Month for April, 2002.

GovSpot.com noted that connecting with the City of Des Moines web site is very simple. Citizens can keep an eye on their elected officials by watching webcasts of city council meetings as well as read about the city council budget. Residents can pay parking tickets and check traffic reports. The Mapping Center has maps of snow routes, neighborhoods, skywalks and area codes. Have a problem and don't know who to contact? Search the City Government Directory or the FAQs.

Finalists for GovSpot.com Site of the Month are judged on quality and richness of information, overall organization and accessibility. Judges also considered the regularity of updates and innovative use of technology in bringing government services online.

 

America in Bloom Special Project or Initiative

Des Moines has been awarded a certificate of Special Recognition by America in Bloom after its judges completed a national survey of midsize cities. In July 2002, two America in Bloom judges-Jonathan Shaw and Mark Lalonde visited the city to evaluated public ladscaping, gardens and greenspaces. In their comments the judges noted the production and distribution of annuals; downtown floral plantings; increased use of flowers in the cemeteries; wildflower plantings; and, the "wonderful collection of theme gardens" at the Botanical Center and along the riverfront promenade as worthy of praise.

The judges went on to note that the Landscape Standards passed by the Mayor's Landscape Task Force will help ensure that general landscaping principles will remain high and will certainly contribute to increased beautification initiatives."

Under the heading of " Special Project or Initiative" the judges stated that "The City of Des Moines deserves to be recognized for the creative management and approaches that enables them to maintain the financial viability and general support for many beautification projects. In particular, the free distribution of annuals to all areas of the community has resulted in the building of strong community partnerships and very active volunteerism."

Matt Rosen, the City of Des Moines Horticultural Manager said, "Des Moines is the first city in the nation to garner such recognition. The entire community shares in their proud accomplishment because of the divesity of partnerships that make Des Moines such a florally colorful city." The certificate is proudly displayed at the Des Moines Park and Recreation Department.

Recognized as One of CRM's Top 10 Implementations of 2001

FrontRange Solutions Inc., an international market leader in customer relationship management (CRM) and customer service and support software, announced that the implementation of its flagship product HEAT® at the city of Des Moines, Iowa has been identified by Aberdeen Group as one of the most significant CRM implementations of 2001. Aberdeen Group’s “Top Ten CRM Implementations of 2001”

Striving to be recognized as one of the best-run cities in North America, the City of Des Moines, Iowa uses HEAT software to facilitate the smooth operation of a “Citizen Response System” (CRS) to manage and automate inquiries from 200,000 city residents. As many as 9,000 incoming calls are handled by the CRS on a monthly basis, then quickly and efficiently dispatched to twenty different City departments for action.

One of the 50 Sweetest Spots in America, by Hershey's Foods.

Des Moines ranks fourth out of 1,000 entries. The top-five awards were given to (1) Seattle, Washington, (2) Boston, Massachusetts, (3) Savannah, Georgia, (4) Des Moines, Iowa, and (5) Cleveland, Ohio. The criteria used in determining the "50 Sweetest Cities" are · Per capita spending on fun and recreational activities.

Low crime rates- safe communities, i.e. low crime rates will be a solid indicator of quality of life within a community.

• High volunteerism rates within the community: United Way, Red Cross, etc..
• Awards for community service; including heroic community members past and present, medals awarded to community members for military service, etc..
• Romantic settings- Flower shops, romantic restaurants, beaches. Clean environment; including cleanest air, water, community improvement groups.
  
• Celebrations/ Parades/ Outdoor Activities
  
• Historical settings, houses, museums.

Des Moines tied for fourth place in the category for midsize cities across the globe for city beautification projects.

The eight finalists included two cities from the United States, Des Moines and Rochester, New York and cities in Ecuador, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and England.
"Nations in Bloom" is an international competition of city beautification projects on public and private properties. The cities are categorized according to population and size. Des Moines competed with other cities worldwide that have populations between 50,000 to 300,000 people.

The Arts Advocate Award 2002 from the Iowa Arts Council

The Des Moines Public Art Task Force received the Arts Advocate Award from the Iowa Arts Council Board of Directors in February 2002. The award is given every two years to recognize exemplary individuals, organizations, businesses or communities that have made outstanding achievements in the arts.

The Des Moines Public Art Task Force founded in 1999, has worked steadily to research national models for citywide public arts programs and to make recommendations to the City of Des Moines for the development and implementation of a Des Moines Public Art Program. This work resulted in City Council passage of a Public Art Ordinance in October

The 2001 Digital Cities Survey by Digital Government and Technology Magazine

Des Moines was rated second in the country for its use of technology in the first Digital Cities survey conducted by the Center for Digital Government and Government Technology magazine.
Over 300 city government offices were invited to participate in the survey. Mayors and chief information officers responded to a set of 17 questions that were developed after months of preparation and input from recognized government IT experts.
The Digital Cities Survey examined which municipal services are online, what forms are available electronically, what information is offered to the public and whether the public can send online feedback to city officials. Cities were also asked about their IT management structure - specifically, if there is an executive IT position that oversees technology policies and operations, and much more.
Des Moines accomplishments are laced throughout city operations. The mayor, department heads and city council members communicate with constituents using e-mail. The city web site offers a host of online forms, including applications for city employment and certain permits.

A+ on the Kid Friendly Cities 2001 Report Card.

Des Moines received a ranking of 11th out of 140 cities as a top community that is "Kid Friendly" The rating is based on such factors as population, health, education, public safety, employment rate, environment, and community life are considered. The study looks at every city in America with a population of 100,000+. It creates a picture of conditions where our children play, learn, and grow. The Community Life factor was rated A-, with indicators such as 15.1 park acres per 1,000 persons and 6.1 library circulation per child. Extra credit was given for the Youth in Parks program. This program helps youth develop social and physical skills through positive relationships with adults and peers and community service projects.

Choice City for 2001 by Outlook Magazine

The criteria the magazine's editors used to make up this list included Department of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Data, reports from the Federal Reserve and from the Conference Board and information from the U. S. Conference of Mayors. All of the data was analyzed by means of specialized software that ranks cities based on such criteria as crime, business development, etc.

"In the words of Ray Kinsella in 'Field of Dreams,' this isn't heaven, "It's Iowa." All clichés aside, today Des Moines - the capital of the state - is home to more than 200,000 people, and is the third largest insurance center in the world with nearly 60 life, health and casualty insurance companies located here. The climate-controlled skywalks system makes getting around easy, and the skywalks make up more blocks per capita in Des Moines than any comparable city in the U.S.

Currently, the city has low unemployment (2%), a highly educated workforce and a low cost of housing. Any business looking to relocate to Des Moines would also find workers interested in the average travel time to work, which is only 18 minutes."

"Best Places to Live & Work" by Employment Review's ranks Des Moines Number 20