Published:
CANTON, OH (June 10, 2010) –Stark County’s 911 emergency dispatch project, a collaboration of local governments throughout the county, finished second in the EfficientGovNow.org contest, which means it will receive $100,000 toward the cost of establishing safe, efficient and modern 911 emergency dispatching throughout the county. EfficientGovNow.org, a project of the Fund For Our Economic Future in Cleveland, offered up to $330,000 for the most popular government collaboration projects in Northeast Ohio. Dozens of local governments collaborated to propose projects, and 10 projects were chosen by the Fund for a vote of Northeast Ohio residents. Voting took place throughout the month of May by Internet, phone and mail-in ballot. "This result shows the power of our community when it gets behind a worthwhile cause," said Dennis P. Saunier, president and CEO of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce. "We look forward to other opportunities for the community to rally behind more good-government ideas. And our congratulations to Stark County 911 Director Joe Concatto and his partners. We look forward to their success in establishing a modern 911 system in Stark County." The Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce helped promote the 911 project because of its belief in the power of government collaboration. The Chamber thanks its members, Chamber committee volunteers, and partners throughout the community for helping to generate enough votes to make 911 a winner. The Chamber enjoyed working on this project with the Stark Development Board, The Repository and The Independent for their generous efforts in print, WHBC-AM radio, which promoted the contest several times, particularly on the Ron Ponder Show, and WHOF-FM 101.7, and WDPN-AM 1310 in Alliance, which also offered broadcast time to promote Stark County’s entry. First place in the EfficientGovNow.org contest went to Mahoning County for a land-bank project to stabilize the housing market. The Mahoning project will receive $61,420, the amount it asked for. Third place went to a collaboration of 16 Cleveland suburbs to help promote the generation and use of solar power. Like Stark 911, this project asked for and will receive $100,000. A fourth, small-community award was made to a collaboration of cities and villages in five counties for Geographic Information System mapping. This group asked for $100,000 and will receive $70,000, according to EfficientGovNow and the Fund For Our Economic Future This is the second year of the EfficientGovNow.org contest and the second year for a Stark County project to be in the finals. Last year, Stark County’s entry finished fourth. Though Stark County 911 finished second overall, it received more first-place points than any other winner, 9,543 compared with 9,126 for the Mahoning County land bank. Voters could choose up to three projects when they voted, and first-, second- and third-place votes were given different point values. The Stark County 911 project, when implemented, is expected to save Stark County local governments an estimated $2.3 million per year in the cost of running the existing, inefficient 911 system. For a complete breakdown on the contest and the voting, visit the EfficientGovNow Newsroom, here.

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