Union County receives national achievement awards

MONROE – The National Association of Counties, also known as NACo, has awarded Union County Government two Achievement Awards for innovative, effective county government programs that strengthen services for residents. NACo recognized the following efforts:

Achievement Award in the category of Civic Education and Public Information for the Development Services website

Achievement Award in the category of Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation for Historic Roof Tiles Campaign

"These successful efforts are the result of a tremendous investment of time, effort and dedication by our talented staff," said County Manager Brian Matthews. "I'm proud these programs are receiving well-deserved national recognition, and I know each of these award-winning projects positively affects the residents we serve."

In 2022, Union County unveiled a new development services microsite to assist individuals seeking to develop their property. Before the microsite launched, web visitors had to navigate a complicated path through multiple pages among several County departments to engage in development processes. The new consolidated microsite leveraged in-house technology solutions to provide a user-friendly experience, bringing all necessary resources together into one easy-to-use platform to allow residents to navigate the development process quickly and easily. Multiple county departments collaborated to plan the website over several months, with the Public Communications Department leading the effort and using in-house resources to build the site.

In 2021, the Historic Union County Courthouse underwent a roof replacement, leaving the County with hundreds of original slate roof tiles from 1886. Rather than trash these pieces of history, the Public Communications Department initiated a campaign to sell the historic roof tiles to the public through this unique opportunity that allowed the county government to connect county residents to history. In addition to achieving the goals of re-purposing the tiles and connecting the community with County history, the campaign increased engagement on social media and the county website. Residents even began to share photos of how they creatively used their roof tiles as comments on Facebook posts. To date, nearly 800 historic slate roof tiles have been sold.

"I am incredibly proud of our Public Communications team, and it is great to see them recognized for the great work they do every day," said Public Communications Director Liz Cooper. "These award-winning projects are the result of how well our team collaborates with departments throughout Union County and demonstrates the high quality of efforts to best serve a county of nearly 250,000 residents."

NACo selects recipients in 18 different categories that reflect the vast, comprehensive services counties provide. Started in 1970, NACo's annual Achievement Awards program is designed to recognize county government innovations.