Mayor Mike Bodker and company senior vice president Gary Miller accepted an Outstanding Achievement Award during the Conference's 76th Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C. The award recognizes the innovative partnership in which the company is responsible for managing all major city functions except public safety.
"Quite simply, Johns Creek would not have been able to achieve all that we have in our first year were it not for our partnership with CH2M HILL OMI," says Mayor Bodker. "The team of professionals, the customer-service orientation they bring and their access to a wide range of resources mean our citizens are getting a tremendous return on their tax dollars."
A few short months before Johns Creek opened its doors Dec. 1, 2006, city founders determined that the best way to manage the business of the city was to hire a business to help manage the city. CH2M HILL OMI was tasked with starting up the new city in less than 90 days, investing its own resources to put in place all of the systems, processes and tools necessary to run a complete city -- initially without a formal contract. Over the past year, the partnership has yielded improved citizen responsiveness, increased revenue and a "green" city hall for the new city of 65,000.
"It's a privilege and a pleasure to work side by side with the forward-thinking elected and appointed officials of Johns Creek each day," says Miller. "The philosophy behind the success of our municipal services partnership is that we check our business cards at the door and focus on a single mission: to serve the citizens of Johns Creek 24 hours per day, every day of the year."
The Conference established the awards to encourage businesses and cities to work together to improve local communities. Selection criteria includes improvement in delivery of services, replicability, sustainability, cost savings, creativity of approach, benefits to both public and private partners, economic and business benefits, and measurable results. The award was one of 10 Public/Private Partnership Awards presented to cities and companies by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goldman, Chair, Mayors and the Business Community Task Force. CH2M HILL OMI's parent company, CH2M HILL, also was recognized with an Outstanding Achievement in Public/Private Partnerships Award for its partnership with Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera and Colorado Springs Utilities. The Fountain Creek Recovery Project is an effort to protect the environment, to protect customers, and to keep potential wastewater overflows from reaching downstream landowners and communities in Colorado.
This is Johns Creek's first partnership award from the Conference and CH2M HILL OMI's second. The company earned an Outstanding Achievement Award for its wastewater operations and maintenance partnership with Augusta, Ga., in 2004.
CH2M HILL OMI provides a range of custom-tailored operations and maintenance solutions for clients in government and industry. Services include water and wastewater system optimization; contract O&M of water, wastewater and other utilities; and complete municipal operations, including administration, public works and community development. For details, visit www.omi.ch2mhill.com.
Headquartered in Denver, Colo., employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in engineering, construction and operations for public and private clients. With more than $5 billion in revenue, CH2M HILL is an industry-leading program management, construction management and design firm, as ranked by Engineering News-Record (2007). The firm's work is concentrated in the areas of transportation, water, energy, environment and industrial facilities. The firm has long been recognized as a most-admired company and leading employer by business media and professional associations worldwide. CH2M HILL has more than 24,000 employees in regional offices around the world. The firm is recognized by FORTUNE as a Most Admired Company and as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For 2008. Visit www.ch2mhill.com.
Media contacts: Susan Mays CH2M HILL OMI 303.885.1195 Email Contact Bill Doughty City of Johns Creek 678.577.8152 Email Contact
