City of Greensboro issued the following announcement on Feb. 16.
Employees with the Greensboro Engineering and Inspections, Parks and Recreation, and Police Departments, and Creative Greensboro, the office for arts and culture, were honored Tuesday night, February 1, as winners of the 2021 Employee Innovation Awards. The annual awards recognize City of Greensboro employees who have devised innovative and impactful solutions that improved City’s services or productivity.
First place winners received a $2,500 prize and runners up received a $500 prize, to be split between recipients in cases where a joint project won.
“It’s inspiring to lead an organization where innovation drives our willingness and ability to solve complex problems,” said City Manager Taiwo Jaiyeoba. “These are just a few of the talented and dedicated employees who go above and beyond to serve Greensboro residents each day.”
2021 Award Winners
Innovation Awards
- Winner – Safe Greensboro Innkeepers Alliance, Police Office Norman Luper Luper created a program to work with hotel, motel and extended-stay businesses in high crime areas to reduce incidents at their establishments using environmental design and problem-oriented policing strategies. The goal is to identify parts of the physical environment that are contributing to crime and help owners develop new standard operating procedures. In six months, the first business that participated went from being the establishment with the most incidents to the lowest for establishments of its size. The program costs the City no increase in law enforcement or City funds.
- Runner Up – Greensboro Youth Council (GYC) Vent Sessions, Parks and Recreation Program Coordinator Jasia Stevenson and former GYC Chair Iman Khan As a part-time City employee, the student chair of GYC Khan, then a high school senior, suggested offering teens a chance to voice their concerns, stresses, and connect since the COVID-19 pandemic had taken that away for many teens. Khan and Stevenson created structured monthly virtual sessions. Topics include wellness, current events, and academic challenges. Some 80 teens participated in six sessions. They reported feeling less alone.
Impact Awards
- Winner – Divas by Design, Police Officer Shatonie Little As a school resource officers at Jackson Middle School, Little created an afterschool program for girls to help improve their self-esteem and show them how education can make a difference in their lives. She challenged them to be entrepreneurs, creating and selling homemade soap and deodorant. They also met local female business owners, took college tours, and participated in Charlotte Motor Speedway’s STEAM program. The children who participated improved their grades and teachers noted increased participation in the classroom.
- Runner Up – JotForm Registration System, Creative Greensboro Finance and Facility Operations Specialist David Cashwell Cashwell learned to code the web-based form platform JotForm to create a low-cost program registration and payment platform. The new system eliminated the needs for costly registration systems and provides a better user experience for particiants.
- Runner Up – Drone Program for Energy and Asset Management, Energy Management Engineer Sergey Kobelev and Facilities Maintenance Supervisor Eddie Hollomon Kebelev and Hollomon used drones and special software to evaluate the conditions of City buildings. The project saves time and money required for manual inspections by pin-pointing and prioritizing problems, saving energy costs, providing innovative and effective documentation techniques, and improve energy efficiency and serviceability of the City facilities.
Original source can be found here.
