The town of Monrovia, Indiana, a small yet rapidly growing community, faced the challenge of maintaining effective communication with its residents as the population increased. Traditional methods like their website, Facebook, and local newspapers were no longer sufficient. Recognizing the need for a more user-friendly and accessible solution, Monrovia turned to GOGov to create a municipality-branded mobile app. This innovative tool has since transformed how the town engages with its citizens, providing a centralized platform for communication, real-time updates, and enhanced community involvement.

About Monrovia

The town of Monrovia, Indiana was officially formed in 1995. It was and still is a very small, close-knit community. As the fastest-growing town in Morgan County, IN, its population (currently just under 2,000) is steadily increasing as new homes are built. Town staff and representatives have gone to great lengths to maintain communication with the citizens, both new and established, as the community grows and changes.

What was the challenge that led Monrovia to GOGov?

Monrovia’s staff realized that they couldn't properly communicate with Monrovia residents using solely their old methods (their website, Facebook, the newspaper, and flyers). They also recognized that their online resources weren’t as user-friendly as they would have liked. They needed something to make their most-used resources more readily available. In 2022, Monrovia’s then-Clerk Treasurer brought up the idea that an app could be incredibly useful for their citizens. Within a couple of weeks, they had a Zoom call with a GOGov representative, and the timing was perfect. After the conversation with the GOGov, it was clear for Monrovia that creating their own municipality branded app was the right choice. It addressed all the issues they were facing at the time. The app would consolidate all their resources into one accessible place, allowing them to easily direct citizens to it and send notifications about important events and developments. It provided a direct line of communication, making it an obvious decision.

How is Monrovia using GOGov today?

They currently use their app, Monrovia Connect, to compile their online resources into one place and communicate with citizens via smartphone and email notifications. Kali Bischoff, Sewer Utility Clerk, handles the Town-provided wastewater utility and has received a great deal of positive feedback from customers who appreciate the convenience of paying directly from their phones, rather than having to search for payment portals on the website. Before GOGov, online payment options were challenging to access for those unfamiliar with the website or who had difficulty navigating it. Citizens have also expressed their satisfaction with receiving real-time notifications about events, meetings, project updates, and more directly to their phones. In particular, Monrovians look forward to the Food Truck Thursday notifications each week, which detail which food truck will be stationed at the Festival Building. With only three restaurants within town limits, these food truck events are a notable highlight for the community.

The town of Monrovia has 895 homes and businesses on their wastewater utility. Since creating Monrovia Connect, there has been a significant increase in online payments, making it much easier for wastewater customers to pay their bills. Since the start of spring 2024, the town has experienced a series of road closures, detours, and extensive roadwork in and around the town limits. Unexpected historic building construction has also impacted the accessibility of main roads. However, they have been able to quickly and accurately update residents about traffic patterns and road safety alerts, resulting in much smoother operations than before.

One early project greatly aided by GOGov was their first citizen survey, conducted by the Parks & Recreation department to gather input on desired amenities and community spaces. By posting the survey link on their app, they received over 200 responses—an unprecedented level of citizen feedback for them at the time. As a result, the town was able to establish Monrovia Town Park, installing a playground, shelter house, and BBQ grills. They have also designated green spaces and have many more Parks & Recreation projects in progress.

Future Plans for Monrovia

GOGov has significantly advanced their goals in numerous ways. They are now able to effectively communicate about volunteer opportunities, local organizations, open donations, upcoming events, future road and traffic changes, and more. The impact has been profound; the level of interaction between municipality staff and the community has increased exponentially. This enhanced engagement was their primary goal in collaborating with GOGov and has been a long-term objective.

With improved communication, they have seen better attendance at events, increased donations to various causes, and greater utilization of resources such as local food banks and clothing drives. Overall, they have strengthened their connection with the community, effectively managing their growth as a small but rapidly expanding town.

“We’ve had an amazing experience working with everyone at GOGov.  Every single person we’ve spoken to has been helpful, kind, and easy to work with.  We look forward to working with GOGov indefinitely, and further utilizing the resources they have as our community continues to grow.” -Kali Bischoff, Sewer Utility Clerk

Your Municipality Powered by GOGov

GOGov is committed to helping municipalities and local governments enhance community engagement, streamline operations, and foster transparent communication. Our partnership with Monrovia demonstrates the potential of our solutions to make a meaningful impact on cities of all sizes, and our continued efforts to improve and innovate further.  

GOGov specializes in providing CRM, Code Enforcement, Citizen Notifications, Online Permitting and mobile software to local governments of all sizes. We built our software from the ground up working with the departments and staff that now use our products every single day.

Interested in learning more? Sign up for a demo with the GOGov team today.

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