Spalding County, Georgia is a is a small-town charm community in the “Southern Country” with a population of 65,000, where citizens tend to all know one another. Spalding is based off a board of five commissioners along with the county manager and sits alongside the city of Spalding which has seven commissioners, one city manager, and a mayor. Spalding County is surrounded by natural beauty and vibrant culture, hosting beautiful lakes, acres of scenic parks and a multitude of historic landmarks. In addition, Spalding County is home to the University of Georgia’s Griffin Campus and Southern Crescent Technical College.
What was the challenge that led Spalding County to GOGov?
Spalding County wanted to develop a way to allow citizens to have a voice but avoid overwhelming calls and emails for the county staff. The goal was to find a system that gave citizens that opportunity to communicate with the county in an instant from their cell phone. GOGov’s Citizen Requests/311 module was the answer for Spalding County, creating a branded county mobile app called “InSpalding”, which allows citizens to report their issues or concerns on their smartphones that include photos, details, descriptions, and maps of where the issue takes place. Additionally, the county wanted direct communication to the residents, using GOGov’s Citizen Notifications module, they can successfully accomplish that as well.
“Spalding County generally wanted to find a way to give the citizens a voice- to be able to actually not call us or not even send an e-mail but give them that opportunity to communicate with us at an instant just from their cell phone, right in front of them.” DeAndre Smith, Citizen Engagement Specialist at Spalding County.
How is Spalding using GOGov today?
Spalding uses GOGov’s Citizen requests/311 product to commonly manage issues like potholes, animal shelter requests, and water in the roadways. With inclement weather, the app is helpful with repairing trees that fall down, or other issues resulting from a storm. On the citizen notifications side of InSpalding, the county likes to take advantage of sending out information and keeping residents informed. Spalding sends out notifications for roadway and weather updates, but also updates on community events, holidays, and resident updates. It is important to Spalding County to show how much the citizens are valued, and the Citizen Notifications module helps the county accomplish that and stay connected.
One recent example of InSpalding helping a situation for Spalding County was a heavy rain that came in a few weeks back in Georgia. Bridges were flooding, becoming dangerous for citizens and cars to pass through. The staff at Spalding County took the opportunity to put out notifications through InSpalding regarding the flooding of the bridge. The county has also found Citizen Notifications very helpful for past tornados that hit, which has Spalding feeling prepared for future weather threats.
Future Plans for Spalding County
Spalding County Plans to continue using the notification system to send important messages out to residents, but also continue keeping the small-town community connection alive. The goal of the notification system is to keep residents informed but also show that Spalding values them. With the Citizen Requests/311t module, Spalding will continue to use the systems dashboard to manage issues and requests from residents.
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GOGov is committed to helping municipalities and local governments enhance community engagement, streamline operations, and foster transparent communication. Our partnership with Spalding County 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.
