In 2018, the cities of Blue Springs, Independence and Lee’s Summit (all located in eastern Jackson County, Missouri, sharing common borders) established a shared services collaborative partnership for Eastern Jackson County to explore strategies and solutions aimed to improve excellence and innovation, for the benefit of employees, residents and visitors. The cities requested assistance from the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) to facilitate discussion of potential initiatives and advancement steps. In the first two years, the partnership successfully completed several projects. The cities of Grandview and Raytown, Missouri, were invited to expand the partnership in late 2020.
Proposed Next Steps
With assistance from MARC, the five jurisdictions seek to continue to explore mutually beneficial shared services solutions, including but not limited to the following:
· Organize a second networking event to match employees with similar duties in peer organizations for a half-day to full-day job shadowing experience.
· Evaluate opportunities for joint purchasing or shared equipment for maintenance of city facilities and assets.
· Continue to work with the MARC Government Training Institute (GTI) to deliver joint supervisory trainings, and expand the program to include other common training needs such as governance trainings for volunteer boards and commissions.
· Provide leadership to advance the regional cybersecurity strategic framework, including completing the annual National Cyber Security Review self-assessment and exploring joint solutions to address deficiencies.
· Advance solutions, including cooperative agreements and shared services, that streamline business functions and help deliver robust, high-quality citizen services.
The governing bodies of the five cities will be briefed on this initiative at least annually and asked to offer their insights on opportunities for joint exploration.