Northern Illinois MPI Accepts Bright Idea Award

From Northern Illinois MPI: A Harvard University program has recognized the Northern Illinois Municipal Partnering Initiative (MPI), which includes the Village of Buffalo Grove and more than 30 municipalities in Cook and Lake County. The Bright Ideas Award was accepted January 18, 2017 on behalf of MPI by the Village of Glenview, who established the program in 2010 and provides ongoing organizational support for the initiative. The award acknowledges the very best in governmental innovation, and was presented by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

MPI is a cooperative venture in which local governments purchase shared services and commodities, including municipal projects such as curbs and sidewalk improvements, asphalt patching, road resurfacing and a variety of other projects. The goal of MPI is to control costs while leveraging the power of joint purchasing, in addition to achieving the highest levels of efficiency and best practices in local government.

Over the last seven years, MPI has been the catalyst for 25 joint bidding projects, resulting in a total savings of up to $2.6 million for taxpayers living in the participating municipalities. In 2016, the Village of Buffalo Grove and several other MPI members participated in a joint bid for cross-connection control device testing, which saved Buffalo Grove 40-percent compared to previous year pricing.

“We are proud to be a part of such a forward-thinking group that is jointly working for the benefit of all of our stakeholders,” said Buffalo Grove Village President Beverly Sussman. “The success of MPI is a direct result of the cooperation and hard work we have achieved with our many government partners.”

To be considered a Bright Idea, programs must be in the process of launching a project or currently in operation, have sufficient operational resources and be administered by one or more governmental entity. MPI is the fifth cohort recognized with this award, which is given to all levels of government including school districts, city, county, state and federal agencies, tribal nations and public-private partnerships.

MPI was previously recognized with the 2012 Outstanding Achievement in Innovation Award from the Alliance for Innovation, a Community Partnership Award in 2012 from the International City/County Management Association, and a Local Transformer Award in 2015 by Transform Illinois.

For more information and for a full list of Bright Ideas Award recipients, visit http://innovations.harvard.edu.

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