M3Planning

An exceptional county harnesses the ingenuity of the community

Company: Washoe County — Board of County Commissioners and Department Leaders

Industry: Government — Nevada

Washoe County is a growing area located along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in western Nevada. The county covers an area of 6,600 square miles in the northwest section of the State bordering California and Oregon and has a population of approximately 410,000.  The county seat is the City of Reno, the third largest city in Nevada. Other communities include Sparks and Incline Village, at Lake Tahoe.

Service: Facilitation and Assessment

Need:  The objectives of this engagement included facilitating a series of public community input forums, coordination and follow-up work after each meeting, task force management and coordination, and overall project management of the process.  

Deliverables:

• Development of an online survey to collect input from citizens of Washoe County.
• Community forums facilitations to collect opinions well representative of the population.
• Interactive citizen involvement.
• A comprehensive report of all activities for public viewing.
• Development of a medium in which community input could be ongoing.

Solution: Due to Washoe County’s population and geographic size, M3 focused on harnessing the power of existing community events and established communication channels to engage in the external stakeholder outreach.  An effective campaign was coordinated with the county for community participation online for the survey work, and interaction during the County’s annual celebration “Washoe Days” further stimulated the survey input, as well as interaction at a creative level.  To best round out the feedback, we facilitated several forums at different locations to collect opinions.  Finally, all findings were reported in sessions with department leaders and county executives for maximum retention of the data for strategic reference.

Result: The assessments, facilitations and outreach events provided a clear direction for the County’s comprehensive update of their Strategic Plan.  In total, the community outreach events were conducted at functions collectively attracting over 3,000 people. The voice of internal and external stakeholders was widely represented, and gave great input on the strategic direction for the county.   For access to the web portal designed to continue gathering community input, go to   http://washoecounty.us/mgrsoff/strategicplan.html

"I sincerely appreciate the work you have done to move Washoe County forward. As this State grows we must be prepared to meet every challenge. With professionals like (M3 Planning) the job is made much easier."

Sheriff Michael Haley,
Washoe County Sheriff's Office