Milwaukee County automates application processes - saves 60+ minutes per application

Milwaukee County Special Events Department's application wasn't intuitive for residents and workflows required staff manhours.

Handling requests for everything from weddings to photography shoots to local events, the special events department’s long paper applications presented a cumbersome process, and required manhours to process, sort, and update.

“It was fairly cumbersome,” said Guy Smith, Executive Director of the Milwaukee County Parks and Recreation Department. “It was paper-heavy, and just so many steps and not necessarily intuitive for event organizers. You do have PR people and professional event organizers where it just becomes second nature. But for the average resident, that process just wasn’t intuitive.”

The county used funds from the CARES Act to build an easy-to-use online portal that made the process easier for residents and staff. 

Milwaukee County used funds from the CARES Act to develop “MyCounty,” an online portal powered by Granicus’ govService solution, that focuses on expediting access to county services.

It’s part of what Guy Smith, Executive Director of the Milwaukee County Parks and Recreation Department called a “No Wrong Door” philosophy.

“Users don't necessarily need to know that this department does this or this division does that,” he said. “They're just able to get the information or service they need.”

The approach dovetailed into the remote access work that became a requirement during the pandemic. The development and integration of govService for the Milwaukee County team was done over four months, starting in Sept. 2020, and launching in early 2021.

CARES Act Funding offered the chance to develop solutions for many of the county’s departments. Laura Bahr, Business Analyst for Milwaukee County, said that over 60 IT projects were submitted for access to CARES Act funds.