Broward County has been awarded 20 National Achievement Awards by the National Association of Counties (NACo), honoring the region’s commitment to innovation and excellence in public service across a wide range of sectors.
The awards spotlight programs that promote environmental resiliency, improve government transparency and efficiency, boost access to cultural and economic opportunities, and enhance residents’ quality of life. Broward County, Florida’s second most populous county and the 17th largest in the United States, stood out for its multi-agency approach to future-focused governance.
The Resilient Environment Department earned eight awards, including four for GIS innovations developed by the Urban Planning Division. These included a centralized GIS data platform, a custom project management tool, a rapid post-incident damage survey, and a population trend analysis app to support municipal planning.
Other environmental accolades went to the Consumer Protection Division’s Innovation Unit and the Purchasing Division for a dynamic procurement tracking tool, the Natural Resources Division for a solar canopy offsetting 30% of a library’s energy use, and the Environmental Permitting Division for an educational GIS Storymap. An additional award honored a public engagement project in collaboration with the Cultural Division that used environmental art to spark conversations about resilience.
The Cultural Division received five awards. These included initiatives to ensure equitable funding for grassroots events, produce arts journalism, use augmented reality to showcase public art globally, and host a digital art festival.
The Broward County Library system earned three awards: for launching a paid e-card to reduce hold times and create revenue, a 50th-anniversary public campaign, and a multi-day event highlighting Black culture and history.
Enterprise Technology Services was recognized for a network segmentation project designed to protect personal data and reduce cybersecurity risks.
The Broward Addiction Recovery Center’s new outreach team was honored for providing mental health and substance use disorder support directly in community hotspots. The Parks and Recreation Division received recognition for launching Spanish-language nature-based programming to better engage Hispanic residents.
Port Everglades earned an award for a large-scale study that surveyed over 7,000 cruise passengers to help local businesses tailor tourism strategies. Meanwhile, Film Lauderdale, part of the Office of Economic and Small Business Development, won for a free workforce program training local businesses to transition their skills into the film and screen industry.
All recognized initiatives fall under the umbrella of the Broward County Commission. The NACo Achievement Awards span 18 categories, from arts and culture to emergency management, highlighting the broad scope of essential services provided by U.S. counties.
To learn more about the award-winning programs, visit Broward.org.
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