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SAN RAMON, Calif. – November 18, 2013 – Accela, Inc., the leading provider of civic engagement solutions for government agencies, announced that three more Oregon cities and counties have joined the growing base of government agencies leveraging the Civic Platform to move key civic services online:
Other state and local agencies—including Corvallis, Springfield and the State of Oregon’s Building Codes Bureau—have already deployed Accela solutions to streamline civic processes for land and asset management.
The Civic Platform provides governments with a complete solution for citizen engagement. The platform provides powerful cloud and mobile technologies that facilitate productivity for government workers and allow citizens to engage with their agencies 24/7. Today, agencies can deploy complete capabilities to streamline and manage core processes and to improve community services related to land management, licensing, asset management, and public health and safety.
“In addition to being the engine behind BuildingPermits.Oregon.gov, the nation’s first statewide, electronic building permits system, we’re excited to see more cities and counties across Oregon move to the Accela Civic Platform,” said Maury Blackman, Accela President and CEO. “By moving civic processes online, these government agencies will be able to speed the construction and development process, save money and provide better customer service to citizens, contractors and business owners.”
Tigard is located 10 miles southwest of Portland and has a population of 46,300 residents. Now, licensed contractors can use Accela Citizen Access to submit permit applications and schedule inspections online, anytime. These include electrical, mechanical and plumbing improvements for residential and commercial projects that do not require a plan review. Tigard’s permit center has issued more than 2,600 permits so far this year, totaling $112M in combined project value. Typically, 30 percent of the building permit applications were submitted via fax or email. Before moving to an online system, processing paper permits cost more than $20,000 annually. By leveraging an online solution, the City of Tigard saves money and frees up customer service staff to help walk-in customers.
“We’ve reduced the time it takes to start a project from days down to the click of a button,” said Lloyd Purdy, Economic Development Manager for the City of Tigard. “Tigard is using technology to streamline commercial and residential permits and now customers can print their permit and receipt immediately, and then begin work.”
The City of Albany is located in the Willamette Valley and has a population of 50,000. By upgrading to Accela Automation, the City will offer automated solutions for land management, including permitting and inspection. With Accela Mobile Office, the City will extend mobile capabilities into the field by bringing government services to staff through real-time, visual access to data in an agency’s database from a mobile device. Additionally, with Accela GIS, Albany can leverage geospatial data to improve decision-making and streamline processes.
Clackamas County, home to a population of 380,000, is now live with Accela Automation, which streamlines and automates services across multiple departments, including Building, Planning, Engineering, Code Enforcement and Soils. Clackamas will also leverage Accela Citizen Access to offer citizens, businesses and visitors access to government services online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Citizens can create building permits online, schedule inspections or search applications.
For more information about Oregon’s electronic building permits system, register for an upcoming teleconference with the State of Oregon’s ePermitting Manager for the Building Codes Division and the Deschutes County Community Development Department Administrative Manager to learn more about the State’s shared-services model.
For media or press inquiries, please contact:
media@accela.com
