HeyGov Case Study: Innovation in Ohio, the story of the Village of South Amherst

The Village of South Amherst in Ohio is (almost) a historical community. Founded in 1918, this community boasts just over 1,500 residents and is home to the Falcons - the local high school.

Old, but in no way cold! This is a community that's always on the cutting edge when it comes to technology. So when HeyGov came along with their suite of tools for local government, they jumped in with both feet to put their municipality on the digital map!

And, they've been using HeyGov in some really innovative ways.

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Context

1. South Amherst does have a park shelter: it was never rented because the process was difficult in comparison with the number of bookings they had.
2. Tracking incoming tasks like an electric outage, trash or a pothole always ends up on Post-it notes that get blown away by the wind or stuck underneath a bunch of other paper.
3. The municipality processes a lot of building permits and needs to streamline its process, in order for all parties to be on the same page about the parameters of the approval, the steps and the payment thereof.

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The HeyGov Solution

First of all, the Village of Amherst was one of the first places to use HeyGov for commercial building permits. With HeyGov, they've been able to streamline the permitting process and make it easier for everyone involved. Business owners can apply for a permit online, and the Village staff can review and approve the application all through HeyGov. This has saved everyone time and hassle and made it easier for new businesses to come to South Amherst.

They customized this solution in two ways:

• Once the permit is approved, a document is attached to the message of approval that's sent to the applicant that stipulates the details of the permit.
• And, when they set up their building permit process with the request for payment after the permit has been approved, they made it easier for business owners to pay for their permits and get started with their projects.

Secondly, the Village of South Amherst also uses HeyGov's citizen engagement app, Hey311, in a really creative way. Laurie, the Clerk, has figured out how to use Hey311 to assign incoming tasks to different departments. This way, she can keep track of all the reports and make sure everything gets done on time. It's a simple idea, but it's made a huge difference in how efficiently the Village operates.

Thirdly, the park shelter is available to rent by simply accessing the "How Do I?" button on their municipal website. It includes a calendar view of the shelter, its amenities and the rules with a payment step attached. No binders and no hassles.

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We're grateful that the Village of South Amherst isn't just using HeyGov, they're also helping to shape the product!

All in all, the Village of South Amherst is a great example of how HeyGov is helping the local government work better and more efficiently. They're using HeyGov in innovative ways, and they're helping to make the product even better for everyone else.

It's a win-win situation, and it's great to see communities like South Amherst using technology in smart and creative ways!

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