ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Calvin Ball today announced that Howard County Government has received a record 83 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo). That is the highest number of awards out of any county in the state, which received a collective 136 awards, and the highest number of annual NACo awards achieved in Maryland history. Additionally, the County was only one of two counties in the state to receive a Best in Category award, winning this year for their Call Center Training earned by the County’s Office of Emergency Management.
Howard County has yet again received a record number of NACo awards this year, which reflects an impressive achievement across the entirety of County Government. Howard County’s talented, dedicated and hardworking employees make it easy to see why we have been recognized in so many categories. This recognition reinforces the excellent quality of services that we are delivering, and motivates us to continue raising the bar for our residents. Congratulations to all the awardees!
NACo Achievement Awards are the premier national honor to recognize innovative and transformative programs that provide new services for county residents, improve existing programs, upgrade working conditions, and enhance public participation and policymaking. Since taking office in December of 2018, Ball has led the County to become a national leader in innovation and transformation, earning a total of 195 NACo awards between 2019 and 2024.
The winning entries include:
Children and Youth
- Howard County Health Department Family Options Program Expansion
- Howard County Complete4Success Program
- Howard County Office of Workforce Development (OWD) In School Youth Services
Civic Education and Public Information
- Community Ambassador Program
- Historic Zoning Map App
- Howard County Flag Process
- Howard County Scam Squad
Community and Economic Development
- Federal Worker Support Initiative
- HoCo Higher Growth Accelerator Program
- How to maximize shelter space for the County’s Homeless Response System
- Howard County Apprenticeship Innovation and Expansion in 2024
- Howard County Emergency Drought Grant
- LIFT Microloan Program
- Maryland Innovation Center’s Pitch and Mingle Series
- Nteligen Incumbent Worker Training
- Student Loan Assistance Repayment Program
County Administration and Management
- Howard County Office of Agriculture
- Personnel Management Tool
- Using Surveys to Drive Performance Enhancements
County Resiliency: Infrastructure, Energy and Sustainability
- Advancing Waste Reduction at Events
- Electric vehicle charger submission process for private and residential property
- Environmental Mitigation for Stormwater Pond Repairs
- HoCo Climate Forward Annual Report
- Innovative Outreach for Community Climate Action
- Powering Residential Solar Adoption
- Solar Canopies at East Columbia Campus
- Zero RPM Idling Technology in Emergency and Heavy-duty Fleet Vehicles
Criminal Justice and Public Safety
- Return-to-Work Program
- The Mural Project
Financial Management
- Building Sustainability: Establishing Howard County Health Department’s Clinical Billing Unit to Support Accessible Health Services
- cashVest and rfpPrep- Empowering the Team at Howard County
- Improving Data-driven Decisions
- Improving the Taxpayer Experience
- Stale Surety Refund Process
Health
- Administrative Care Coordination Unit Provider Outreach Action
- Crisis Intercept Mapping, (CIM), for Service Members, Veterans, and their Families
- Fall Prevention at Your Doorstep: A Howard County Alliance
- Roving Radish Mobile Market
- The Community Health Worker (CHW) Program
Human Services
- A Grand Day Out
- Boosting Family Childcare Workforce
- Enhanced Street Outreach for Chronically Homeless Population
- Family Home Start Program
- Family Support Center
- Housing Support Program for Community College Students
- Ombudsmen-Led EMS Training: Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults in Long-Term Care
Information Technology
- ACCU Case Management Application
- ADA Compliance Training for Web and Digital Media
- Audio Visual Integrated Room Systems Modernization
- DILP’S Automated Online Grading Permitting Program
- East Columbia 50 Plus Center Build
- GreenFest Payment Form Application
- Historic Zoning Map
- HoCo by Design Application
- Hybrid Digitization – The In-house vs Outsourcing Mix
- Implement County-Wide Password Manager
- Implement PagerDuty for Incident Management and Network Operations Center
- Improved Geocoder in 911
- Migration to Azure Local from VMWare
- Project 25 Radio Smart Connect WiFi
- Report Lost or Stolen Device
- Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP)
Parks and Recreation
- Age-Friendly Fitness Lot at Centennial Park North
- Chesapeake Challenge
- Huntington Park Bicycle Traffic Garden
- Sensory Trail Loop at Centennial Park North
- Service & Skills Club
Personnel Management, Employment and Training
- CPR First Aid Training
- DPW’s Training, Education & Development (TED) program
- Howard County Government “Financial Resources for the Career Lifecycle” Program
- Howard County Workforce Development-Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Program
Risk and Emergency Management
- Howard County Call Center Training (Best in Category)
- Howard County Comprehensive Critical Infrastructure List
- Howard County Emergency Operations Center/Joint Information Center Training
- Howard County Everbridge-HR Integration
- Howard County Integrated Preparedness Plan
- Howard County Whole Blood Program
- Howard County Whole Community Flood Preparedness Video
- Howard County's Stop the Bleed Kit and Narcan Expansion Program
Transportation
- Howard County Neighborhood Traffic Calming Policy
- Route 1 Complete Streets Safety Demonstration Project
- Howard County Transportation Priorities Letter Process
- Regional Transit Agency of Central Maryland (RTA) Automatic Voice Announcements
For a complete list of winners, check out NACo’s website at www.naco.org/page/achievement-awards.