The MML Review March-April 2022

For quite some time, Michigan municipalities have been constrained and operating from a deficit, attempting to provide services just to make ends meet. For many, the idea of finding opportunities for strategic growth and long-term planning was a non-starter.

Yet, with the implementation of the CARES Act back in March of 2020, the Michigan Municipal League saw just how much money municipalities were leaving on the table. There was a gap. Money was available, but League members were not applying for it. That is when the League realized there needed to be a way to connect the dots and create a better system to help communities access the federal and state funding dollars that were beginning to appear. Federal and state recovery funds include the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the American Rescue Plan (ARP), and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

Through these fundamental observations, the ServeMICity initiative took shape.

What Is ServeMICity? ServeMICity is being touted as a “personal concierge” for new state and federal funding. It provides three services to help League members (city, village, and urban township) effectively navigate the funding process: technical assistance, a resource library, and workshops. As staunch local government advocates, the Michigan Municipal League put its money where its mouth is, seeding the program with $100,000. As Shanna Draheim, director of policy research labs at the League says, “It’s one of the best investments we’ve made in a long time.” The ServeMICity initiative is intrinsically tied to Community Wealth Building, the idea that strategies should be in place that balance economic prosperity, sense of place, natural assets, and cultural substance. According to Draheim, Community Wealth Building is about making great places that provide for the wellbeing of the people who live there—all the people who live there. Not only is ServeMICity connecting municipalities to federal and state funding, but it is also helping local leaders strategize on how to best use the funding for long-term resilience and prosperity. In other words, building community wealth.

ServeMICity

MARCH / APRIL 2022

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THE REVIEW