Media Contact:
Liz Cooper
770-570-7322

Monroe, NC (July 29, 2022) - The National Association of Counties, also known as NACo, has awarded Union County Government two Achievement Awards, as well as a Best in Category Award, for innovative, effective county government programs that strengthen services for residents. NACo recognized the following efforts:

• Achievement Award in the category of Civic Education and Public Information for Branding and Website Redesign
• Achievement Award in the category of Planning for the Union County 2050 Comprehensive Plan
• Planning Best in Category Award for the Union County 2050 Comprehensive Plan

"All of these successful efforts have been the result of a tremendous investment of time and dedication by our talented employees," said County Manager Mark Watson. "I'm proud these programs are receiving well-deserved national recognition and I know each of these projects positively impacts the residents we serve and services we provide." 

The Union County 2050 Comprehensive Plan is currently being implemented, after being adopted by the Board of Commissioners in August 2021. The plan establishes a 30-year vision of the community in the future, with recommendations for infrastructure, land use, economic development, and environmental protection that help implement that vision. "Our Planning team managed this project almost entirely in-house from start to finish, which is quite an accomplishment," said Lee Jenson, Planning Director, who traveled to the NACo Annual Conference in Colorado to accept the Best in Category Award. "We were confident in the final plan, but it makes me especially proud that our plan was selected as Best in Category."

NACo selected the Union County 2050 Comprehensive Plan among hundreds of other applications submitted nationwide for the Planning category of Achievement Awards.

"At times, Union County has been the fastest growing county in North Carolina and among the nation’s fastest. While the percentage growth rate has slowed somewhat in recent years, the raw number of new residents has not," Jenson said. "Knowing that growth will continue, we turned to a diverse group of residents, business leaders, non-profit organizations and other stakeholders to plot the County’s course with direction from the Board of Commissioners."

Union County’s Public Communications department led two large projects for developing a new brand and redesigning the County's website back-to-back over the span of approximately 18 months. The efforts successfully resulted in consolidating dozens of County departments under a unified brand, while modernizing the graphic identity of the County and our virtual front door - our website. 

"Through developing our brand, we successfully captured the essence of Union County, what makes this community unique and united departments around a shared identity," said Liz Cooper, Director of Public Communications. "Then we incorporated our new brand into the redesign of our website, which not only improved the appearance of the site, but made it easier for residents to access vital information. These projects created a more cohesive understanding of who we are and how we represent Union County visually."  

NACo selects recipients in 18 different categories that reflect the vast, comprehensive services counties provide. Started in 1970, NACo’s annual Achievement Awards program is designed to recognize county government innovations.

Lee Jenson, Planning Director, accepts the achievement award at the 2022 NACo Annual Conference & Exposition on July 22, 2022.

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