Local government managers continue to face an array of challenges that have created the opportunity for new and innovative                     ways to achieve high quality and less expensive service delivery in their communities. Many such innovative efforts have emerged                   as part of some form of collaboration by the local governmental jurisdiction with private, nonprofit, or other public entities.   

A State and Local Government  article by David Swindell of Arizona State University and Cheryl Hilvert of ICMA's Center for Management Strategies entitled "Collaborative Service Delivery. . . What Every Local Government Manager Should Know"  provides a perspective to highlight important factors local officials should bear in mind in deciding which services  might benefit from such collaborations, as well as which form of collaboration might be most likely to help a community achieve its goals.

This article is a "preview" of  the Center for Management Strategies new work in Collaborative Service Delivery that will be launched at the 2014 ICMA Conference in Charlotte.  Thanks are extended to Arizona State University, the Alliance for Innovation, the International City/County Management Association and to our financial supporter of this work, CH2M HILL for undertaking this important work for local governments.  Thanks too to State and Local Government Review for providing this free link to the article so that it could be shared with local government managers.

Please take a look at this article and begin to think about how collaboration may be an option for you in the future.