In addition to meeting the criteria listed below, to be eligible a chapter that has more than 500 members must also nominate at least one individual for the Top Ten Public Works Leader of the Year Award and nominate at least one individual/group/project for any three other national APWA awards. Any chapter with 500 members or less submitting for this award is required to make only one national award nomination in any category. All required fiscal year and financial reorting was submitted by July 31, 2021 of the nomination time period of January 1 through December 31, 2021 AND 1099 information was submitted by January 15, 2022. Chapters will be notified by APWA National as to their eligibility to submit a nomination for the award.

Chapter Summary – Provide an executive summary documenting the following: (1) Innovative programs and efforts, which were implemented, and resources allocated to support chapter capacity impacting members, potential members, and the community in the past year; (2) areas addressed in the past year to improve chapter capacity and/or addressed to take the chapter to the next level in achieving excellence.

I.     Membership

  1. Document net membership gain/loss and retention
  2. Outline membership recruitment and retention efforts and programs
  3. Provide evidence of innovative membership development and retention efforts regardless of whether net growth has occurred

 

II.    Service to Chapter Members

  1. Number of members attending meeting/events
  2. Member-to-Member Outreach – Defined as member surveys, newsletters, meeting notices, membership engagement/volunteer plan and efforts, member welcome packages, leadership training, etc.
  3. Evidence that the chapter is successfully meeting Chapter Best Practice, submit completed copy with nomination. 
  4. Chapter to Chapter Outreach – Defined as ranging from combined educational and leadership meetings with other chapters to mentoring and sharing successful programs and lessons learned with other chapters
  5. Chapter Diversity/inclusiveness programs or activities
  6. Young/Emerging Professionals – Efforts to attract and engage young/emerging professionals in the chapter and APWA National

 

III.   Advancement of Public Works and Sustainability

  1. Awards/recognition programs – Defined as chapter/national awards recognizing members/nonmembers
  2. Public Works Promotion – Defined as National Public Works Week, educational outreach, and other programs geared to promote the profession to the public.
  3. Professional Development – Defined as promoting the development of members through education and providing scholarship opportunities for educational training programs.
  4. Promotes Sustainability in Public Works Management – Definition has been left open to allow consideration for any innovative programs and opportunities that call attention to public works in a positive way
  5. Advocacy Outreach – Efforts to advocate for public works and increase awareness and understanding of public works with elected/appointed officials 

 

IV.   Service to the Community

  1. Education Outreach Programs –Scholarship/partnerships with schools/universities, student chapters and presentation to student groups, mentoring programs, shadow and career days, etc.
  2. Community Service Programs – Participation in the community as a chapter of APWA, including partnering with other service organizations such as Harvesters, American Red Cross, United Way, Adopt-a-Highway programs, environmental cleanup, participation in Earth Day, recycling education, etc.

 

Selection: PACE Award recipients are selected by a panel comprised of APWA’s current President, President-Elect; and three most recent Past Presidents.

 

Nomination Process: Any APWA chapter may submit a nomination for the PACE if the eligibility requirements of award nominations have been met. The submittal should include a summary and address each of the categories and the goals in the order shown above. It will be incumbent upon the chapter to provide adequate supporting information that illustrates it has met the criteria or declares the goals were not met if that be the case. The nomination will cover the time period of January 1 through December 31, 2021. A chapter should only submit the nomination, cover letter and chapter best practices.