Duval Times

Close to 30 employees from the City of Jacksonville have earned their Lean Initiative Green Belt Certifications. This program aims to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of city government operations.

The Lean Initiative was introduced in various departments last June with support from GuideWell. The initiative seeks to eliminate waste, streamline processes, and provide better value for Jacksonville's citizens and businesses.

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan commented on the benefits: “By eliminating unnecessary tasks, City employees will focus on higher-value work, leading to increased job satisfaction and retention rates, and just as importantly, better service for our constituents.” She also highlighted potential cost savings: “Identifying waste and inefficiencies will not only improve the quality of the services we provide, but it will also lead to significant cost savings for the City over time. These savings can then be reinvested in vital services such as infrastructure, health, affordable housing, homelessness and small businesses.”

The initiative promises more efficient interactions between citizens and businesses with the city government. This includes reduced wait times for permits and approvals; licenses; other public services; and faster resolutions for issues, inquiries, and requests.

Since its implementation, the program has successfully reduced 112,000 hours of waste through process improvement. This achievement is credited to 28 employees who received their certifications today along with Alex Peralta-Munoz, the Lean Initiative Program Manager.

Wanyonyi Kendrick, the City’s Chief of Information Technology stated: “Our progress with this program can be tracked through the City’s Waste Warriors Dashboard, which highlights clear metrics and data analysis ensuring that improvements are measurable and aligned with the City’s strategic goals.” The dashboard is available at Jacksonville.gov under Transparency Dashboards.

As Jacksonville continues with this initiative, there are plans to refine processes further by expanding it into more departments. The goal is continuous improvement making Jacksonville a model of efficiency and innovation.