Springfield, MO – Partners with CivicPlus for Government Website Expertise

Nestled among the rolling hills of the Ozarks, you might be surprised to find an unexpectedly modern city. Springfield, MO is known as the big city with a small town feel, offering 102 parks, including an integrated linear trail and bike route system, as well as year-round attractions, professional sporting events, and several universities and medical centers. The metro area is comprised of five counties with a combined population of more than 452,000. Downtown Springfield is a hub for dining and nightlife, unique shops and galleries, and public sculpture that brings the City’s vibrant culture to its streets.

Melissa Haase, Springfield’s Assistant Director of Public Information, said the community of Springfield is quick to rally around a cause and has a big heart for helping those in need. “People are very interested in coming together to help their neighbors. They see folks in need and want to do something about it,” she said. “Right now, we’re partnering with 150 community organizations to improve quality of life for any disadvantaged citizens.”

To increase participation and interest in these types of initiatives, the City of Springfield realized that having an interactive website was crucial. “It’s a really important tool in our tool box,” Haase said. “We rely heavily on the web to get information out.”

Nestled among the rolling hills of the Ozarks, you might be surprised to find an unexpectedly modern city. Springfield, MO is known as the big city with a small town feel, offering 102 parks, including an integrated linear trail and bike route system, as well as year-round attractions, professional sporting events, and several universities and medical centers. The metro area is comprised of five counties with a combined population of more than 452,000. Downtown Springfield is a hub for dining and nightlife, unique shops and galleries, and public sculpture that brings the City’s vibrant culture to its streets.

Melissa Haase, Springfield’s Assistant Director of Public Information, said the community of Springfield is quick to rally around a cause and has a big heart for helping those in need. “People are very interested in coming together to help their neighbors. They see folks in need and want to do something about it,” she said. “Right now, we’re partnering with 150 community organizations to improve quality of life for any disadvantaged citizens.”

To increase participation and interest in these types of initiatives, the City of Springfield realized that having an interactive website was crucial. “It’s a really important tool in our tool box,” Haase said. “We rely heavily on the web to get information out.”

“I like that the CivicPlus system is government specific. It’s not a platform you could get off the shelf somewhere. CivicPlus understands government-related services. They know what we’re looking for. When I tell them our citizens need certain functionality, they try to figure out a way to help us accomplish that. And the support is phenomenal. Very responsive, helpful, and easy to understand.”

— Nichole Plowman, Administrative Systems Analyst

Before CivicPlus

Springfield’s old website wasn’t quite getting the job done, according to Systems Analyst Nichole Plowman. It was self-hosted, static and difficult to use and maintain. They were using web design programs that required technical expertise which proved to be challenging for some departments. “Many employees thought it was too difficult, so either the content became outdated or the projects got pushed on the public information department,” she said. “Also, there was no approval process, so when anyone made an update it was automatically published, whether it was done correctly or not.”

The site’s navigation was another big issue. Finding things from a user perspective wasn’t intuitive and updating any navigational changes on the back end was a cumbersome process. “Our old templates didn’t update the way they were supposed to, so every time we added a new page, we had to add that new link to multiple pages throughout the site,” said Plowman. “It was really a huge problem.”

The City also wanted a responsive design and a mobile app that both citizens and staff could access on-the-go, as well as a hosted solution that ensured their website was secure, backed up, and available 24/7. They were also looking for a tool that allowed them to rapidly build online submission forms and offered an easy way for citizens to sign up for news and information.

Springfield decided it was time to upgrade. After considering the available options, they chose CivicPlus.

“It’s very easy to update anywhere, at any time, on many different devices, since CivicPlus hosts the service.”

— Nichole Plowman, Administrative Systems Analyst