Pictured here at the award ceremony are (l. to r.) APS Office Manager Geri Crane, Auburn City Manager Peter Creighton, APS Operations Manager Gary Wadsworth, APS Director Dan Goyette, APS Deputy Director Scott Holland, APWA Region 1 Director Gary Losier, Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque, and Auburn Communications & Compliance Manager Liz Allen. 

The City of Auburn’s Public Services Department was recently awarded the prestigious American Public Works Association accreditation designation. The APWA accreditation program recognizes public works agencies that go beyond the requirements of the nationally-established management practices in the public works industry, as contained in the APWA Public Works Management Practices Manual.

The department received their accreditation during the December 18 Auburn City Council meeting from APWA Region 1 Director Gary Losier, who traveled to Auburn from New Brunswick, Canada.

“Your staff has gone through an amazing process here,” said Losier. “You should be proud of your people. They are so good that two of their standards are now set as examples for other communities to use in accreditation. This is an impressive accomplishment.”

“The awarding of APWA accreditation shows this agency has dedicated itself to concepts of improvement and in-depth self-assessment of department policies, procedures and practices,” said APWA Accreditation Manager Tracy Quintana. “The heroes of this prestigious APWA award are the public works staff, whose mission is to provide public works services and programs that contribute to making Auburn such a great organization.”

With the award, the Auburn Public Services Department becomes the 130th agency in North America – and the first in the State of Maine – to earn accreditation status.

Auburn Public Services initially applied for accreditation in July of 2014. For the accreditation review, a team of public works professionals from Richmond, VA, Lakeland, FL, Westerville, OH and Kansas City, MO completed a thorough evaluation of operations during a September 2017 site visit.

“I’m really proud of our team,” said APS Director Dan Goyette. “This achievement shows that we are the best of the best. This is something for the entire community to celebrate.”

The American Public Works Association is an international not-for-profit organization of more than 29,000 members involved in the field of public works. APWA serves its members by promoting professional excellence and public awareness through education, advocacy, and the exchange of knowledge. APWA is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, has an office in Washington, D.C., and has 63 member chapters in North America. For more information, see www.apwa.net.