Merced County government has locked in a 10-year contract with Accela for software and services that will enable the county to “streamline its back-office processes and workflows, modernize resident experiences, and create more transparency and accessibility.”
The contract entails $4.5 million in software solutions and $1.7 million for professional services, according to a news release from the San Ramon-based company.
The move comes after Merced County’s recent consolidation of functions and services under the Community and Economic Development Department, including economic development, building and safety, planning and environmental health. The move was prompted in part by recent state legislation requiring the availability of online permitting, for which the county sought a unified platform. The consolidation and streamlining of the permitting process is expected to save time and money for the county and its residents.
Accela and its partners OpenCities and Velosimo will help Merced County streamline its back-office processes and workflows, modernize resident experiences, and create more transparency and accessibility, the news release said.
“Delivering the highest level of customer service is a cornerstone priority for Merced County,” Merced County’s director of Community and Economic Development, Mark Hendrickson, said in the release. “By investing in Accela, we will be better positioned to help our customers work through the permitting process by providing swift, real-time information most important to them.”
The county will use the Accela Civic Platform, which will support all current department functions and allow for growth, as well as Civic Applications for Business Licensing, Planning, Building, Fire Prevention, and Environmental Health.
“Merced County was seeking a technology partner they could entrust to help them dissolve boundaries to efficiency, integrate services on a single platform, and provide a go-to foundation for future growth and flexibility, which is what they found with Accela,” said Accela Chief Revenue Officer Dennis Michalis. “This partnership is a testament to the value Accela’s enterprise software brings to agencies looking to transform what it means to do business with government and better meet the needs of their communities.”
The county is also using the Accela Civic Platform “as the core foundation to tap into several integrations available through Accela’s broad partner network,” the news release says. “OpenCities will provide county residents with a single digital ‘front door’ to all permitting, licensing, service request functions, and other resident services. To reduce plan approval turnaround time for its customers, the county will also leverage Velosimo’s Connect Platform and its no-code connectors for Accela to Bluebeam Studio and Laserfiche Documents to streamline and speed the county’s plan review and document management tasks.”
Accela products and services are used by 72 percent of California counties with more than 10,000 residents. Merced County has a population of about 281,000.
