Nestled in Central Florida, the City of St. Cloud is one of the fastest growing communities in the state. Changing from a quiet town of 35,000 to a bustling community of 70,000 within just seven years, the city has doubled in size and the growth hasn’t stopped.
Amidst the swift expansion, the city faced growing pains, particularly in strategic planning and operational efficiency. Initially managed within the planning department and under the purview of a small, dedicated team in the city manager’s office, the strategic planning efforts were burdened by outdated tools and siloed activities across departments.
ClearPoint co-founder Ted Jackson had the chance to chat with Strategic Initiatives Administrator Abismael Abreu, who led St. Cloud through the development of a new strategic plan, an efficient reporting process, and community engagement.
The Time for Change
The city adopted a five-year strategic plan in 2018, however, it was tough to properly track without the proper technology. Spreadsheets upon spreadsheets over a span of three years lacked efficiency.
The turning point came in 2021 when St. Cloud decided to overhaul its strategic planning process. The previous plan only had overall goals, but no objectives. Abreu added these along with key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure.
We added KPIs to see when we were ‘successful’ versus ‘slacking.’
The city also introduced ClearPoint Strategy software, aiming to replace the Excel sheets that had previously made tracking and reporting laborious tasks. ClearPoint not only brought a sophisticated, user-friendly interface, but also centralized data management across departments, allowing for cohesive planning and implementation.
With ClearPoint, every department could now feed into a unified system where strategic plan objectives were clearly linked to departmental initiatives. This was a game-changer. Quarterly reports and a newly instituted Briefing Book became tools for transparent communication, ensuring that all departmental efforts aligned with the city's overarching goals. The shift was evident as strategic initiatives, once a struggle to track, were now updated in real-time, enhancing accountability and decision-making processes.
The impact of these changes was profound. What was once a segmented approach to city management became a streamlined operation. Departments broke out of their silos, sharing insights and resources more freely, which led to enhanced efficiency and a stronger collective focus on long-term goals.
As the city continues to grow, it looks forward to integrating more advanced features like artificial intelligence (AI) and new community engagement portals, keeping its strategic planning dynamic and responsive. The use of ClearPoint Strategy has not aided in managing growth, but rather in embracing it with open arms and smart tools, readying St. Cloud for a future that promises even more expansion and innovation.
This transformation story of St. Cloud serves as a testament to how targeted technological solutions like ClearPoint can revolutionize municipal management, making it not just more efficient but also more adaptable to the fast-paced changes of a growing city.