Scientific Survey Research Firm Merges with Civic Engagement Technology Company

NRC and Polco merger offers local governments the best in performance management research and civic engagement services.

Digital engagement platform Polco and survey research firm National Research Center, Inc. (NRC) are pleased to announce their merger. Together, NRC and Polco offer the best in civic engagement through resident surveys and communication technology to local governments and other public sector entities.

“Community leaders need good data, both to make immediate decisions and to measure performance over time. We are bringing together two companies, under one roof, that have each defined public engagement,” said CEO Nick Mastronardi. “It’s time to expand the ways organizations communicate with their stakeholders and serve their needs.”

NRC and Polco have combined at a pivotal time. Shoehorning tech platforms into civic applications they were not designed for has led to increased polarization and fractured communications. “Now, more than ever, local government officials must understand residents’ needs,” said Tom Miller, current Polco Board Director and Founder of NRC. “City staff have become more tech savvy and reliant on data. They need better and more accessible information to succeed in creating the livable communities that residents deserve and expect.”

Mastronardi agrees that Polco and NRC’s joint services are essential for today’s decision-makers. “Well designed platforms, structured communications, and quality data can bring communities back together and also highlight new opportunities for cities to increase resident satisfaction and quality of life. There are a lot of thoughtful people who are busy and can’t always make it to a town hall or city council meeting. But now they can lend their voices in a civil, organized way.”

About National Research Center, Inc. (NRC)

Both companies share the mission to help communities move forward through resident input, which has motivated National Research Center over the last 25 years. NRC has become a thought-leader in the survey industry and the gold standard for public opinion research and evaluation methodology.

NRC staff are leading experts and experienced practitioners. They are authors of numerous articles and books, and public speakers who present research findings and facilitate trainings for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the American Evaluation Association (AEA), and National League of Cities (NLC), to name a few.

Hundreds of public-sector organizations across the country use NRC surveys for performance measurement, budgeting, strategic planning, and decision-making. NRC’s nationwide, benchmark database holds hundreds of thousands of resident opinions – making it the largest of its kind.

NRC is also a long-standing Strategic Partner of ICMA, a charter member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Transparency Initiative, a Corporate Partner of the Alliance for Innovation (AFI), and has been named a Top Local Government Vendor by Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL).

The firm will continue to provide clients with top-quality survey research, consulting, and benchmark comparisons. Now the merger creates new opportunities for NRC to produce actionable results in convenient and innovative ways.

About Polco

Polco represents the next generation of civic engagement and communication technology. The four-year-old technology company tripled in size over the last two years. They have worked with  cities in more than 23 states.

Polco’s online platform takes policy polling to the next level. Their unique verification capabilities  and key design features add reliability to results and foster civility. Polco produces organized data, dashboards, and maps in real-time for city officials. The platform is especially useful for clients with immediate decision-making needs, including local and state governments, special districts, schools and universities, and nonprofit organizations.

Polco also takes special measures to preserve respondent privacy. After verifying respondents, Polco only shares aggregated, de-identified results with city officials. Individual level data are never shared with the city or any third party.

This award-winning civic engagement platform has been profiled in numerous publications, including Governing Magazine. Polco is also the only technology firm ever to be named a Savings and Solutions Enterprise Partner for the National League of Cities (NLC).

Polco staff have strong backgrounds in city management, public policy, communications technology, data, and software engineering. The team itself has been a major component to Polco’s ingenuity and fast-growing success. “We are committed to continue working hard to put the best products, technologies, and services into the hands of city officials. We truly want to give them and their residents a great experience, and to empower communities to take next steps confidently,” Mastronardi expressed.

NRC and Polco: Merger for the Future of Civic Engagement

Moving ahead, National Research Center and Polco will continue to provide the staple services and features they are known for. Current surveys being conducted by NRC will remain unchanged, and clients will keep the same access to the Polco platform.

Now NRC and Polco are looking toward the future. Their combined R&D team is already working on digital reports, interactive dashboards, new uses of Polco’s online engagement tool, and other innovations.

Miller observed, “Both companies saw clearly the synergies of merging, as the world of survey research and resident engagement are melding. Rapid policy sounding and long-term performance trends are equally essential to the success of our public-sector clients.”

Polco and NRC plan for new and expanded services to make surveys and polls easier to administer, promote faster feedback, and produce deeper analytics. Cities, towns, and counties may also be able to host two-way communications more frequently.

As the technology and survey industries evolve, Polco and NRC promise to move forward with the needs of their public-sector and non-profit clients first in mind.

“Some of these changes are inevitable,” said Mastronardi. “We are committed to doing it the right way that’s best for cities and residents.”

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For more information about Polco and National Research Center, Inc. (NRC), visit them online at www.polco.us and www.n-r-c.com.

Building Community in Wake of August Floods

Kickapoo River Valley was hit hard by the flooding that affected much of Southwest Wisconsin last August. Several commercial and residential buildings experienced significant damage necessitating demolition. The August flooding has taken a significant toll on the community. The incident spurred local resident and Mead & Hunt employee Scott Lind to action.

As an involved member of the community, Scott could see the emotional, environmental, and physical toll the flooding had on the area surrounding the Kickapoo Valley River. With the help of fellow employee Mark Sauer, Scott was able to enact positive change in his community by creating a team of Mead & Hunt employees dedicated to removing flood debris from the Kickapoo River.

The project struck a chord for many within the company who were themselves affected by the flooding. Due to the high level of interest and dedication, the company provided time off for employees to participate as well as funding for the project. This funding allowed the Kickapoo Valley River to hire a local logging company to remove a large walk-in cooler from the center of the river, along with multiple log jams and other debris.

This cleanup project is vital to the community as the local topography makes farming and transportation difficult, so visitors to the area represent a large source of income. Kayaking, canoeing and tubing in the Kickapoo River is a significant driver of tourists to the area. Keeping the river as beautiful as possible is therefore critical from an environmental, social and financial perspective.

Mead & Hunt believes in empowering employees to enact positive change within their own communities where they see need. For the Kickapoo Valley River community, seeing people come together to rise above the effects of the flooding to actively move forward is a vital morale boost, and also has the potential to drive sorely-needed revenue to the area.

Mead & Hunt is an employee-owned consulting firm and remains strong on ENR’s Top 500 design firm list with a national ranking of 119th in 2019. The firm employs over 750 employees from 30+ offices located across the nation and was named by CE News one of the top 10 engineering companies to work for in the nation.

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Media Contacts:

• Kathy Schumann, Employee Communications, schumann@meadhunt.com 608-443-0374
• Chloe McKenzie, Corporate Communications, mckenzie@meadhunt.com 608-443-0389

gBETA Social Impact Seeks Applications from Social Entrepreneurs and Change Makers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact

Lauren Usher

lauren@gener8tor.com

(305) 607-3265

gBETA Social Impact Seeks Applications from Social Entrepreneurs and Change Makers

Five teams making a positive difference in the community will be chosen to participate

MADISON – Nationally ranked startup accelerator gener8tor and the American Family Institute for Corporate and Social Impact are taking applications for the second cohort of gBETA Social Impact, a free accelerator for startup companies and emerging nonprofits making a positive impact in the community.

gBETA Social Impact is a free, seven-week program that provides participants with intensive and individualized coaching, social entrepreneurship- and nonprofit-centered curriculum,  and access to gener8tor’s national network of mentors, customers, corporate partners, funders, and investors.

Five teams will be selected for the program, which will be focused on groups making a positive impact in various areas, including K-12 education, healthy youth development, economic opportunity for underserved communities, and initiatives for sustainable and resilient cities. gBETA Social Impact is based out of the Spark – Madison’s entrepreneurial hub. The location creates opportunities for collaboration with the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Applications for gBETA Social Impact are open and startups and nonprofits can apply at https://www.gbetasocialimpact.com/gbeta-social-impact-app.

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gener8tor is a nationally ranked accelerator that invests in high-growth startups. gener8tor supports the growth of these startups through its network of experienced mentors, technologists, corporate partners, angel investors and venture capitalists. gener8tor is a proud member of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) and is sponsored by American Family Insurance. gener8tor is a GOLD-tier accelerator in the U.S. as ranked by the Seed Accelerator Rankings Project. Learn more about gener8tor at www.gener8tor.com.

gBETA is a program of nationally ranked startup accelerator, gener8tor. gBETA is a free, seven-week accelerator for early-stage startups. Each program is capped at five teams, and requires no fees and no equity.

American Family Insurance is the nation’s 13th-largest property/casualty insurance group and ranks 311 on the Fortune 500 list. The company sells American Family-brand products, including auto, homeowners, life, business and farm/ranch insurance, primarily through its exclusive agents in 19 states.