Civic Innovators Podcast

Butte County, California, has experienced 12 federally declared disasters since 2017. That’s a pace of response that would break most governments.

Memphis and Shelby County's Division of Planning and Development transformed their permitting process through the Develop 901 initiative, reducing commercial plan review times from 30-50 days to just 6.5 days, an 87% improvement. 

When you’re processing 20,000 building permits and 80,000 inspections a year, 90-day delays aren’t just inconvenient—they’re devastating. Contractors can’t pay their crews. Residents can’t move into their homes. And county staff spend their…

For municipalities struggling with IT-business alignment, San Diego provides a clear roadmap: formalize governance, communicate constantly, define roles clearly, engage customers proactively, and never stop pushing the envelope.

In this episode, Nicole Ubbink, Assistant Director of Community and Economic Development at Merced County, joins Noam and Dustin to share how her team unified previously siloed departments onto one platform, reduced residential permit processing times from 185 days to just 52 days, and brought 5,000 business license holders into the digital age—all while maintaining their commitment to exceptional customer service.