Town of Cary Selects Neighborhood America to Collect and Manage Public Comment Regarding Zoning Issues

April 17, 2007 - The town of Cary, North Carolina, ranked as the #5 best place to live in the United States by Money Magazine in 2006, has chosen Neighborhood America's Public Comment solution to streamline communication between town officials and Cary citizens. The Town of Cary is the first municipality in the state of North Carolina to implement the solution to more efficiently manage zoning comments, concerns and feedback.

Before the implementation of Neighborhood America's technology, Cary residents-known for their active participation in town affairs-would send their comments on specific zoning issues to the Planning Department via calls and emails, as well as through other town agencies and government officials. Additionally, citizens submitted feedback via comment cards at community meetings. Cary Planning Department officials did their best to address these concerns, but realized many citizens had similar inquiries, which complicated the process of managing and reacting to citizen comment. Neighborhood America's Public Comment technology solution proved a natural adaptation for the town of Cary, already known for its progressive technology initiatives.

"The citizens of Cary are tech-savvy and highly educated, so Neighborhood America's solution reinforces our goal to be a technologically advanced government that meets the needs of our citizens," said Jeff Ulma, planning director, Town of Cary Planning Department. "By streamlining the communications process between citizens and government, Neighborhood America's solution will enable citizens' voices to be heard more clearly than ever before, and therefore enabling us to better serve Cary residents."

The solution facilitates public involvement by reducing redundancy and confusion in the communication process between the town and residents. It enables the Planning Department to create a one-stop communication tool for Cary citizens concerned with town zoning. Through steering citizens' feedback to one portal, town officials are able to manage and respond quickly and effectively. These responses are then available on the Web site to serve as a reference for residents, while Planning Department officials no longer answer similar questions repeatedly. This streamlining of the communication process results in the town's increased response ability and enables officials to devote more time to constituents.

"Virtually all local government agencies will manage constituent communications electronically over the next five years. For local cities and towns, the technology solutions adopted must be practical, affordable, easy to use and must generate results that can actually be used by decision-makers," said Kim Patrick Kobza, CEO of Neighborhood America. "Cary's implementation of Neighborhood America's technology will create broader and meaningful inclusion in the decision-making process, while respecting traditional governmental standards. Our solution enables the electronic collection, moderation and reporting of public comment, which will help the Town of Cary and similar local governments to stay connected with their citizens. We are privileged and honored to help the Town of Cary accomplish its goals."

About Neighborhood America
Neighborhood America provides government, business and media with a simple solution to the universal problem of engaging and building social networks that can be controlled, managed and easily scaled. Neighborhood America uniquely delivers results-driven 'Software as a Service' solutions that enable organizations to capture, moderate, analyze and fully leverage user-generated content collected through all devices. Customers such as ABC, CBS, the Department of Defense and the National Park Service have turned to Neighborhood America to achieve audience interaction goals, building communities that support brands and create value. For more information, visit www.neighborhoodamerica.com.

About Cary, North Carolina Known as the "Technology Town of North Carolina," Cary is a thriving community in the heart of the Triangle area between Raleigh and renowned Research Triangle Park. It is the seventh-largest municipality in North Carolina with an educated and tech savvy population of 117,000 people. Two-thirds of adult residents are college-educated and the town has the highest rate of Ph.D.s per capita in the United States. Nine out of ten people have access to the Internet. In 2006, Cary was recognized by Money Magazine as one of the Best Small Cities in America and ranked fifth on the magazine's 2006 list of Best Places to Live.