UMB LogoThe Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management
Helping Governments Work Better
McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies
Issue: # 1 December/2009
               The Collins Report        
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Welcome to the Collins Center


Welcome to the inaugural edition of The Collins Report, the newsletter of the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at the McCormack Graduate School of Public Policy at UMass Boston. The Center, founded in 2008, is committed to helping state and local governments work better by improving their productivity and performance.

Services offered by the Center include:
�    Performance Management Training, Technical Assistance and Consulting
�    Performance Benchmarking and Information Exchange
�    Charter Reform Assistance
�    Regionalization and Collective Activities Facilitation
�    Executive Recruitment Services
�    Interim Management Services
�    Best Practices Research

The Collins Center has provided services to scores of the Commonwealth's 351 cities and towns over the first 15 months of its existence, as well as to several state agencies. Please visit our website at www.mccormack.umb.edu/centers/cpm

New Mayors Gather for Pre-Inaugural Forum
New Mayors Gather for Pre-Inaugural Forum
The Collins Center recently hosted a group of newly elected Mayors from across the Commonwealth at a Conference on Mayoral Leadership at the University of Massachusetss Boston. The Mayors-elect joined with several veteran chief executives as well as other municipal leaders to discuss strategies for managing in a time of unprecedented fiscal challenge.

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Collins Center Named Coordinator for Federal Stimulus Grant Program
ARRA One The Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Office (MRRO), within the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, has designated the Collins Center as the Commonwealth's coordinator for the competitive municipal grant funding programs included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Patrick-Murray Administration recognized that many cities and towns do not have the expertise in-house to apply for Federal stimulus money. As a consequence, the Collins Center and the MRRO have developed a unique grant writing assistance program to assist municipalities access this important funding. The Center, working through the state's regional planning agencies, is helping communities with the preparation of grant applications free of charge to the city or town.

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Collins Center's Metzenbaum Departs for White House
The Collins Center's Director, Dr. Shelley H. Metzenbaum, has been named Associate Director for Performance Management in the White House's Office of Management and Budget. Her duties include overseeing the establishment, implementation and integration of performance management systems throughout the Federal government. "We will all miss Shelley," said Steve Crosby, Dean of the McCormack Graduate School, "but we're doubly honored by her appointment and by the President's recognition of the important work being done at the Collins Center."

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Municipal Recruitment and Interim Management Services
Winthrop What do Princeton, a town of 4,000 citizens and, Springfield, the third largest city in Massachusetts with a population of 152,000, have in common? Both municipalities, along with the towns of Winthrop and Plymouth have successfully used the Collins Center's Executive Recruitment Service. Princeton used the Center's services to hire a new Town Administrator after the untimely death of Dennis Rindone, Plymouth to find a replacement for Mark Sylvia, who was appointed to the Commonwealth's Department of Energy Resources, Winthrop to hire its second Town Manager under a new operating Charter and Springfield, after its emergence from state receivership, engaged the Center to  find its first Chief Administrative and Financial Officer.

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Contracting With the Collins Center
CPM Logo NarrowContracts for services between a municipality and the Collins Center are exempt from the provision of Chapter 30B, the Uniform Procurement Act. Municipalities may enter into agreements with the Center for recruitment assistance, interim and performance management services, as well as cost-savings, revenue maximization and cost sharing consulting services  without going through the cumbersome and time-consuming competitive bidding process outlined in the General Laws for most contracted services. The Commonwealth's cities and towns are free to simply negotiate with the Collins Center under Massachusetts law, saving them time and money. Massachusetts state agencies may contract directly with the Collins Center as well. For further information, please contact Deputy Director Steve McGoldrick at [email protected] or Dick Kobayashi at [email protected].
The Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125
Phone: (617) 287-4824
FAX: (617)  287-5566
In This Issue
New Mayors Gather for Pre-Inaugural Forum.
Center Named ARRA Coordinator
Collins Center's Metzenbaum Departs for White House
Municipal Recruitment and Interim Management Services
Contracting With the Collins Center

About Ed Collins
Throughout his outstanding public career, Edward J. Collins, Jr. epitomized the spirit and goals of the Center that now bears his name.  We at the Collins Center are proud to continue the work of Ed's life - helping governments work effectively and productively for the benefit of their citizens.

More about Ed
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