- 2022/2023 Webinar Series
- Rapid Response/Gov T.E.C. Teams
- Financial Management System (FMS)
- Municipal Talent Pipeline
2022/2023 Webinar Series
The MMSA will present a series of webinars on the third Thursday of each month through May 2023. Each webinar will begin at 11 a.m. and last for approximately one hour. Information about the topic and speaker for each date will be added as it becomes available. Registration is free.
The MMSA will present a series of webinars on the third Thursday of each month through May 2023. Each webinar will begin at 11 a.m. and last for approximately one hour. Information about the topic and speaker for each date will be added as it becomes available. Registration is free.
Date: Thursday, May 25, 2023
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Topic: Advocating to Decision Makers
Topic: Advocating to Decision Makers
Speaker:
Samantha Harkins, CEO - MMSA
Doug Matthews, Assistant City Manager - City of Grand Rapids
[Click here to register.]
Doug Matthews, Assistant City Manager - City of Grand Rapids
[Click here to register.]
Previous Webinars
Date: Thursday, April 20, 2023
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Topic: Best Practices to Manage Risks Associated with IT Security (view recording of webinar) Passcode: Mv$i86z7
Topic: Best Practices to Manage Risks Associated with IT Security (view recording of webinar) Passcode: Mv$i86z7
Speaker:
Mike Coyne Account Executive - Dewpoint
Date: Thursday, March 16, 2023
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Topic: Creative Financing of Local Projects and Why It's Important (view recording of webinar) Passcode: 3K1+za+K
Topic: Creative Financing of Local Projects and Why It's Important (view recording of webinar) Passcode: 3K1+za+K
Speaker(s):
Brian Lefler Managing Director - Baird
Jarrod Smith Public Finance Practice Group Leader - Dykema
Brian Lefler Managing Director - Baird
Jarrod Smith Public Finance Practice Group Leader - Dykema
Date: Thursday, February 16, 2023
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Topic: The Role of COGs: Regionalism in Local Cooperation and Innovation
Topic: The Role of COGs: Regionalism in Local Cooperation and Innovation
Speaker(s):
Kathleen Lomako - MMSA Board Member and Retired Executive Director of Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG)
Matt McCauley Senior Vice President - Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Kathleen Lomako - MMSA Board Member and Retired Executive Director of Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG)
Matt McCauley Senior Vice President - Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Date: Thursday, January 19, 2023
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Topic: Roads, Water, Sewer: Oh My! A Comprehensive Infrastructure Conversation (view recording of webinar) Passcode: HQci3SV!
Topic: Roads, Water, Sewer: Oh My! A Comprehensive Infrastructure Conversation (view recording of webinar) Passcode: HQci3SV!
Speaker(s):
Kelly Green - Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
Ryan Laruwe Executive Director - Michigan Infrastructure Council
Andy Kilpatrick Public Service Director - City of Lansing
Ryan Laruwe Executive Director - Michigan Infrastructure Council
Andy Kilpatrick Public Service Director - City of Lansing
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2022
Topic: Lessons Learned from the Budget World (view recording of webinar)
Speaker: Andrew Kleine Senior Director Government & Public Sector - EY-Parthenon
City Management, Inc. - PA TIMES Online | PA TIMES Online
A Playbook for Reducing Police Budgets and Investing in Equity (nextcity.org)
Once a dump, Baltimore’s ‘magical’ Camp Small transforms street trees into lumber – Baltimore Sun
Rapid Response/Gov T.E.C. Teams
CONNECTING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND STATE AGENCIES
By going beyond the webinar, the MMSA works with local governments and state agencies to find and facilitate opportunities for collaboration and improved services. Many local governments see opportunities to increase efficiency, however, these opportunities can be complex. MMSA will serve as a guide through such complexities.
RAPID RESPONSE TEAMS
This on-call service provides short-term assistance through operational and financial analysis, response to state requirements, hands on training, staffing capacity challenges, project assistance, strategic facilitation, communication and engagement, and more. Services will be right sized to suit the needs of individual communities. No one-sized-fits-all approaches.
GOV T.E.C. TEAMS (TACTICAL, EFFECTIVE, AND COLLABORATIVE)
MMSA provides community analysis and needs based assistance that is tactical, effective, and collaborative. Assistance will be delivered by vetted subject matter professionals who have direct, boots on the ground, local government experience. Services will be tailored to suit the needs of individual communities. Gov T.E.C. teams have the ability to support the longer-term needs of local governments of all types.
Have questions or want to utilize this service? Contact Samantha Harkins, MMSA CEO.
Financial Management System (FMS)

By going beyond the webinar, the MMSA works with local governments and state agencies to find and facilitate opportunities for collaboration and improved services. Many local governments see opportunities to increase efficiency, however, these opportunities can be complex. MMSA will serve as a guide through such complexities.
RAPID RESPONSE TEAMS
This on-call service provides short-term assistance through operational and financial analysis, response to state requirements, hands on training, staffing capacity challenges, project assistance, strategic facilitation, communication and engagement, and more. Services will be right sized to suit the needs of individual communities. No one-sized-fits-all approaches.
GOV T.E.C. TEAMS (TACTICAL, EFFECTIVE, AND COLLABORATIVE)
MMSA provides community analysis and needs based assistance that is tactical, effective, and collaborative. Assistance will be delivered by vetted subject matter professionals who have direct, boots on the ground, local government experience. Services will be tailored to suit the needs of individual communities. Gov T.E.C. teams have the ability to support the longer-term needs of local governments of all types.
Have questions or want to utilize this service? Contact Samantha Harkins, MMSA CEO.
Financial Management System (FMS)

Local governments are seeking to improve efficiency and citizen services while reducing the capital investment and organizational challenges of modernizing and maintaining Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. The Financial Management System (FMS) Program provides ERP software “out of the box”, designed for local government organizations.
The development of the FMS software is the result of a collaboration between the Authority and the FMS Project Team. Their work highlighted nearly 4,000 specifications for an ERP system. The results of this collaboration are summarized in Best Practices for Michigan Local Government Business Process.
Ultimately the Authority and the FMS Project Team selected CGI Advantage, to develop an ERP solution based on their specifications. The FMS Project Team determined that it meets more than 90% of the specifications based on the best practices outlined in their research. The result of this process is a comprehensive governmental financial management and human resources software system to help standardize business processes for local units of government..
The CGI Advantage ERP suite includes:
- Financial management to provide organization-wide accountability through consistent accounting rules across all financial transactions.
- Performance budgeting to automate the budgeting process for better planning to improve financial and operational performance.
- Human resource management to streamline the HR and payroll process from hire to retire, including online recruiting, timekeeping and employee self-service.
- Procurement to automate purchasing via catalog-based ordering and paperless approval processes that link directly to the government accounting system
- Business intelligence to unlock data quickly for more effective decisions and increased measurement of key performance indicators
The FMS program is open to any local government in Michigan and the Authority is responsible for marketing the system and recruiting participants.
Municipal Talent Pipeline
The Authority is developing the capacity to provide public employers with a one-stop talent shop, including everything needed to attract, develop and retain employees. This will include strategic human resource planning services to help organizations anticipate their human capital needs and the services necessary to meet those needs. Many of the services will be familiar. Others are more innovative. The authority is working with a variety of individuals and organizations to provide cost-effective talent solutions. Interested public employers should contact the Authority’s CEO, to discuss their needs. Read more about the challenges and potential solutions in this February 2018 Township Focus magazine cover story.