LMC Awards Program Offers Way to Recognize Cities and Their Leaders

February 23, 2024

City initiatives and the work of city leaders often go unrecognized. Adequately showing your gratitude for the betterment of your city can be difficult and overwhelming. However, the League’s Awards Program offers all Minnesota cities the chance to acknowledge their city’s achievements and receive statewide recognition from peers, city residents, and the media.

City officials are encouraged to nominate their city and its leaders for the 2024 LMC Awards Program by Friday, April 19. The program’s nomination process is meaningful without being too daunting, and League staff members are happy to answer nominators’ questions.

What’s New This Year

 Some may know of the League’s Awards Program, but there are a few changes everyone should know about the 2024 program.

After receiving few entries for the 5,000 to 19,999 City of Excellence population category in recent years, the League has expanded its middle population category to 5,000 to 29,999. General Entry Awards are now divided into the following three population categories:

  • 4,999 and under;
  • 5,000 to 29,999;
  • and 30,000 or more.

Reminder: General entries can showcase any city initiative, regardless of topic or service area.

The League is also encouraging non-winning City of Excellence and Sustainable City entries from the 2023 program to resubmit their entries to be considered for this year’s program. Similarly, city officials who are nominated for the first time this year and who maintain their eligibility for individual leadership awards will be kept on file and can be considered for three years (2024-2026).

Learn more about the League’s City of Excellence, individual leadership, and Sustainable City awards.

Topical Award Category

Every year, the League changes its City of Excellence Topical Award Category, and this year LMC has chosen the category of “Creative Involvement of City Residents” to highlight how Minnesota cities are boosting community engagement and leaning on resident input to build their cities’ futures.

Examples of initiatives that involve residents might include volunteer programs in which residents give back to their communities or creative ways in which cities have collected residents’ feedback on policy development. Help the League emphasize the importance of community engagement by submitting your city’s achievement today.

2023 Winners

Last year’s winners were honored at the 2023 LMC Annual Conference Awards Dinner where all category winners were acknowledged with a video highlighting their accomplishments and given the chance to give an acceptance speech in front of their families, guests, and conference attendees.

Read about the 2023 winners:

All 2024 winners will be honored on June 27 at the League’s awards show during the 2024 LMC Annual Conference at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Whether you’re a nominee, nominator, or not participating in the awards program, attendees of the awards dinner can learn and be inspired by the ways cities and their leaders are continuing to evolve and innovate to meet their communities’ needs.

Please reach out to LMC Public Affairs Coordinator Don Reeder at dreeder@lmc.org or (651) 215-4031 if you have any questions about the 2024 LMC Awards Program.