Irving, Texas, USA

Cody Cash, a stormwater manager with the city of Irving, had an idea. He’d heard about a new spongy material that helps to clean oil spills from water. He wondered if the same “smart sponge” could be used to filter dangerous e.coli bacteria out of Irving’s creeks.

Cash won a small grant from the city to find out. Through Irving’s Innovation Grants Program, employees can apply for up to $25,000 to test new or creative solutions with potential to improve city operations or service delivery. Cash used his grant to buy some of the special sponge material and place it in a spot where creek water flows past it. Over time, he is collecting bacteria samples upstream and downstream to get data on whether the experiment works and should be considered for expansion. 

Since 2016, Irving has invested more than $500,000 in employee-driven ideas like this. Many start as small pilots to evaluate effectiveness. Those that work are scaled up. “A small investment can have a big outcome,” Cash says. “The opportunity to be on the cutting edge is really neat.”

The grants are one way Irving is building a culture of continuous improvement within the city workforce. City leaders recognize that frontline workers are experts in what they do every day, and have some of the best ideas for how to make city services work better. They’re empowering those employees with tools to spot fixes, test new ideas and use data to evaluate the results.

Another way Irving encourages this is through its Innovation Academy. Started in 2024, this is a two-day training program that equips employees to design and implement process improvements within their daily work. Across two cohorts, 18 employees from different city departments have completed the program. Each led a project to streamline processes, reduce bottlenecks or enhance customer experience. 

For example, Academy participants from the Library Department revamped their process for onboarding new employees. Outdated training materials were confusing to new hires and supervisors alike. The team created standardized training materials, centralized them in a shared hub, and developed an onboarding checklist to ensure consistency and accountability. The changes have made it possible for new hires to get up to speed and serve library users faster.

“Irving’s employees are leading the way in showing how innovation and evidence-based decision-making can make government more responsive, efficient and connected to the people we serve,” says Mayor Rick Stopfer.