Local Hero Coffee Break

Local Hero Coffee Break

By Michael MazurTechnology
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Local Hero Coffee Break episodes

  • Episode 7: 7. City of Akron, Julie Pryseski Beckert | How an entrepreneurial spirit led Julie to host one of the top Pride events in the Midwest

    Julie spent many years as an entrepreneur before joining the City of Akron.  

    Since 2015, Julie Pryseski has worked for the Office of Economic Development for the City of Akron. Julie’s focus is on all aspects of growing and maintaining businesses throughout the City. Julie is also the City liaison to many of the neighborhood business districts and downtown retail businesses.

    Prior to joining the City, Julie had extensive experience in special event coordinating, sales and marketing. Julie participated in the planning and implementation of multiple community events including, Akron Flair Fest, Gay Games 9, Akron Square Fest, Akron Arts Expo, Open Streets and the Inaugural Akron Pride Festival. Julie is a graduate of the University of Akron and a proud lifelong resident of Summit County.

    In this episode we talk about:

    • The need for boots-on-the-ground support for local businesses
    • How Julie's entrepreneurial skills as sales and marketing experience help her with economic development
    • How Julie leads Pride in Akron and helped create one of the top Pride events in the Midwest, from 8,000 participants in 2018 to 35,000 participants in 2022
    • How to find the organizations who are out there to jump in and take action
    • Tips for new government officials that want to take action


      • 18 min
    • Episode 6: 6. City of Peachtree Corners, GA, Brandon Branham | Leading a city from its incorporation to 5G and autonomous vehicle innovation


      In our discussion, Brandon mentioned to me that from his perspective:  "our main goal is always to say yes." This mindset has helped Brandon lead the City of Peachtree Corners to the global scale of top smart cities and catalyze innovation to help make our communities better. Oh, and the city was just incorporated in 2012!

      Brandon Branham is both the Chief Technology Officer and Assistant City Manager in the City of Peachtree Corners, where he’s worked for the past almost 10 years. Brandon leads the City of Peachtree Corners’ groundbreaking smart city and IoT programs. Overseeing one of the first real-world smart city ecosystems deployed in the United States, Brandon is bringing the region to the forefront in the development of next-generation IoT technologies that will change the face of business and society in the near future – both within the country and across the world.


      Listen to learn more about:

      • How a Georgia Tech grad helped build the foundation for innovation in Peachtree Corners back in the late 60s.
      • What is Curiosity Lab and how it has achieved inspirational success in the past 3 years
      • How Brandon was one of the first employees of Peachtree Corners as a new city in 2012
      • How the city works with companies like T-Mobile, UPS, Bosch 
      • Autonomous shuttles to provide easy access for residents and tourists to downtown
      • Using public sector infrastructure to boost innovation
      • Why it is so important for public sector officials to talk to organizations from the private sector

        •  

        25 min
      • Episode 5: 5. City of Aurora, IL, Michael Pegues | How executing fast helped grow citizen participation in council meetings from 50 to 4000+

        William Blake's quote that “Execution is the chariot of genius” is one of Michael Peuges' favorites -- this mindset has enabled Michael to lead Aurora to be one of the most innovative cities in the United States.


        Michael Pegues, a relative newcomer to government, is the CIO of the second largest city in Illinois. Despite only being in the job for a handful of years and having no background in local government, he is constantly on the top lists of Government CIOs and smart cities initiatives. Michael developed a passion for city work and has become an urban tech champion, leading the city of Aurora to be a leading smart city on a national and global scale. 

        Listen to learn more about:

        • How Michael made the transition from leadership roles at Vodafone and Morgan Stanley to CIO at the City of Aurora, his hometown. 
        • Why as CIO, Michael also sees himself as a social entrepreneur driving social impact - paying it forward to his community through digital equity and inclusion, access to information, and much more. 
        • Michael's take on key adaptable skills from the private sector to the public sector
        • Digital transformation and communication, and how to adapt to digital government communication methods with citizens
        • Pandemic response from a CIO's perspective 
        • How increased civic participation requires implementing new tools to handle things such as misinformation
        • Making sense of data in local government
        • Michael's 4 "P"s: People, process, policy and partners
        • Michael's local heroes 


          • 22 min
        • Episode 4: 4. Saline County, Phillip Smith-Hanes | The first step towards creating equity is getting data

          Steve Jobs' quote "You can't connect the dots looking forward", is one of Phil Smith-Hanes's favorites and one of the mottos he's operated by in his 25+ years working in local government. 

          Phil has been the County Administrator in Saline County, Kansas since 2019 and has been a forward-thinking government leader with a commitment to advancing DEI work and much more. Phil is a true local hero with over 25 years of experience working in local governments in California and Kansas.

          Listen to learn about:

          • How Saline County now has to focus on spending dollars and not only saving dollars due to the new influx of federal funds such as the CARES Act and ARPA
          • Lessons learned from the CARES Act and how it impacted the County's work with ARPA funds
          • Steps government officials can take to increase equity in their jurisdiction
          • Saline County's current projects and priorities
          • Tips for recent college graduates starting a job in local government or looking to start a job in local government.
            • 17 min
          • Episode 3: 3. City of Monterey Park, Joe Torres | From flying planes to running a city

            Before working in local government, Joseph Torres had a thriving career in the private sector as a pilot, as well as working in Corporate Sales in American Airlines for close to 16 years. 

            Joseph realized, once starting to work at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and later in the City of Monterey Park, that he has an amazing opportunity to help boost economic recovery, resiliency, and so much more. 

            Join to learn about:
            1. Tips to make the transition from the private sector to the public sector
            2. The relationship between some of the challenges thought in MBA programs vs. the challenges that local government officials face
            3. Why officials need to know how to sell
            4. How coming from a political background inspired Joseph to make the transition to public service 
            5. How the City of Monterey Park is responding to the economic downturn

            13 min
          • Episode 2: 2. City of Rancho Cordova, Micah Runner | Running a city with an entrepreneurial spirit

            “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”-  is Micah Runner's favorite quote, and in this episode, you get to understand why Gandhi's words resonate with him.

            Micah is currently the Deputy City Manager in Rancho Cordova. His impressive career in government started even before Micah started working (hint: both of his parents served had amazing careers as politicians and his father was the Mayor of Lancaster, CA). Find out how and so much more about his journey as a local hero throughout different communities he's been a part of.

            12 min
          • Episode 1: 1. Why a podcast on Local Heroes?

            Our First Episode!

            We introduce the co-hosts of the Local Hero Coffee Break podcast, Amada Reyes and Michael Mazur, and talk more about why we're doing this and our story. 

            The goals of the podcast are to:

            • To give listeners a digestible dose of information about how other local leaders are responding to key challenges
            • To create more awareness about the heroes who are working day and night to make their citizens’ lives better
            • To inspire others to take action in their communities



              • 6 min

            About Local Hero Coffee Break

            From the publisher's feed

            In this podcast, Michael Mazur brings you the stories of local heroes who are innovating and working to create social and economic prosperity in communities all over the…