Sorenson Impact Center Launches Putting Public Assets to Work Incubator

SALT LAKE CITY – The Sorenson Impact Center, in partnership with the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and Urban3, is launching, ‘Putting Assets to Work’, an incubator  program designed to help cities and counties leverage existing government assets to generate new revenue for impact-oriented programs without raising taxes on citizens. 

Governments interested in the program can apply here. Applications are due by May 27.

Under the leadership of former Salt Lake County Mayor and Congressman Ben McAdams, the Sorenson Impact Center and GFOA will host up to five local governments in the U.S. to participate in the nonpartisan, one-year program. McAdams serves as a senior fellow at the Center. 

The Center has developed an informative fact sheet and a short one-minute video , and the GFOA is hosting a webinar at 12 pm EDT on May 2 and May 5 for more information about the program. Register for the webinar here.

The program will help local governments leverage underutilized assets, work alongside private and philanthropic partners to make those assets generate revenue, and provide community benefits including new neighborhood playgrounds, homelessness initiatives, and other needs. Selected programs will work with Sorenson Impact Center and GFOA to:

  • Identify the budgetary goal or other need it wants to fund with additional revenue
  • Inventory all publicly owned assets in a jurisdiction
  • Identify one or more of those assets that are underutilized
  • Manage and maintain the asset
  • Generate additional value/revenue that can be transferred to public programs/initiatives
  • Provide oversight throughout the process

“Local governments are sitting on a gold mine of public assets and they don’t realize it,” said McAdams. “Just as private individuals and corporations use assets like machines or buildings to generate income, governments can do the same with their assets. I hope this program provides a template for cities and counties across the country to put their public assets to work.”

Leveraging public assets for public good has been piloted in several cities across the world already – notably in Hong Kong; Singapore; Hamburg, Germany; and Copenhagen, Denmark, with great success. 

ABOUT THE SORENSON IMPACT CENTER

The Sorenson Impact Center helps organizations achieve their impact vision by connecting capital to social and environmental solutions, helping organizations measure, report, and improve impact, and integrating data science and people-centered storytelling into all that we do. Along with our clients and partners, we share a vision of an equitable and thriving world where everyone is valued, communities prosper, and the measured impact of our actions guides decision-making. As part of our mission to train future impact leaders, the Center integrates academic programming and experiential learning into each of its practice areas. The Center is proudly housed at the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business. Learn more at http://www.sorensonimpact.com

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