Brighton among four finalists for Community Excellence Award
A view of downtown Brighton’s curb-less sidewalk and new landscaping, benches, and LED streetlights.
Brighton was one of four cities named as finalists for The Michigan Municipal League’s 2024 Community Excellence Award (CEA). Grandville, Houghton and Oak Park are the other three finalists.
The CEA was developed in 2007 to celebrate and honor the innovative placemaking projects and programs happening across the state.
Finalists are determined by a small voting board, and they compete at the League’s Convention where event attendees will vote for their favorite project.
“My congratulations to Brighton, Grandville, Houghton and Oak Park for their projects that were selected as the 2024 CEA finalists,” saidLeague Board President and Monroe Mayor Robert E. Clark.
“While these CEA projects are unique to each community, they all represent the community wealth-building principles of the League. Through placemaking, downtown revitalization and sense of place, these transformational projects involved collaboration and community engagement.”
Winner announced in September
This year’s convention is on Mackinac Island at the Grand Hotel, Sept. 11–13 when each finalist will present on the main stage.
This competition is affectionately referred to as “The Race for the Cup” as the winning community receives a large trophy and bragging rights for the year.
The official Community Excellence Award will be presented during the closing general session.
The League is proud to uplift and recognize the amazing work happening in our communities and would like to thank every community who entered this year’s competition.
“I would like to thank the 14 communities that submitted projects this year,” said League Board President Clark. “All projects were commendable and show the great work being completed by local leadership across the State of Michigan to build thriving communities.”
Fourteens cities submitted entries
The League received submissions from the following communities: Allegan, Battle Creek, Brighton, Ferndale, Grandville, Hancock, Houghton, Jackson, Lansing, Marquette, Muskegon, Oak Park, St. Clair Shores and Madison Heights. You can learn more about this year’s submissions by visiting the CEA website.
“With deep gratitude, we extend our heartfelt thanks to each of this year’s 14 submissions,” said Heather Elliott, Member Experience Coordinator, Member Experience and Learning at the League.
“Each community project demonstrates dedication and contributions that have set a remarkable standard of accomplishment. We also want to extend our thanks to our panel of judges. Narrowing down a pool of projects can be challenging, especially when there are so many impressive submissions.
“Finally, we want to highlight the four finalist communities. Each project represents a variety of fantastic work. Your contributions and efforts are appreciated and have already impacted your community. We can’t wait to learn more.”
