Contact:
Matt Bach
Michigan Municipal League
c: (810) 874-1073; [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 19, 2021
Grand Haven City Manager Honored by Michigan Municipal League
Patrick McGinnis Receives Community Builder Award
ANN ARBOR, Michigan – Grand Haven City Manager Patrick McGinnis was recently honored with the Community Builder Award by the Michigan Municipal League for his longstanding work to create vibrant and more inclusive communities in Michigan.
McGinnis received the recognition recently during the League’s 2021 virtual Capital Conference.
The League’s Community Builder Award recognizes McGinnis for serving with distinction as city manager for the City of West Branch from 1990 to 2003 and since that time as city manager for Grand Haven. Throughout the course of his career, McGinnis has shown extraordinary commitment to bettering Michigan communities and through his leadership in advancing the League’s mission, advocacy, and programs.
“Elected leaders often are in the limelight, but city managers like Patrick McGinnis are often the unsung heroes of local government,” said League Board President and City of Westland Mayor William Wild. “Patrick continually promotes the League’s Newly Elected Officials trainings to his local councilmembers, and he is always working behind the scenes with League policy staff to help advance issues that benefit Michigan communities.”
In 2010, McGinnis and other staff accepted the League’s Community Excellence Award for Grand Haven’s creative graphic design approach to communicating its annual city goals to both staff and the public at large. The city’s entry emphasized the importance of effective communication of the city council’s goals to city staff and the public. McGinnis later served as a judge for the Community Excellence Awards.
This past summer, McGinnis chaired the Pure Michigan Tourism Committee. Under his leadership, this group created a COVID-19 safety pledge for businesses, tourists, and communities to follow and also promoted best experiences for safe travel across the state.
“Throughout his career, McGinnis has built a reputation for embodying the League’s mission and spirit of community building, which makes him the ideal recipient of this honor,” Wild said.
About the Community Builder Award: This award honors individuals whose leadership creates positive community change. Through efforts such as encouraging civic engagement, supporting up-and-coming leaders, fostering good working relationships, and thinking strategically, they make their community a place where people truly love to live and work.
For additional information contact the League’s Matt Bach, assistant director of strategic communications, at (810) 874-1073 and [email protected].
Michigan Municipal League is dedicated to making Michigan’s communities better by thoughtfully innovating programs, energetically connecting ideas and people, actively serving members with resources and services, and passionately inspiring positive change for Michigan’s greatest centers of potential: its communities. The League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services. Learn more at mml.org.