The Michigan Infrastructure Council's Asset Management Champions program is cultivating a statewide culture of effective infrastructure management. This complimentary training empowers public sector employees and contractors with fundamental municipal asset management principles and practical strategies, enabling them to implement robust programs. The program also fosters valuable networking, creating a strong community of practice for knowledge exchange and shared learning. With over 600 graduates since 2021, this initiative is developing Michigan's next generation of infrastructure leaders.
Read the full Asset Management Champions Program Video Transcript
The AM Champions program offers a flexible, 25-hour training curriculum designed for self-paced learning over a three-month period, allowing participants to integrate the material into their existing schedules. Successful completion of the program's prescribed coursework and live learning sessions culminates in the issuance of a certificate of completion. This certificate is formally recognized by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) for 2.5 Continuing Education Credits (CECs) applicable to drinking water operators, and by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) for continuing education credits for professional engineers.
Introduces the fundamental principles of strategically overseeing a communities’ infrastructure, like roads and water systems. It emphasizes the importance of planning for the lifecycle of these assets to optimize their performance and minimize costs. Ultimately, it aims to ensure the delivery of reliable public services and enhance the community's quality of life.
Municipal asset management policies and governance are crucial for ensuring the sustainable and efficient use of public infrastructure, safeguarding community well-being and fiscal responsibility. They provide a structured framework for decision-making, prioritizing maintenance, and planning for future needs. Developing these policies involves conducting thorough asset inventories, establishing clear service level objectives, and fostering stakeholder collaboration to align strategies with community goals.
By prioritizing staff training, internal communication of asset management benefits, and active participation in external knowledge exchange, organizations cultivate informed stakeholders and contribute to the advancement of asset management practices.
Implementing robust asset data and information strategies enables organizations to collect, analyze, and leverage asset, performance, and financial data for informed decision-making. This competency streamlines data management practices, ensuring timely access to critical asset information. Ultimately, this leads to optimized asset lifecycle planning and improved service delivery through data-driven insights.
The program encourages networking and practical application of knowledge by facilitating interactions between participants and industry experts, enabling them to share experiences and delve deeper into course topics.
Establishing cross-functional asset management teams, with clear accountability and senior leadership commitment, is fundamental for organizational asset management success. These teams must integrate diverse perspectives from finance, decision-making, and service operations to ensure holistic asset management strategies.
Developing a well-defined, transparent framework for asset management decisions, encompassing prioritization, planning, and budgeting, ensures alignment with community goals and enables effective implementation of organizational asset management policies
The Asset Management Readiness Scale (AMRS) allows participants to benchmark their current practices against industry standards, pinpointing strengths and weaknesses to inform strategic program development and improvement.
Asset management impacts every aspect of daily life, from delivering clean water to maintaining safe roads. The asset management champions program gave me the tools to connect infrastructure improvements with community goals. It's clear how vital this work is, and I'm proud that the city of Ann Arbor is on the right path. - Michelle Bennett, City Planner, City of Ann Arbor
The Michigan Infrastructure Council (MIC) is welcoming a new cohort of leaders into the Asset Management (AM) Champion Program. This program will establish a network of talented individuals and organizations to help strengthen and “champion” best practice asset management across Michigan’s complex infrastructure environment.
