2026 Merrill Baumgardner Innovation in Information Technology Award Nomination

DISCLAIMER

This nomination information will be shared with other states on the Workforce Innovation Awards Nominations website. This public website contains Innovation Award nominations from previous years and indexes them by topic as a shared resource for all states.

Description

The Merrill Baumgardner Award is presented annually to a state that has demonstrated excellence in the field of information technology. The award was named in honor of Merrill Baumgardner, Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, in recognition of his fifty-five years of state service, thirty-one of which were spent as data processing manager for the Ohio Bureau.

Criteria (choose one as primary focus)

Innovative Initiative: a strategy, tool/technology, or initiative that addresses one or more business service needs, building on partnerships, leveraging funding, and achieving successful outcomes for customers.
Innovative Service Delivery: uses customer-centered design, behavioral insights, process improvement strategies, or other methods to review, plan, execute and evaluate processes/methods with improved service integration and service delivery, and better outcomes for customers.
National Impact: demonstrates a commitment to sharing its insights, including exhibiting evidence-based practices that can be replicated, with impacts on other states.

Eligible Nominees

The State Workforce Agency or a partnership or initiative involving the State Agency must be named as the nominee of the award. The award may recognize specific individuals or agencies within the nomination, such as, but not limited to: the governor, elected official(s), state administrator, information technology director, state staff member(s), or workforce partner.

Nomination Requirements

Must be submitted by 5:00 pm ET, December 12, 2025
Submit a completed award nomination;
Contain answers to the questions listed on the nomination form within the prescribed word limit;
Include a statement of approval from the agency administrator; and,
Be the single nomination for that state in this category.

Selection Process

The NASWA Technology Committee’s Awards Subcommittee will review all nominations and recommend the recipient to the Chair of the Committee who will approve the selection.