August 21, 2003

Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land today wrapped up her official tour of all 173 Secretary of State branch offices in her own hometown community of Grand Rapids. She met with employees and public at the Grand Rapids Downtown branch to exchange ideas and discuss ways to improve services.

"The last branch office visit is as important as the first," said Land, who had made a campaign promise to visit every Secretary of State branch office within her first year in office. "From Detroit to Dowagiac to Battle Creek to Bessemer, each branch is unique, and each community has different needs. I’ve learned something new with each visit, and the entire experience has been valuable in helping me get to know the staff and the branch office structure."

Land kicked off her tour in January with a visit to Midland, followed by visits to branch offices in all 83 counties. Traveling more than 15,000 miles, Land averaged more than 25 branch office visits a month for the last 7 months to meet with the 1,000 branch office employees.

"It’s been an intensive 7 months but extremely worthwhile," Land said. "With the information I’ve learned on these visits, we can develop a comprehensive plan for managing - limited branch office resources and staff to improve customer service. Given the tight budget, it is important that the Department of State look at ways to deliver services in the most cost-effective and efficient manner possible."

Land is a strong advocate of using Internet technology to improve customer convenience and staff efficiency. As a result of her branch office tour, the Secretary is proposing several solutions to meet the needs of customers and staff in an ever-increasingly mobile and diverse society. Some of the ideas include:

• Making greater use of the Internet to deliver services so that customers have less need to travel to a branch office
• Extending office hours and offering Saturday morning hours in select locations
• Expanding the use of credit card transactions to include branch office services
• Overcoming language barriers by posting multilingual signs in offices that help people understand what information they must bring to conduct business
• Improving office accessibility by working to repair pavement in parking lots, improve lighting, and providing timely snow removal
• Consolidating smaller branches in large urban areas into super centers, so that combined staff can work more effectively in delivering service

"I have been extremely impressed by the high degree of professionalism shown by all branch office staff," Land added. "I am looking forward to working with them to implement these and other exciting innovations."

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