Contents
Hey there, city-naming champs!
Budgeting Bear here, ready to announce the winners of this year’s Envisio City Naming Contest held at both the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Annual Conference and the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) 2024 convention. Two weeks, two countries, with un-bear-lievably creative local governments leaders at both.
These events were so good, we’ll be paws-ing to remember them for a long time.
For those who missed it—we asked folks who came by our Envisio booth to come up with a name and motto for a dream city. Then, we picked four winners: two from ICMA, and two from UBCM. These four winners will be receiving a $50 Gift Card from Amazon. We also picked five honorable mentions, who get the second best prize: bragging rights.
Our inspirational city logo looked like this:
Thank you to everyone who participated—we were blown away by the creativity and fun that you brought to this competition! Our participants outdid themselves with city names and slogans. Claw-some!
We’ll let you decide who did it better–Canada? Or the US?
Let’s dive into the winners…
Envisio Name That City Winners: From the 2024 ICMA Conference
First up, we have two top-notch winners from the ICMA Annual Conference in Pittsburgh:
Emily Dengler, City of Wyoming, OH
City Name: “Padding-town”
City Slogan: “Be abearently frugal”
Paul Bennett, Tamworth Regional Council (TRC)
City Name: “Bearlin'”
City Slogan: “Bearly know it’s there!”
Envisio Name That City Winners: From the 2024 UBCM Conference
Over at UBCM, in Vancouver BC, we had some wonderful entries, but these two stood out:
Debbie Joujan, Village of Telkwa, BC
City Name: Eagles Landing
City Slogan: “Rise Above”
Jessica Clement, Village of Ashcroft, BC
City Name: Eagle Bay
City Slogan: “The City that Soars”
Honorable Mentions (Because We Couldn’t Bear to Leave Them Out!)
Patrice Carson, Town of Bolton, CT
City Name: Li-Bear-Ty Woods
City Slogan: “Where freedom soars, community thrives, and bears ROAR!”
Rebecca England, Central Hawke’s Bay District Council
City Name: Wilderness Haven
City Slogan: “Where nature thrives and adventure awaits!”
Heather Dedio, Village of Granite, ON
City Name: Bearville
City Slogan: “A City of Nature, Fun, and Adventure”
Carol Zanon, City of West Kelowna
City Name: Teddytown
City Slogan: “BC’s Adventure Central”
Megan Holland, Town of Creston
City Name: Beaver Palooza
City Slogan: “Celebrating the best parts of Canada”
That’s All Furr Now
A big bear hug of gratitude to everyone who participated in this year’s contest. Until next time!
Budgeting Bear
With his instinct for fiscal stewardship and a nose for efficient resource allocation, Budgeting Bear is all about making sure every community gets its paws on the best, most strategically aligned budget possible. Fund the plan, achieve the plan!
Having earned his stripes (or should we say fur) from Bearvard School of Finance, Budgeting Bear has clawed his way to the top—advising notable bear-based municipalities like Grizzly Falls, Kodiak Junction, and the ever-popular Pawtucket. His ability to help local governments navigate the financial wilderness has made him a household name.
Whether working with city officials in Bear Lake or aligning strategic goals in Grizzly Grove, Budgeting Bear always ensures that communities get more than just the bare necessities—without overspending, or cutting unnecessarily. He’s been known to hibernate on tough budget decisions—because sometimes, a good nap really helps you balance those books!
He’s worked with some real legends, too—collaborating with Yogi on food distribution strategies, and helping Paddington with his import/export policies for marmalade. Recently, he has been adopting Smokey's focus on prevention—ensuring governments prevent fiscal wildfires through proactive budget planning.
In his bear time, he loves kicking back with a good picnic basket.
