What’s good for the city is also good for Sterling Heights Community Relations staff who earned several national and regional awards for their work.

“I’m incredibly proud of our Community Relations Department for their dedication, creativity, and excellence in communication. Winning numerous local, regional, and national awards reinforces Sterling Heights’ position as a leader in public communication across the nation,” said Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor in a news release this week. “Their commitment to innovation and transparency sets the standard for how cities connect with their communities, and I couldn’t be more grateful for their passion and talent.”

The team has earned the national PR News Platinum Award, national Hometown Media Award and Alliance for Community Media Foundation Award, regional Philo Award and an award from the statewide mParks Association. The awards acknowledge the outstanding work done on a well executed storytelling campaign to thought-provoking community activism programming, an insightful podcast series, and a web series that has helped humanize our police officers while promoting the local business community. The national recognition of the work done by the Sterling Heights also reflects the creativity and teamwork that defines the organization, officials said.

Touted as a great example for other cities is Sterling Heights’ Look No Further campaign.

It was created by the community relations staff in partnership with their agency Identity earned two honorable mentions from the National PR News Platinum Awards for its ability to bring the experiences and perspectives of Sterling Heights citizens to the forefront, illuminating both their personal experiences and the narrative arc of a city that’s emerged as one of Michigan’s richest cultural, historical and innovative destinations.

Recognition from PR News Platinum Awards was received in the Community Engagement and Visual Storytelling Campaign categories. Samples of the Look No Further Campaign can be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=lXMWo5jYdJE.

Winning the national Hometown Media Award in Audio Programming: Access Center Professional for his “Talk’n the Beat” podcast was Dan Rizek, broadcast services coordinator. The Hometown awards highlight community media, community radio and local cable programs that are distributed on Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) access cable television channels. Sharing in the award as hosts for the podcasts were Sterling Heights police officers Larry Reynolds and Kevin Coates from the Community Services Bureau. The podcast can be streamed at buzzsprout.com/2100332 or found on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Winning the Young Professional of the Year Award presented by mParks was manager Marissa Russo. The presenting organization serves as the voice of Michigan’s parks and recreation community. The award recognizes emerging leaders in the parks and recreation field for their exceptional contributions to their agency, community and the profession statewide. Russo has been an active volunteer with mParks, presenting at conference sessions on marketing and communications, sharing her knowledge and expertise to uplift other professionals and position Sterling Heights as a leader in best practices for parks and recreation marketing. The award will be presented to Russo at the mParks annual conference on March 5.

Topping off the awards is broadcast services specialist Bob Sergott, who earned three different regional recognitions from the Philo Awards including The George C. Stoney Community Activism Award for the Legally Speaking: Food Insecurity program produced in collaboration with Lakeshore Legal Aid and the Macomb County Bar Foundation, a Philo T. Farnsworth Award in the Performing Arts — Professional Category for the “Sterlingfest: Steven Adler” video and a Philo T. Farnsworth Award in the Comedy/Humor — Professional Category for the On Scene web series “Float Institute” episode (shared with hosts Sterling Heights Police Officers Larry Reynolds and Kevin Coates).

“While we celebrate these awards, I also want to highlight the work that our team does is about celebrating the stories that matter, the voices we amplify and the audiences we connect with every day,” said Community Relations Director Melanie Davis. “In our department — and with our partners at the police department and across the organization — we believe in the power of storytelling to inspire, to inform and to transform.”