Staff with the city of Hermiston's Information Technology Department, Mayor Dave Drotzmann, center, and City Manager Byron Smith, right, display the League of Oregon Cities' 2024 Award for Excellence, which the city city received Oct. 18, 2024, at the league's annual conference in Bend.

HERMISTON — Hermiston is excellent. The League of Oregon Cities said so.

The league during its 99th annual conference Friday, Oct. 18, in Bend presented its 2024 Award for Excellence to the city of Hermiston for its Regional Information Technology Department Integration Program.

The league also presented the award to the cities of Turner and Gresham. The award recognizes progressive and innovative city operations and services, according to a press release from the league.

The city of Hermiston in 2022 faced a substantial cost increase from its service provider. In response, the city funded its own IT department. The move was cost-effective, according to the league, and allowed Hermiston to maintain high security levels against malicious threats, conduct important maintenance and training for staff and provide reliable IT service to partner organizations.

Hermiston’s new department started with four full-time employees to meet the needs of the city, then scaled up as additional cities, special districts and others sought services. Individual contracts meet the specific needs of each partner and range from a few hours a month, to 40 hours a week.

Hermiston has service agreements in place with eight cities, three special districts, one county and one nonprofit.

According to the league, a city in rural Oregon creating an IT department offering contracted services isn’t a common practice.