How Texas Parks & Wildlife Builds for the Future

Public sector infrastructure projects are high-stakes investments requiring detailed transparency and accountability. With historic federal funding initiatives in motion, there is an increasing demand for agencies to have an organized record where every dollar is tracked, justified and used effectively. 

In reality, many agencies are still navigating the murky waters of fragmented reporting, manual compliance, and project delays.

To combat this, Kevin Steele and Lauren Pierce-Place of Texas Parks and Wildlife are focused on full accountability while completing projects on time and within budget. 

The agency manages a massive portfolio spanning the entire state from densely populated centers to rural areas. Texas Parks and Wildlife transformed their processes from using dated software to create temporary fixes, to building trust through accountability and transparency, all by centralizing their digital tools on a construction management platform.

"We have the ability to explain what we're building, why we're building and the costs related to it," says Texas Parks and Wildlife Finance Manager Kevin Steele.

The move was proactive, driven by the realization that their facilities must meet exceed public expectations. 

Justifying Every Dollar

The public agency is tasked with justifying every dollar spent, not just selecting the lowest bid, which could impact future efforts. A construction management platform streamlines the logistics of organizing both state and federal funds.

"The performance of our projects also dictates our future funding,” says Texas Parks and Wildlife IT Director Lauren Pierce-Place. “The agency can now effectively use its data to explain what we’re building, why we’re building, and the costs related to it."

Texas Parks and Wildlife uses Work Breakdown Structure and the Attributes tool in Procore to label projects with specific funding codes. This makes compliance checks more seamless and provides a clear trail to each funding source. 

A Partnership for Future Readiness

Texas Parks and Wildlife’s ultimate goal is to standardize operations and provide the public with high-value results for their tax dollars. Construction management software like Procore is the agency’s engine for this process.

“We’re creating a product being used by citizens of the state of Texas,” says Lauren. They have expectations, and we have to meet them with transparency."

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