Indy DPW, Office of Sustainability Will Award $4.7M Contract to Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc.

Urban forestry, litter abatement and community engagement services will support Thrive Indianapolis plan goals


INDIANAPOLIS—An important partnership between Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. (KIB) and the City of Indianapolis will be renewed in the new year as the city’s Office of Sustainability awards the non-profit organization with a service contract for extensive programming addressing urban forestry, litter abatement and community engagement. Managed by the Office of Sustainability and funded through the Department of Public Works, the three-year, $4.7 million contract will become effective on January 1, 2020.

“We are excited to renew and reinvigorate this important alliance,” said Katie Robinson, Director of the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability. “The stellar work completed by the KIB team in the past, as well as our shared ambitions for a cleaner, greener future make this partnership the right fit to support the goals of our office’s Thrive Indianapolis plan.”

The key elements of KIB’s contract will contribute to the cleanliness and beautification of city streets as well as to a more resilient community. Major requirements include:

  • Facilitating Adopt-A-Block and Neighborhood Cleanup programs to focus on reducing litter;

  • Implementing placemaking programs to invite the grassroots creation of greenspaces and the improvement of neighborhood gateway elements;

  • Continuing extensive tree planting and maintenance efforts, as well as mitigating trees lost due to public infrastructure projects, disease, or damage;

  • Launching a multichannel public awareness and behavior change campaign focused on littering and litter abatement;

  • Expanding youth education programing regarding the positive impacts of tree-planting, native plant species, and pollinators; and,

  • Engaging local businesses and their employees in Corporate Days of Service programs in community enhancement and beautification projects.

The Indianapolis Board of Public Works approved the agreement at its December 4 meeting. Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. was selected after a request for qualifications was released by the City in October of this year.

“KIB is honored to have the opportunity to work with the City on a new contract to make Indianapolis a vibrant place where people and nature can thrive,” said Jeremy Kranowitz, President and CEO of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful. 

Many contract activities directly relate to the stated objectives of the Thrive Indianapolis plan, adopted in 2019 as the city’s first sustainability and resiliency planning document. Actions to expand green spaces, install native tree and plant species, remove invasive vegetation species, increase stormwater infiltration, and engage in public outreach regarding stormwater quality all support tactics listed in the Natural Resources element of the plan. Litter abatement programming also addresses Built Environment element goals for optimal urban stormwater drainage.

The entire Thrive Indianapolis plan can be found here.

The City of Indianapolis has been closely partnered with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. since the organization became an independent non-profit in 1981, regularly contracting KIB to lead litter reduction and community engagement efforts. Before this, the group was organized as the Indianapolis Clean City Committee, originally created by Mayor Bill Hudnut in 1976 as an office within the City of Indianapolis.

Mo McReynoldsOffice of Sustainability - City of Indianapolis