To Chris Collins, lean and Six Sigma, just like government and business management, go hand in hand.

In Erie County, where he fiercely advocates that a lean government can and will save taxpayers millions of dollars, Chris Collins became the first county executive in the nation to implement lean Six Sigma in a government setting.

A businessman with 35 years of private sector experience, Collins runs Erie County like a business, with what he calls “The 3 Rs”—reforming Erie County government—rebuilding the local economy—and ultimately, reducing taxes. Needless to say, the road to getting there is paved by lean Six Sigma all the way. To date, 19 Erie County employees are trained and certified Six Sigma Green Belts. Forty employees earned Yellow Belts and more than 250 employees are trained in lean Six Sigma. Bill Carey, a lean Six Sigma Black Belt, is the program director of the county.

The lean and Six Sigma methodologies have helped the county accrue savings of nearly $144,000 by streamlining social services application workflow. The county reduced the cost of repairing of park equipment by $95,000 annually. It has reduced the backlog of child support enforcement cases from 7,281 to 103 cases in less than one year.

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