Fast Company Magazine shocked a lot of people when it published its list of the most Innovative Companies for Economic Development and – whoa! – a city appeared. An Intelligent Community in the USA state of Ohio: Hilliard. The ICF network knows Hilliard as one of the leading cities and a two-time Top7 community. But this was a big-time recognition. How much of it had to do with being an Intelligent Community? The City Manager, Michelle Crandall tells us in this podcast.
Michelle currently serves as the City Manager for the City of Hilliard, Ohio, USA (population 38,000). She began this position in January 2020 as Hilliard’s first ever City Manager, following a charter change in the City’s form of government. Previously Michelle was with the City of Dublin, Ohio for more than 25 years in a variety of roles, including Assistant City Manager, Deputy City Manager and Director of Administrative Services.
Michelle serves as vice-chair for the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), chair of Broadband Access Ohio (BAO), and immediate past chair of the Central Ohio Mayors & Managers Association (COMMA). She previously served on the International City and County Management Association (ICMA) Executive Board as a Vice-President representing the Midwest region, and as a member of the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Innovation.
She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Wittenberg University and a Master of Public Administration from The Ohio State University. Additionally, she attended the University of Virginia, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service Executive Leadership Development Program (LEAD) and the American University Washington Semester Program.
Under Michelle’s leadership, the City of Hilliard was named by Fast Company in 2025 as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in the category of Economic Development. In both 2023 and 2024, the City of Hilliard was named a Top7 Intelligent Community by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) and was named the Best Suburb to Do Business by Columbus CEO.
In 2023, Michelle was named among Columbus Business First’s inaugural class of “Women of Influence”, being honored as a “Trailblazer”. Additionally, in 2018 Michelle was the recipient of a Richard Childs Fellowship through the Kettering Foundation in partnership with the National Civic League and a recipient of a Japan Local Government Center CLAIR Fellowship.
