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®How Farr West City, Utah is Modernizing Resident Communication
A city of ~8,000 residents. A mayor with a transparency promise. And a bold decision to ditch fragmented channels in favor of one AI-powered communication platform — saving over $80K in the process.
"Improving communication and transparency was a promise I made during my campaign. The council, city staff, and I are proud to deliver on it with Peny."
The communication problem almost every city faces
Cities are asked to "meet residents where they are." So Farr West tried. Websites, email lists, text alerts, flyers, phone calls, Facebook, Instagram, and more.
But when information is spread across too many channels, residents can't reliably know where to look first, which update is the latest, whether they missed something important, or who to contact for a clear answer.
At the same time, city teams are stretched thin. Staff don't have time to post the same message in five places, answer the same questions over and over, and keep a website updated like a newsroom.
"The goal is a system that keeps information current, makes it easy to find, and reliably delivers important city updates to residents without relying on them to hunt for it across multiple channels."
— Mayor David Bolos
Monthly Resident Reach — The Starting Point
Farr West has ~8,000 residents. Here's how many their communication was actually reaching each month.
Combined, the city's best monthly reach across ALL channels was under 6% of their total residents — and much of that was the same people across multiple channels.
What Farr West Set Out to Achieve
For Residents
Break Free from Social Media Algorithms
With only 1–3% of social media followers seeing city posts, Farr West needed a direct, reliable channel to reach residents — one they controlled, not one controlled by algorithms.
Modernize the Resident Website Experience
Their older website was hard to navigate. They wanted residents to quickly find information without digging — a smarter, AI-powered search experience built on official city data.
Build an Owned Emergency Alert Channel
The city needed a direct notification channel so residents receive timely alerts when the city posts important or emergency updates — no intermediary, no algorithm.
Drive Event Attendance & Community Engagement
A better way to surface upcoming events to residents and increase participation in city activities, meetings, and community gatherings.
Give Residents a Trusted Go-To App
Like a banking app or a favorite restaurant app — residents always know where to go for city info. One app. Official answers. No more wondering where to look.
For the City
Streamlined Content Management
Peny uses AI to streamline content management, saving the city hours each week. Staff feeds Peny new info — AI handles what to update and where. No more manually updating multiple webpages.
More Efficient Resident Outreach
Instead of managing multiple social handles and fragmented channels, staff updates Peny once. Updates reach far more residents than before, and Peny AI can answer questions about anything posted.
Significant Cost Savings
Save money on expensive civic website tools and other subscriptions, reduce staff time on content management, and field fewer repetitive resident phone calls.
Modernized City Website
A faster, easier-to-navigate website powered by an AI assistant that helps residents find information instantly — no more clicking through endless pages to get a simple answer.
"Communication is not a 'nice to have.' It is foundational to trust, and I would argue it should be included in the list of essential services a city provides."
— Mayor David Bolos
Peny in Action — Farr West City
One app. Official city feed, events, emergency alerts, and AI-powered questions — all sourced from content Farr West City publishes directly.
Direct to Every Resident's Lock Screen
When the city posts critical updates or emergency alerts, Peny delivers them directly to every resident who has the app — no algorithm in between. For Farr West, this was a core requirement: an owned channel for emergency communication that doesn't depend on whether someone checks Facebook.
The Launch: A City-Wide Push
Citywide rollout officially started April 13, 2026. Farr West is executing a comprehensive initial push to drive awareness and app adoption across every household in the city.
The Strategy: This initial investment will result in a larger owned communication channel than Farr West has ever had — allowing them to consistently reach residents at an unprecedented level for years to come.
Why We Chose to Modernize How Farr West Communicates
By Mayor David Bolos
When I ran for mayor, one of my commitments was straightforward: be more informative, more open, and create transparency so residents could understand what's happening and feel involved in their community.
That promise wasn't just about posting more updates. It was about making it easier to find official city information and reliably receive updates directly from the city.
Like many cities, Farr West has wrestled with a familiar challenge: how do you communicate well in a world where attention is fragmented, expectations are higher, and your "official" information lives in too many places at once? That is what led us to Peny.
"A redesigned website alone does not solve the deeper issue, because most residents are not visiting a city website regularly. They go when they have a question, a problem, or a concern."
Peny is an app-based platform that also powers a city's website. That combination is important. In plain terms: all official city information and updates live in one "brain." That makes it much easier for residents to navigate city information, including through AI-assisted search that draws from content Farr West publishes directly.
And it does all of this in a way that is financially responsible. For Farr West, this project was already a budgeted item and, compared to the typical cost of rebuilding a city website from scratch, it will cost the City significantly less moving forward. That last part matters because good communication shouldn't be a luxury only large cities can afford.
"Cities need a channel they control, built for public information, not for algorithms."
In Farr West, we are taking this step because we believe it will help us be more transparent, more open, and more effective in how we serve our community. I reject the idea that most residents don't care what happens in their local government. I think most people do care, they just haven't had a good way to clearly see what's going on, or why it matters to them.
Better city communication is possible, and it does not require a massive budget or a massive staff. It requires the right approach and the right tools.
®Is your city facing the same challenges?
Fragmented channels. Low resident reach. Stretched staff. Sound familiar? Let's talk about how Peny can help your city communicate the way it should.
Schedule a demo or a quick call with the Peny team — no pressure, just a real conversation about your city's communication goals.