South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association

What South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association does

South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association (SSMMA) is an intergovernmental agency founded in 1978 that provides technical assistance and joint services to 45 member municipalities representing nearly 750,000 residents across 223 square miles in Cook and Will Counties in the South Suburbs of Chicago. The organization is governed by its member municipalities and funded through membership dues and program fees, with no venture, private equity, or public ownership.

SSMMA operates a portfolio of programs across transportation (including distribution of Federal STP funds), legislative advocacy, economic development (in partnership with Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation and the South Suburban Economic Growth Initiative), brownfield identification and remediation (active since 2000 across eight member communities), housing (through the Chicago Southland Housing and Community Development Collaborative), and environmental justice. The organization also administers statutory programs including the Southland Reactivation Act (P.A. 102-1010), a tax abatement incentive for tax-exempt commercial and industrial property in six Cook County townships, and the Brownfield Remediation and Intermodal Promotion Act. In December 2025, SSMMA completed the Calumet Triangle Planning Study covering Calumet City, South Holland, and Lansing.

SSMMA's core technology is an ArcGIS-powered GIS & Open Data platform providing geospatial data and interactive mapping for member communities; the organization also distributes an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) resource hub and operates the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative (SPC), a joint procurement program co-sponsored with the Northwest Municipal Conference, DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference, and Will County Governmental League, combining purchasing power across 144 municipalities and townships and integrated with national cooperative Sourcewell through June 30, 2027. Operations are supported by a lean staff (11–50 employees) headquartered at 1904 W. 174th Street, East Hazel Crest, Illinois, with municipal surplus vehicle and equipment auction services provided through America's Auto Auction in Crestwood.

Name

South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association

Legal name

South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association

Website

https://ssmma.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association is an intergovernmental agency founded in 1978 that provides technical assistance and joint services — including GIS data, cooperative purchasing, brownfield remediation, transportation funding, legislative advocacy, and economic development — to 45 municipalities in Cook and Will Counties, Illinois.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Hazel Crest

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SSMMA is an intergovernmental agency that delivers technical assistance and joint services to 45 member municipalities representing nearly 750,000 residents in Cook and Will Counties, Illinois. Core services include transportation funding distribution, legislative advocacy, GIS & Open Data, brownfield remediation, economic development support, housing initiatives, and cooperative purchasing through the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative. The organization acts as a unified regional voice and shared resource platform for south suburban municipalities.

Product overview

SSMMA is an intergovernmental agency providing technical assistance and joint services to 45 municipalities representing nearly 750,000 residents in Cook and Will Counties. The organization offers a portfolio of programs including GIS & Open Data (powered by ArcGIS), the Southland Reactivation Act tax abatement program, Brownfields assessment and remediation, Suburban Purchasing Cooperative for joint procurement, Transportation services with Federal STP fund distribution, Legislative advocacy, Economic Development support, Housing initiatives through the Chicago Southland Housing Collaborative, and American Rescue Plan Act resources. SSMMA also conducts planning studies like the Calumet Triangle Area Planning Study and provides training resources for newly elected officials. The Suburban Purchasing Cooperative enables economies of scale through combined purchasing power with Sourcewell integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Suburban Purchasing Cooperative: A joint purchasing program sponsored by SSMMA along with Northwest Municipal Conference, DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference, and Will County Governmental League, providing cooperative purchasing contracts for public and not-for-profit agencies.

Products and services

• GIS & Open Data

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CNT (Center for Neighborhood Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2013Collaborated with SSMMA on the Brownfield Remediation and Intermodal Promotion Act (BRIMPA), working with Representative William Davis to sponsor the legislation.
• Northwest Municipal Conference (NWMC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative (SPC), combining purchasing power of 144 municipalities and townships in northeastern Illinois for joint procurement advantages.
• DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference (DMMC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative (SPC) for joint purchasing programs across northeastern Illinois.
• Will County Governmental League (WCGL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-sponsor of the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative (SPC), representing Will County municipalities in joint purchasing initiatives.
• SourcewellcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational cooperative purchasing alliance providing SPC members access to over 830 products and services. The agreement runs through June 30, 2027. Provides Illinois municipalities with single point of contact for Sourcewell program access.
• Chicago Southland Economic Development CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization supporting south suburban business attraction and retention, working with SSMMA to grow the local economy and create jobs.
• South Suburban Economic Growth InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization collaborating with SSMMA to support economic growth initiatives in the South Suburbs.
• Chicago Southland Housing and Community Development CollaborativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative formed by SSMMA with local communities and institutional partners to address housing issues through cross-border collaboration, developing a nationally recognized approach.
• America's Auto AuctionminorOthersProvides municipal surplus vehicle and equipment auction services at their Crestwood location. Auction proceeds support SSMMA operations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Northwest Municipal Conference (NWMC): A Council of Governments serving 41 northwest suburban municipalities in Cook County, Illinois. Directly comparable to SSMMA as a co-sponsor of the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative and as a regional intergovernmental agency providing joint services to member municipalities.
• DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference (DMMC): A Council of Governments representing 36 DuPage County municipalities. Closely comparable to SSMMA in structure, services (cooperative purchasing, legislative advocacy, planning), and as a co-sponsor of the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative.
• Will County Governmental League (WCGL): Intergovernmental association of Will County municipalities that co-sponsors the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative with SSMMA. Mirrors SSMMA's structure as a regional council providing joint services to member municipalities.

Broad incumbents

• Illinois Municipal League (IML): Statewide association representing all Illinois municipalities. Comparable to SSMMA as a municipal membership organization but at state scale with broader advocacy and training programs.
• National Association of Regional Councils (NARC): National membership association for regional councils and COGs. Comparable as the umbrella organization for entities like SSMMA, providing peer benchmarking, federal advocacy, and best-practice sharing.
• Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP): Regional planning organization for the seven-county Chicago metropolitan area. Comparable to SSMMA in transportation and land-use planning scope, but operates at a much larger scale covering 284 municipalities.

Regional players

• Sourcewell: Minnesota-based national cooperative purchasing organization. Comparable to SSMMA's SPC in providing cooperative procurement services to government and nonprofit members, but at a national scale with 830+ contracts.
• Indiana Association of Cities and Towns: Indiana statewide municipal association. Comparable to SSMMA as an intergovernmental membership organization providing advocacy, training, and joint services to municipal members, but serving a different geography.
• Southwest Conference of Mayors: Illinois-based Council of Mayors serving southwest suburban Chicago municipalities. Comparable to SSMMA as a regional intergovernmental body but serves a different geographic footprint within the Chicago metro.

Others

• Council of Governments (generic concept): Council of Governments (COG) structure is the peer category most analogous to SSMMA—regional intergovernmental bodies that aggregate municipalities for shared services. Entities like the Southern California Association of Governments, Metro Atlanta Council of Governments, and similar regional bodies operate under this model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ssmmacog
• Facebookfacebook.com/SSMMACOG
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/south-suburban-mayors-and-managers-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association