Montgomery Wins Best Technology Innovation
The 2026 StateWays Best Practices Awards for Best Technology Innovation goes to Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services( ABS), for an automation initiative that has modernized the agency’ s receiving and accounts payable processes.
The project replaced manual, paper-based workflows with digitized applications integrated with Oracle E-Business Suite( Oracle EBS). The goal was to reduce manual data entry, improve accuracy and accelerate invoice processing in an operation handling a significant volume of beverage alcohol products.
Previously, receiving and accounts payable processes were“ manual, labor intensive, time consuming, and prone to error,” says Sean D’ Costa, accountant / auditor at ABS. Manual data entry created additional challenges, including duplicate entries, inaccurate information, slow processing and inconsistent document handling.
The new system connects the receiving and invoice processes through a standardized file naming format containing information needed to match documents and enter transactions into Oracle.
The receiving application allows warehouse personnel to upload supplier documents, including bills of lading, packing slips, delivery receipts and invoices, when products arrive. Those documents are automatically linked to the corresponding purchase orders and receiving transactions in Oracle EBS.
The accounts payable application then uses the captured information to systematically match invoices with receiving documentation and import invoices into Oracle’ s accounts payable module in batches. Oracle’ s auto-match process validates invoice amounts against products received.
When the information matches, the invoice is completed and automatically routed for approval without requiring intervention from an accounts payable clerk.
This has allowed ABS to move toward an exception-based approach to invoice processing. Since implementation, the agency has achieved an average 58 % auto-match rate, meaning more than half of the invoices processed through the system require no manual intervention from accounts payable clerks.
The automation has also reduced the amount of time staff spend on routine data entry, allowing them to focus on researching and resolving exceptions.
ABS developed the project using internal expertise and resources, keeping the investment relatively modest while implementing changes across an enterprise-level operation.
“ We took an innovative approach with this project but were able to accomplish it at a low cost by leveraging internal expertise and resources,” D’ Costa says.
The agency used a staged implementation rather than attempting to overhaul the entire process at once. That approach allowed
New Hampshire Wins for Distribution / Warehouse Innovation
The New Hampshire Liquor Commission( NHLC) has received the 2026 State- Ways Best Practices Award for Distribution / Warehouse Innovation for its beverage recycling partnership with DHL Supply Chain and EcoBev.
The initiative provides an alternative to traditional landfill disposal for damaged and expired beverage products, while integrating recycling into NHLC’ s existing warehouse and distribution operations.
NHLC and DHL began exploring alternatives to landfill disposal as they looked for a more efficient, cost-effective and environmentally responsible way to handle beverage products that could no longer be sold. Following DHL’ s 2023 acquisition of Hillebrand Gori, the company gained access to EcoBev, a beverage recycling specialist focused on sustainable product disposal and material recovery.
After a series of pilot programs in 2024, NHLC and DHL identified operational and environmental benefits and established a long-term partnership with EcoBev.
Under the program, products approved for destruction are removed from inventory and scheduled for pickup, typically within 60 days. The products head to EcoBev’ s processing facility, where they are sorted and separated into liquid, glass, plastic and cardboard.
Rather than sending the materials to a landfill, each stream goes toward recycling or repurposing when possible. The process also provides operational benefits by freeing warehouse space for saleable products and helping suppliers maintain accurate inventory and financial records.
Integrating the program into existing warehouse operations required NHLC and DHL to evaluate the labor, handling and time associated with the previous disposal process against EcoBev’ s dedicated trailer collection model. The organizations also introduced enhanced product tracking and reporting to document materials throughout the recycling process.
The financial analysis compared EcoBev’ s transportation, product weight and material-specific processing costs with the expenses associated with traditional landfill disposal. NHLC and DHL determined that the recycling program provided a sustainable long-term solution while also delivering operational efficiencies and improved reporting.
The results have included the diversion of nearly 741,500 pounds of material from landfills and the recycling of more than 43,820 gallons of liquid products.
NHLC tracks the amount of material diverted, liquid recovered and glass, plastic and cardboard recycled to measure the program’ s ongoing impact. The data also allows the commission to identify opportunities for improvement and evaluate the relationship between sustainability and operational efficiency.
The recycling partnership is part of a broader sustainability effort at NHLC. Its Bring Back Jack campaign encourages consumers to recycle glass bottles and return those materials to the manufacturing stream. NH Liquor & Wine Outlets are designed to LEED specifications, and incorporate sustainable building practices, while all 65 outlets recycle cardboard and plastic packaging materials.
The EcoBev program has also provided NHLC and DHL with lessons that can be applied to other beverage distribution operations. Establishing a clear process for handling damaged and expired products helps maximize material recovery while meeting regulatory requirements.
The partnership also demonstrates the value of integrating sustainability into existing supply chain operations rather than treating it as a separate initiative. Standardized processes, data tracking and specialized recycling and logistics expertise can allow distributors and control state agencies to reduce waste while improving warehouse efficiency.
For NHLC, the program demonstrates how beverage distribution operations can incorporate circular-economy practices while addressing both environmental and operational priorities.
Iowa Wins Best Stakeholder / Legislative
Outreach Program
The Iowa Department of Revenue has been awarded the 2026 StateWays Best Practices Award for Best Stakeholder / Legislative Outreach Program for its Iowa Underage Alcohol Enforcement Program. This initiative brings state and local agencies together to increase underage alcohol compliance checks across the state.
The program launched in 2025 after the department’ s Alcohol Regulation Bureau identified underage alcohol sales as one of its most common complaint categories. While the bureau’ s investigators and compliance officers can conduct enforcement activities, they do not have peace officer authority, and therefore cannot conduct controlled underage alcohol purchases or issue criminal citations.
The bureau also surveyed law enforcement agencies across Iowa’ s 99 counties and found that relatively few conducted routine alcohol compliance checks, with funding and staffing limitations cited as barriers.
The resulting program provides financial support, guidance and resources to local law enforcement agencies to conduct formal compliance checks at alcohol-licensed establishments. Agencies receive $ 100 for each completed check, with funding allocations determined based on factors including the number of licensed establishments within a jurisdiction.
The funding can help agencies cover overtime costs, compensate underage purchasers and purchase police equipment. The department said the model is particularly important for rural communities, where limited staffing and resources can make proactive compliance checks more difficult.
Grant resources can also be directed toward areas with higher rates of youth alcohol-impaired driving or other indicators of underage alcohol-related harm. The approach allows the state to use available data to prioritize resources while maintaining participation across Iowa.
To promote consistency, the Alcohol Regulation Bureau developed an Alcohol Handbook for participating law enforcement agencies. The handbook provides step-by-step guidance for conducting compliance checks at on- and off-premises locations, along with procedures for submitting reports, citations and evidence photographs.
The handbook was developed by bureau personnel with law enforcement experience and firsthand knowledge of alcohol compliance checks, criminal citations, prosecution and evidence handling.
“ Consistency is critical to minimize procedural missteps and variability of outcomes,” says DeMario A. Luttrell, MPA Bureau Chief- sales & excise tax / alcohol regulation.“ By providing clear and consistent guidance to our statewide partners via our handbook, we ensure that compliance checks are conducted uniformly among alcohol licensees and in accordance with best practices designed to support any resulting enforcement action.”
The program combines enforcement with education for retailers and their employees. When a compliance check identifies a violation, law enforcement issues the applicable citation while the department separately takes administrative action against the licensed establishment. Depending on the establishment’ s compliance history, consequences can include a civil penalty, license suspension or revocation.
Following a failed compliance check, licensees also receive information about Iowa’ s free alcohol education resources. Those resources include the I-PACT Alcohol Retailer Training Program, which covers Iowa alcohol laws, identification requirements, recognizing fraudulent IDs, refusing sales and other compliance topics.
The Iowa Age to Purchase App is another resource promoted through the program. It includes an age-to-purchase calendar, driver’ s license 2D barcode scanner, mobile ID validation and manual date-of-birth calculator.
The Alcohol Regulation Bureau also works with alcohol and substance-use prevention organizations across Iowa, providing updates about the enforcement program and educational materials that can be shared with retailers and communities.
The program has already expanded participation among local law enforcement. More than 100 agencies have conducted compliance checks since its implementation, compared with a small number of agencies conducting routine annual checks before the program began.
The department also reported improved compliance rates between fiscal years 2025 and 2026. Increased participation by law enforcement, greater awareness of the program and continued education of alcohol licensees are expected to guide its expansion in the coming years.
Pennsylvania Wins Best Retail Innovation
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board( PLCB) has received the 2026 StateWays Best Practices Awards winner for Best Retail Innovation for In Good Spirits, a monthly internal video series designed to strengthen communication and connection among employees across nearly 560 Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores.
The PLCB launched In Good Spirits in 2025 as a complement to Distilled Digest, its written internal communication bulletin. While Distilled Digest provides employees with operational information, the PLCB saw an opportunity to use video to make communication more personal for an organization with nearly 6,000 employees working across hundreds of locations.
“ Distilled Digest has been an important tool for keeping our store teams informed, but we recognized that with nearly 6,000 employees working across more than 560 locations, not everyone experiences communication the same way,” says Carrie Lepore, PLCB deputy director for policy and communications.“ In Good Spirits was created to put a face and voice behind the messages so that employees can hear directly from leadership in a personal, conversational, enthusiastic and authentic way.”
The series features Angela Schaul, director of retail operations and stores, delivering short-form video updates to store teams. Episodes address topics that are relevant to employees at the time, including seasonal campaigns, merchandising priorities, safety reminders, customer service initiatives and operational updates.
“ We start with what’ s most relevant to employees in the stores at that moment, whether it’ s a seasonal campaign, merchandising priority, safety reminder, customer service focus or an important operational update,” Schaul says.
“ From there, we look for opportunities to make the content more human.”
That approach means the videos combine operational information with employee recognition, storytelling and leadership visibility. The goal is to provide employees with the information they need while helping them understand the reasons behind initiatives and feel connected to the broader organization.
“ We want employees to walk away knowing what they need to know but feeling recognized and connected to the larger organization,” Lepore says.
The format also provides a consistent communication touchpoint for employees throughout Pennsylvania. Regardless of where an employee works, they can hear the same message directly from Schaul.
“ One of the biggest benefits has been creating a consistent, familiar touchpoint between headquarters and our store teams,” Schaul says.“ No matter where an employee works, they have the opportunity to hear the same message directly from me.”
Schaul says the videos have also helped establish familiarity between store employees and leadership. Employees have recognized her from the series during visits to stores, creating opportunities for conversations that might otherwise take longer to develop.
“ For an organization our size it can be difficult to build relationships at scale, and that has been one of the most meaningful outcomes of the series,” Schaul says.
Employee response has included references to episodes during daily team meetings, along with questions and discussions about how the information applies to individual stores. The PLCB views that engagement as an indication that the videos are becoming part of store communication.
The agency says the initiative also demonstrates that video does not need to be highly produced to be effective.
“ Our biggest lesson is that video doesn’ t have to be complicated to be effective,” Lepore says.“ In Good Spirits is intentionally short, straightforward and genuine. We’ re not trying to create a television production, we’ re trying to create conversations.”
The PLCB plans to continue using In Good Spirits alongside written communications, recognizing that each format serves a different purpose. For the agency, video provides another way to communicate priorities while adding context and a direct connection to leadership.
Montgomery Wins Best Trade / Licensee Education Program
Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services( ABS) has taken home the 2026 State- Ways Best Practices Awards winner for Best Trade / Licensee Education Program for its Good Neighbor Awards program, which combines compliance checks with recognition and education for alcohol-licensed businesses.
ABS created the program to recognize licensees that successfully prevent underage alcohol consumption on their premises while improving relationships between the regulator and the businesses it oversees.
“ ABS wanted to create the Good Neighbor Awards program to recognize the hard work that licensees do to make sure no one under 21 is consuming alcohol on their premises,” says Roddy Aguirre, community outreach manager for ABS.“ In addition, this program helps to strengthen the relationship between the alcohol regulator and licensees.”
The program uses compliance checks conducted by ABS’ regulation team as the basis for recognition. Businesses that pass receive a Good Neighbor Award, giving the agency an opportunity to acknowledge their efforts in person rather than limiting interactions with licensees to inspections, violations or license renewals.
ABS also designed the program to provide an educational component for businesses that do not pass a compliance check. Rather than adding additional stress, the agency provides those businesses with individualized training focused on preventing future violations.
The training includes educational materials on checking identification, as well as an ID-checking guide that retails for approximately $ 40 per copy. The approach allows ABS to use compliance checks not only as an enforcement tool but also as an opportunity to provide licensees with practical resources.
The response from retailers has been positive, Aguirre said, with the education team receiving grateful welcomes during visits. While ABS believed it is still too early to fully measure the program’ s effect on its long-term relationships with licensees, the agency has seen changes in the dialogue taking place between regulators and businesses.
“ We can already see positive conversations and a collective understanding of the dangers of under-21 alcohol consumption,” Aguirre said.
The program also has given ABS a different way to interact with businesses that consistently comply with alcohol regulations. During the program, 231 businesses passed their compliance checks and received recognition.
“ Recognition fosters relationships,” Aguirre said.“ If ABS is only speaking with a licensee during license renewal or when they receive a violation during the inspections, then that places ABS under a particular light.”
By recognizing businesses that meet compliance requirements, ABS aims to demonstrate that the agency is aware of the work licensees do to prevent underage drinking.
“ By recognizing these businesses, we want licensees know that we are aware of their hard work and want to shine a light on it,” Aguirre said.
The program reflects a broader approach to licensee education that emphasizes communication between regulators and the businesses they oversee. For ABS, the Good Neighbor Awards provide an opportunity to reinforce compliance expectations while also building relationships outside of enforcement situations.
Aguirre said other alcohol regulatory agencies considering similar programs should view recognition and education as the chance to establish ongoing relationships with licensees.
“ See this as an opportunity to build relationships with the licensees that you are working with on a daily basis,” he says.“ A working relationship is better than a silent relationship. Know your licensees, encourage them, instruct them, and equip them for success.”
PLCB Wins Best Stakeholder / Legislative Outreach Program
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board( PLCB) has been named the 2026 StateWays Best Practices Awards winner for Best Stakeholder / Legislative Outreach Program for its Supplier and Licensee Workgroups. This initiative launched in 2025 to create a more structured approach to industry engagement.
The PLCB had previously consulted with industry organizations including the Pennsylvania Wine and Spirits Association, Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association, Pennsylvania Wine Association and Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association. However, those discussions did not follow a regular schedule.
“ Last year we decided to formalize industry engagement on a regular basis so that we can all benefit from candid discussions about the beverage alcohol industry in general and the Pennsylvania market, in particular,” says Doug Hitz, PLCB deputy executive director.
The PLCB established separate workgroups to account for differences among stakeholder groups. Two supplier workgroups were created, one for distributors and brokers and another for manufacturers, with a subset audience for Pennsylvania producers. The agency established participation rules for each group to maintain appropriate boundaries and compliance with state and federal law.
“ These work groups are for discussion of common broader issues, not a forum for product pitches or pricing negotiations,” Hitz says.
For licensees, the PLCB began with quarterly or semiannual remote meetings with two of the largest groups representing Pennsylvania licensees. Jay McGruder, PLCB director of wholesale operations, said keeping the meetings relatively small helped facilitate direct discussion.
“ Keeping the meetings small allowed us to welcome open and honest feedback and discussions on focused topics so we could effectively address statewide, membership-wide concerns,” McGruder says.
From May 2025 through March 2026, the PLCB conducted seven workgroups with just over 300 combined attendees. Three supplier sessions, including meetings for brokers and distributors and manufacturers, took place between November 2025 and March 2026. Four licensee workgroups were held between July and October 2025, including sessions conducted in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association summer conference and Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association chapter events.
The workgroups cover topics including economic conditions and sales impacts, business trends, sales and marketing, liquor laws, licensing requirements, product supply, inventory management and distribution. Sessions also include remote breakout discussions or in-person roundtables that allow participants to speak directly with PLCB staff. The initiative has also highlighted the diversity of concerns among Pennsylvania ' s beverage alcohol businesses.
“ Suppliers and licensees appreciate the regular opportunities for engagement, but no two suppliers and no two licensees are alike,” Hitz says.“ They have various business models, different priorities and sometimes opposite points of view, even within their respective cohorts.”
The PLCB views the workgroups as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, individual conversations with businesses. Hitz said the sessions provide stakeholders with access to PLCB leadership while helping them understand how to communicate specific concerns to the agency.
“ Feedback has been positive, and we will continue to evolve these work groups as the beverage alcohol marketplace evolves,” Hitz says. He added that stakeholders have expressed interest in both remote participation and face-to-face meetings, depending on the group. The PLCB also plans to continue emphasizing open discussion rather than oneway presentations.“ These are not one-way PLCB lectures, rather they are collaborative opportunities for all parties to learn from each other,” Hitz says. Additional workgroups are planned for the remainder of 2026.
Virginia Wins Best Consumer Education Program
Virginia ABC has received the 2026 StateWays Magazine Best Consumer Education Program award for its Virginia Alcohol Health & Safety Community Dashboards. This public resource was designed to help communities use local data to better understand alcohol-related health and safety issues.
The VABC developed the community dashboards to increase Virginians’ ability to make data-informed decisions about alcohol-related issues in their communities. The resource brings together alcohol-related information from national and state sources, and presents it at the most local level available. The initiative supports the agency’ s broader public health and safety goals by giving community leaders, organizations and individuals information that they can use to assess local concerns, develop programs and evaluate outcomes.
The dashboards address a challenge the VABC identified in the way alcohol-related data is collected and distributed. Information is available from multiple organizations, including the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Virginia Department of Health, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and Virginia State Police. However, the information is not always easy to access, available at the local level or presented in a way that allows users to identify current trends.
VABC worked with the agencies to collect available alcohol-related data and bring it together in a single public-facing resource. The dashboards include information on alcohol behaviors and consumption, as well as community outcomes, providing users with a broader view of alcohol-related health and safety in their localities.
Accessibility was a key consideration in the design. Rather than presenting data without context, the dashboards begin with an explanation of their purpose, examples of how the information can be used and links to additional educational and prevention resources. They also provide definitions of terms including excessive alcohol use, high-risk drinking and standard drink sizes.
The information is organized in a progression intended to help users understand the data. Local demographic information and statewide alcohol outlet data provide context before the dashboards move into alcohol behavior and consumption information. The final sections cover outcomes such as alcohol-related health data, traffic-related crime and other alcohol-related crimes.
Filtering tools allow users to examine information by year, locality, data attribute or combinations of those factors. That functionality enables communities to focus on the information most relevant to their needs.
Since the dashboards launched, they have been viewed more than 10,000 times. VABC has incorporated the resource into several of its programs, including the Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Project, known as YADAPP. High school participants can use local data to identify trends and develop data-based strategic plans for their schools and communities.
The dashboards also play a role in VABC’ s Alcohol Education and Prevention Grant program, which funds organizations working to prevent underage and highrisk drinking. During the most recent application cycle, 33 organizations submitted applications, with selected applicants using local alcohol data to demonstrate community needs and strengthen their proposals.
VABC plans to continue evaluating the dashboards through their reach and use cases while working to improve data sharing among agencies and make information easier to understand and access. The agency’ s long-term goal is to help community planners, organizations and decision makers develop and evaluate data-based approaches to alcohol health and safety.•