The County Commissioners Association of Ohio Service Corporation (CCAOSC) utilizes the Palmer Energy Company to help manage a natural gas program for member counties. The program was designed specifically to help counties save money on their natural gas bill by utilizing the strength of group buying. By grouping together, counties can leverage their buying power when shopping for their natural gas supplies in the market, thus securing the best deals possible. The independent energy professionals of the Palmer Energy Company, on behalf of the CCAOSC, obtain the best price for natural gas from various reputable suppliers through the RFP process. Advisory committee meetings are held for oversight purposes regarding the natural gas program. Presently there are over 50 counties participating. Those counties are collectively saving millions of dollars in the program.

Palmer Energy Company is an endorsed CCAOSC program partner.

For further information, please contact:

County Commissioners Association of Ohio Service Corporation

County Commissioners Association of Ohio Service Corporation
John Leutz
CCAO Assistant Director
209 East State Street
Columbus, OH  43215-4309
614/221-5627 or 888/757-1904
Fax 614/221-6986 or

Kirkland Mizerek
Vice President
Palmer Energy Company
5577 Airport Highway – Suite 101
Toledo, OH 43615
419/539-9180

In 2010, the County Commissioners Association of Ohio Service Corporation (CCAOSC) received requests from counties and townships to assist with placing opt-out electric governmental aggregation on the ballot to help save their consumers money. In response to these requests, the CCAOSC created electric and natural gas governmental aggregation programs utilizing Palmer Energy as the program manager. Palmer Energy works one on one with the counties and townships to facilitate the steps needed to successfully put the aggregation on the ballot, complete the necessary paperwork for PUCO certification and helps the counties secure pricing so residents can benefit from lower pricing. Presently, over 25 counties are in the program.

Palmer Energy is an endorsed CCAOSC program partner.

For further information, please contact:

County Commissioners Association of Ohio Service Corporation
John Leutz
CCAO Assistant Director
209 East State Street
Columbus, OH  43215-4309
614/221-5627 or 888/757-1904
Fax 614/221-6986 or

Kirkland Mizerek
Vice President
Palmer Energy Company
5577 Airport Highway – Suite 101
Toledo, OH 43615
419/539-9180

In 2008 energy conservation became one of the centerpieces of Ohio’s energy economy when the General Assembly passed SB 221 mandating that utilities achieve a 22% reduction in electric consumption by 2025. With such a large mandate and the availability of rebates to consumers, energy conservation projects have been initiated.

The County Commissioners Association of Ohio Service Corporation (CCAOSC) has partnered with Palmer Conservation Consulting (PCC), a division of Palmer Energy Company, to be the knowledgeable third party working on behalf of the counties. As it reviews the facility(s), PCC will interview internal personnel and seek guidance over the best energy conservation measures that provide maximum savings. PCC quickly assesses the facility(s), develops a list of potential conservation measures for review and make recommendations on some projects that may be pursued to maximize savings. Depending on the complexity of the projects and the county’s preferences, PCC will assist and advise on various stages of the project and then perform appropriate measurement and verification after installation is complete.

Palmer Energy Corporation and Palmer Conservation Consulting are endorsed CCAOSC program partners.

For further information, please contact:

County Commissioners Association of Ohio Service Corporation
John Leutz
Assistant Director
209 E. State Street
Columbus, OH  43215-4309
614/221-5627 or 888/757-1904
Fax 614/221-6986 or

Kirkland Mizerek
Vice President
Palmer Conservation Consulting
5577 Airport Highway – Suite 101
Toledo, OH 43615
419/539-9180

In response to members’ requests, in June 2008 the CCAO Board of Directors approved a new program to provide service and savings for counties – the County Commissioners Association of Ohio Service Corporation (CCAOSC) Excess Workers’ Compensation Program. This program combines high-quality claims administration services with competitively priced excess coverage for counties choosing to self-insure their workers’ compensation. Sedgwick and Excess Comp Specialists have joined CCAOSC as partners in this program.

Sedgwick is CCAOSC’s partner in the CCAOSC Excess Workers’ Compensation Program to provide claims administration services for counties choosing to self-insure their workers’ compensation. For excess insurance coverage, CCAOSC has partnered with Excess Comp Specialists (ECS) to provide our program with access to the most secure and competitive markets for the benefit of our members.

Generally, a county with strong financials (i.e., audit results, bond rating, etc.) and more than 400 employees can consider self-insuring workers’ compensation. The CCAOSC Excess Workers Compensation Program will assist counties in evaluating self-insurance, provide high-quality claims administration services and competitively priced excess coverage. The process begins with a feasibility study prepared by Sedgwick. CCAOSC and Sedgwick can then assist counties in obtaining BWC approval, obtaining excess insurance and implementing their self-insured program.

Sedgwick and Excess Comp Specialists are endorsed CCAOSC program partners.

For further information, please contact:

Tim Hoverman
CCAO Operations Manager
209 E. State Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
614.221.5627 ext 400

For regular long distance calling, the County Commissioners Association of Ohio Service Corporation (CCAOSC) also offers a discount long distance program for county government. Counties can save substantial funds using a discount long distance service. In addition, if a county uses AT&T or Verizon for their local landline service they can also reduce these costs as a result of wholesale invoicing. In addition to the savings, counties also benefit from services such as six-second incremental billings, accounting codes, fiber optics technology, conference calling, calling cards and 1-800 service.

First Communications is an endorsed CCAOSC program partner.

For further information, please contact:

Aaron Johnson

Enterprise Account Executive

First Communications
3440 W. Market Street
Akron, OH  44333
330/835-2244 or 800/860-2934
Fax 866/672-0810

County Commissioners Association of Ohio Service Corporation
John Leutz
CCAO Assistant Director
209 East State Street
Columbus, OH  43215-4309
614/221-5627 or 888/757-1904

Protecting your county from a cyber attack...
After hearing of multiple counties getting hit hard with cyber attacks, CCAOSC has decided to launch a County Cyber Protection Program. According to Embroker, Cyber attacks have been rated the fifth top rated risk in 2020 and become the new norm across public and private sectors. This risky industry continues to grow in 2023 as IoT cyber attacks alone are expected to double by 2025. Plus, the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Risk Report states that the rate of detection (or prosecution) is as low as 0.05% in the U.S.

Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted have released their CyberOhio program. While the CyberOhio program helps small government identify their cyber vulnerabilities, it does not remediate them. The CCAO Service Corporation is proud to partner with HG Consulting. HG Consulting will detect cybersecurity vulnerabilities and provide you with a solution to ensure you’re protected against the bad guys. Below is a list of cybersecurity services offered by the CCAO Service Corporation and HG Consulting.

Endpoint Security Package
Protect your computers and servers by automatically updating your computer software and preventing threats in real-time countywide.

Endpoint Security & Patching becomes ever more important in the modern world. Deploy a cloud-managed EDR & Patch management system to keep your endpoints patched & protected. HGC engineers can assist with EDR & Patch management automation. Pricing is per endpoint.

• BitDefender EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response)
• Windows Patch Management

Office365 Security Engagement
Help prevent cyber incidents by increasing the security of the county’s Office365 environment. Using MFA authentication reduces the possibility of being hacked by 99%. Implementing many of the Office365 mail security features can help reduce the amount of spam and phishing that county employees receive.

Engage HGC engineers to audit and/or fine-tune the county Office365 security posture(s). Duration of the engagement depends on the size and complexity of the environment. The average Office365 Security Engagement lasts 1-2 weeks. Each engagement can be customized to the needs of the county. A typical engagement includes the following:

• MFA Setup and/or audit
• Mail Security
  • Impersonation Protection
  • Spam & Phishing
  • DMARC, DKIM & SPF configuration
  • Disable Legacy Authentication
• Conditional Access Configuration
• Advanced Threat Protection Policies

Network Security Engagement
IT projects can be complex and time demanding. Sometimes it makes sense to call in a specialist to help with the heavier-than-normal demand.

Engage HGC engineers to audit the network firewall, network switching & wireless network infrastructures to harden the security posture. Duration of the engagement depends on the size and complexity of the environment. The average Network Security Engagement lasts 2-5 days depending on the size and complexity of the environment.

• Firewall security audit & hardening
• Wired & Wireless Security audit & hardening

Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery
Most cyber incidents can be recovered by having a bulletproof Business Continuity (BC) / Disaster Recovery (DR) plan. These plans typically outline how the county will function if certain disastrous events occur. System backups are a probably the most crucial part of a BC/DR plan, and are the part most often neglected.

Engage HGC engineers to audit the BC/DR plan and infrastructure. With the rise of ransomware and complex malware packages that can hold hostage the entire county network, backups have become an even more crucial part of the Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery Plans. HGC engineers can assist in developing a BC/DR plan and/or assist in deploying the appropriate backup software to ensure county assets are protected. Duration of the engagement depends on the size and complexity of the environment. The average Network Security Engagement lasts 2-5 days depending on the size and complexity of the environment.

• Systems Backup audit and/or configuration
• Office365 Backup audit and/or configuration

General Consulting
It can be difficult to have a complete technical vision that satisfies the needs of an organization while maintaining a high-level of security and usability. General consulting engagements can assist counties analyze their current situation and create a roadmap on how to upgrade, improve and integrate their systems. General consulting engagements can also provide county administrators with additional technical manpower to assist County IT implement their existing projects.

Engage HG engineers to assist with your upcoming IT project. HGC engineers cover a wide array of specialties:

• Network Infrastructure,
• Network Security,
• Microsoft Azure/m365,
• Misc. Network or Cloud projects
• Vulnerability Assessments
• Best Practices Assessments

Licensing Store
HGC and CCAO Service Corporation have partnered together to offer competitive pricing on hardware and software licensing renewals. Check to see if your equipment and/or software packages are available in our program.

• Antivirus & EDR licensing
• Firewall licensing renewals
• Network equipment renewals
• Backup Software renewals
• VMware licensing renewals
• DUO Multi-Factor Licensing

To get started in protecting your county from a cyber-attack, reach out to CCAO's Tim Hoverman at thoverman@ccao.org or call him at 614-220-0655.

Summer 2023