 National Association of Counties * Washington, DC / Vol. 30, No. 14 * July 20, 1998  Special programs help counties save money The Department of Public/Private Partnerships develops programs that offer competitive products and services to counties and their employees. The department, part of NACoS, the NACo Services Corporation, is a for-profit corporation under the laws of Delaware. Current programs include the NACo Financial Services Center, deferred compensation through PEBSCO for county employees and NACo's Corporate Membership Program. Financial Services Center The NACo Financial Services Center (FSC) began operations in January 1995. It is a joint venture partnership between NACo Services Corporation and the Davenport/Pitts Group. Chartered to provide unique financial services to counties, county employees and retirees, the FSC works in four major sectors: insurance, employee retirement and savings, public finance and banking. It has three sector partners: PEBSCO, Sedgwick, Inc. and Evare. This year FSC completed its build-out of the four sectors when a long-term strategic alliance was signed with Evare for finance and banking. This sector will initially work with treasurers and finance officers to provide portfolio management, investment compliance and cash management for counties and related entities.
Deferred Compensation The NACo Deferred Compensation Program had $4.72 billion in total assets through the first quarter of 1998, an increase of 24 percent over last year. There were 316,948 participants enrolled in the program, an increase of 15 percent from last year. Nearly 3,000 jurisdictions are enrolled in the program, including 1,748 counties. NACo is the only deferred compensation program offered to county employees that features a broad-based advisory committee of county officials and employees. The 15-member committee acts as an advocate for counties and participating employees by making recommendations to the NACo Services Board on marketing, program competitiveness, fund selection and deselection, participant education and other areas as needed. Recent enhancements to the program include the Sales & Relationship Tools (SMaRT) Program, a technology that gives field representatives daily updated account balances and participants' investments histories on laptop computers. A new Vision Track MoneySense brochure assists participants in selecting the most appropriate payout option. Nationwide-PEBSCO have proposed a restructuring and reduction of royalties paid to NACo under the 10-year contract. The Advisory Committee continues to review negotiations between the company and NACo, and so far has not supported amending the contract to reduce royalty payments. Corporate Membership NACo's Corporate Membership Program is five years old and offers counties and corporations the opportunity to exchange information and collaborate for mutual understanding and benefit. There are 133 corporate members, a 30 percent increase since last year. These corporations represent a broad cross-section of the nation's business community, from relatively small local firms to multinational corporations. Corporate members meet as an organization during NACo conferences. The annual membership dues of $500 provide corporate participants with the opportunity to attend corporate member functions and all meetings, seminars, exhibit halls, receptions and joint programs with NACo's county members. In March, corporate members and NACo officials were invited to meet with top Chinese diplomatic and trade officials at a reception at the Chinese Embassy. The corporate members advisory committee and the Community and Economic Development Steering Committee will meet at the 1998 Annual Conference. Soon, corporate members will be invited to participate in NACo's Cooperative Purchasing Program.
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