Winter #MACoCon Solutions Showcase Features Industry Leaders and Best Practices

MACo’s Winter Conference Solutions Showcase will feature innovative and effective ways to address county governance challenges. Join us to hear from industry experts and thought leaders on how your county and organization might be able to streamline, save money, and achieve your goals!

The Solutions Showcase schedule is listed below…

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2025

Prioritizing Your Emotional Well-Being − Building Resilience

Hosted by Cigna Healthcare

Building resilience helps you leverage healthy coping skills when experiencing difficulties with anxiety, stress or grief, which can foster strength and growth. Cigna will provide a framework for supporting well-being by focusing on the 5 Cs of Mental Health: Connection, Compassion, Coping, Community, and Care. These elements help build resilience, manage stress, and improve relationships and personal growth. Join this session to learn how counties can help employee thrive and grow in the workplace.

Date/Time: Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 10:30 AM-11:00 AM

When Leave Gets Complicated: Staying Compliant in the Paid Leave Era

Hosted by American Fidelity

Leave management has never been simple—and with Maryland FAMLI right around the corner, it’s about to be more complex. Employers now juggle multiple sets of rules, exclusions, forms, and timelines while trying to keep communication clear and compliance intact. This session examines how overlapping programs like FMLA and Maryland FAMLI can cause confusion, what employers must know to stay compliant, and how to track and coordinate leave effectively. Presenters will also highlight actionable solutions and tools to streamline processes, reduce administrative strain, and support both compliance and the employee experience.

Date/Time: Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 11:15 AM-11:45 AM

Beyond Data: How AI and Design Thinking Are Re-Shaping County Social Services

Hosted by Technology Digest, Inc.

Counties are overwhelmed by disconnected systems while residents face increasing needs across housing, mental health, and social support. This session unveils how AI-powered solutions can streamline application and referral processes, modernize mental health care delivery, and build an integrated GovCare ecosystem that empowers every stakeholder. Learn how real-time data can drive equitable support for residents, deliver actionable insights for providers, and generate real-world evidence for smarter policy decisions. See how counties can move from data silos to collaboration and impact — creating a connected, data-driven ecosystem for the collective good of their communities.

Date/Time: Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 12:00 PM-12:30 PM

Power in Partnership: How Collective Impact Transforms Communities From the Inside Out

Hosted by Park Heights Renaissance

Grab your lunch and join this session to discover how Park Heights Renaissance and its partners are leveraging a collective impact model to drive lasting neighborhood transformation. Learn how aligning government, nonprofits, businesses, and residents under a shared vision creates measurable progress in housing, safety, education, and economic growth. Hear practical lessons on structuring partnerships, sustaining momentum, and tracking community outcomes. Attendees will leave with actionable insights on how collaboration−not competition−can amplify local impact and deliver results that endure.

Date/Time: Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 12:45 PM-1:15 PM

Understanding Maryland’s New Hospital Rate Setting Model and What It Means for the Future

Hosted by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield

For nearly 50 years, Maryland has operated under a hospital rate setting model that has successfully controlled healthcare costs and improved health outcomes statewide. The current model—known as the Total Cost of Care (TCOC) model—will sunset on December 31, 2025, due to federal policy changes. It will be replaced by the Achieving Healthcare Efficiency through Accountable Design (AHEAD) model, which seeks to build on the same foundation as the TCOC model, but introduces significant changes that may bring disruptions to how care is delivered and financed across the state. Please join this session to learn more about what to expect.

Date/Time: Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 1:30 PM-2:00 PM

Social Security: Choice of a Lifetime

Hosted by Nationwide Retirement Solutions

One of the most important decisions you’ll make regarding your retirement income is when to file for Social Security benefits. Get informed about your options: doing so could mean a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars over an average retirement.

Date/Time: Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 2:30 PM-3:00 PM

Stretching County Dollars: Smarter Purchasing Through NACo’s Public Promise Procurement

Hosted by NACo – Public Promise Procurement

County budgets are tight, revenues are shrinking, costs are increasing, and every dollar counts. The National Association of Counties (NACo) has a solution! Public Promise Procurement provides competitively bid single-award contracts that are transparent, compliant, nationally solicited, and designed to save the public sector time and money. By leveraging the collective purchasing power of 3,069 counties nationwide, Maryland counties can eliminate solicitation churn, reduce costs, and purchase from peer-vetted world class suppliers. Join this session and explore how NACo’s cooperative contracting program can support your local leadership priorities and simplify procurement in your county while making a lasting financial impact.

Date/Time: Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 3:00 PM-3:30 PM

Empowering Maryland Counties with AI-Driven Observability and Security

Hosted by Dynatrace

Discover how Maryland counties can modernize IT operations, enhance services, and strengthen cybersecurity with Dynatrace’s AI-powered observability platform. This session will explore how full-stack monitoring, real-time vulnerability detection, and automated root cause analysis can help local governments overcome staffing challenges, legacy systems, and rising digital demands. Learn how Dynatrace supports cloud migration, improves service reliability, and aligns with Maryland’s strategic IT priorities. Real-world examples and a live demo will showcase how counties can deliver smarter, faster, and safer digital experiences. Attendees will leave with actionable insights and opportunities for tailored engagement.

Date/Time: Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 4:15 PM-4:45 PM

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2025

Greening and De-Risking Kaiser Permanente’s Energy Supply

Hosted by Kaiser Permanente

Counties face rising healthcare cost from many factors, including energy prices. Approximately 40% of the electricity that Kaiser Permanente uses in Maryland is generated on site by solar panels and fuel cells. Four solar installations at Gaithersburg, Lutherville-Timonium, North Baltimore, and Shady Grove generate more than 3 million KWH/year of carbon-free power. Fuel cells at Largo, Rockville Lab, and Kensington generate over 13 million KWH/year because they operate 24/7. While fuel cells are not zero emissions, they do not produce harmful pollutants such as SOX/NOX because they generate power through a chemical rather than a combustion process. Join this session to learn how on-site generation in both cases insulates Kaiser Permanente from potential utility price increases.

Date/Time: Thursday, December 11, 2025, 11:45 AM-12:15 PM

Leveraging Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) for Climate Solutions Now Act Compliance

Hosted by Schneider Electric

BEPS reporting is underway for buildings over 35,000 square feet. Local governments are struggling to identify ways to meet the stringent requirements of a 60% baseline reduction by 2031, and achieve net-zero status for those buildings by 2040. The penalties for noncompliance are high, and the uncertainty of future federal funding for energy-efficient and renewable technologies strengthens the business case for public-private partnerships (P3s). Now is the time to focus on strategic opportunities to fund these decarbonization goals without relying on traditional capital improvement plans and subsidies. From Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Energy as a Service (EaaS), to Charging as a Service (CaaS), emerging trends suggest that more communities will utilize these proven alternative financing vehicles in 2025 and beyond. Attend this session to find out how Schneider Electric, the #1 most sustainable company in the world, has helped Counties across Maryland to implement P3s to create more efficient infrastructure, drive revenue and new growth opportunities to boost economic development, and build a more sustainable and resilient community to attract new businesses and residents.

Date/Time: Thursday, December 11, 2025, 12:45 PM-1:15 PM

Chesapeake Employers’ 2025 Fall Report

Hosted by Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company

Attend this session for information about how Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company – Maryland’s largest writer of workers’ compensation insurance – can serve your organization! Learn about key topics including new rates, policyholder dividends, and best practices.

Date/Time: Thursday, December 11, 2025, 1:30 PM-2:00 PM

Meeting Community Needs, One Delivery at a Time

Hosted by Aetna

Maryland HealthChoice members often face social determinants of health barriers such as food insecurity, unreliable transportation, limited grocery options, and competing work or caregiving demands. Aetna’s healthy meal solution meets these needs by delivering affordable, nutritious, culturally familiar groceries directly to members’ doorsteps. Each healthy recipe offered on our website is simple to prepare, requiring minimal time, equipment, or cooking skills—ideal for members managing chronic conditions or complex schedules. Join this session to learn how Aetna improves access to balanced nutrition and reduces avoidable health risks to support care management goals, strengthen whole-person care, and advance Maryland Medicaid’s focus on health equity and improved outcomes.

Date/Time: Thursday, December 11, 2025, 2:30 PM-3:00 PM

The Data Gap in Women’s Health: Why Benefits Miss the Mark

Hosted by Progyny

Despite growing investment in women’s health benefits, programs fall short because they lack the data needed to demonstrate real outcomes. For Maryland counties and private employers alike, this can lead to higher costs, fragmented care, and poor member experience. In this session, Progyny will share how integrating claims, outcomes, and member experience metrics across fertility, maternity, and menopause enables organizations to move from fragmented offerings to a unified, insight-driven strategy. With comprehensive reporting across 100% of members, leaders can finally treat women’s health not as an added cost driver, but as a measurable investment in equity, productivity, retention, and long-term savings.

Date/Time: Thursday, December 11, 2025, 3:15 PM-3:45 PM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2025

From Alerts to Action: Preempt Risk to Critical Services

Hosted by Check Point Software Technologies

Every minute counts when it comes to protecting critical public services and sensitive data. But with endless system alerts and competing priorities, real risks can hide in plain sight. This session explores how government IT teams can move from simply seeing threats to stopping them—quickly, safely, and without disrupting daily operations. Join experts from Check Point Exposure Management to learn how agencies can identify their most serious vulnerabilities, understand which ones truly matter, and take smart, proactive steps to fix them. Participants will see how modern tools can prioritize risks by potential impact, strengthen defenses automatically, and show measurable improvements in their organizations’ security posture—all while keeping essential services running smoothly.

Date/Time: Friday, December 12, 2025, 9:00 AM-9:30 AM

MACo’s Winter Conference, “Local Leadership, Lasting Impact: Shaping What’s Next,” will be held at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Hotel in Cambridge, MD, on December 10-12, 2025. 

Learn more about MACo’s Winter Conference: