County Commission | The Magazine August 2018 | Page 43

Q
What kind of impact are
counties seeing from the
award-winning Motor Grader
Operator Training Program
initiated by ACEA?
A
Three years ago, Henry
County Engineer Chris
Champion had a vision of providing
a higher level of customer service
to the citizens of Alabama
while minimizing liability to
county government. Through
his and his committee’s
dedicated and unselfish
leadership, Alabama
county engineers now
enjoy a reliable resource to
provide quality training at
little cost to both existing
and prospective motor grader
operators.
While the program has only
been in place for one year, over
half of the counties in Alabama
have already benefitted from Chris’s
vision. The successful development
of this program required two years
of dedication from Chris and his
committee and the partnership of
all 67 counties within Alabama.
They have created a program
that will not only train countless
county motor grader operators
but also provide the blueprint for
additional training developed and
implemented in the future.
Q
With this being ACCA’s
90 th Annual Convention,
what are some advantages of
having elected officials and
county department heads
together for this event?
A
Every county has
a team, led by the
commission and consisting of
multiple departments, striving
to meet the needs of the public
on a daily basis. During my
tenure in Chambers County,
our commission has been
committed to the education
of both its members and their
team. Today, our Association of
County Engineers is one of the
Sponsored by
Workers’ Compensation | Liability | Property
For nearly four decades, the Association of County
Commissions of Alabama’s (ACCA) Self-Funded Insurance
Pools have utilized an outside company to serve the
insurance needs of Alabama’s 67 counties.
Beginning in 2019, counties’ insurance needs will be
served by a new entity, a nonprofit created exclusively
for counties by counties — County Risk Services, Inc.
Learn more about this monumental improvement and
its benefits to counties at the ACCA 90th Convention &
Celebration in August.
COUNTY COMMISSION | 43