Filter by Solutions
Filter by Partners
-
In Cybersecurity, Simple Things Do A Lot
Learn More: In Cybersecurity, Simple Things Do A LotTo provide customers with several payment options, the Utilities Department of the Village of Jackson Center in Ohio accepts bank account direct and credit card payments. To ensure the security of customer information and thwart cyber intrusions overall, Jackson Center took advantage of cybersecurity services offered by its electric service wholesale supplier, American Municipal Power,…
-
Top 10 Cybersecurity Considerations For Community-owned Utilities
Learn More: Top 10 Cybersecurity Considerations For Community-owned UtilitiesUtilities in the United States are prime targets for cyber attack. Criminals are hijacking utility information systems and demanding ransom for their release. Nation states and other bad actors are rehearsing ways to interrupt utility services and throw the nation into chaos. Community-owned utilities of all sizes and structures must shore up their cyber defenses.…
-
Focus Groups Facilitated By Hometown Connections Promote Customer Engagement
Learn More: Focus Groups Facilitated By Hometown Connections Promote Customer EngagementAs reported on the website of the San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative (SLVREC) of Monte Vista, CO, fifteen of SLVREC’s residential members recently took part in a stakeholder engagement process by attending three focus groups. Facilitated by Charise Swanson of Hometown Connections, all meetings were conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants…
-
Hometown Connections Helps Piqua OH Identify Cybersecurity Priorities, Budget Needs
Learn More: Hometown Connections Helps Piqua OH Identify Cybersecurity Priorities, Budget NeedsThe City of Piqua, Ohio, is dedicated to providing the highest level of service to its nearly 11,000 electric customers, applying regularly for the designation of Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) by the American Public Power Association. Being recognized by the RP3program demonstrates a utility’s commitment to excellence in reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement.…
-
Gather Baseline Information Prior To Engaging Cybersecurity Consultant
Learn More: Gather Baseline Information Prior To Engaging Cybersecurity ConsultantDue to recent news coverage of a major cyber penetration of U.S. government agencies and corporations across the globe, cybersecurity is front and center for city governments and their municipal utility departments. Before reaching out to consultants prepared to help evaluate cyber vulnerabilities and design a protection program, each community-owned utility should gather a baseline…
-
Take Fast-Track To Creating A Strategic Plan That Works
Learn More: Take Fast-Track To Creating A Strategic Plan That WorksLike your public power peers, you must map out your utility’s future through a rocky terrain. But you don’t have much time or the budget to commit to an elaborate endeavor. That’s why Hometown Connections has perfected a simple technique for evaluating your operations and determining your priorities and goals for the next five years.…
-
Give Your Board or City Council Primer on Public Power Governance
Learn More: Give Your Board or City Council Primer on Public Power GovernanceTo provide an easy-to-read manual for municipal utility governing officials and managers, the American Public Power Association published the Policymakers Handbook: A Nuts and Bolts Guide to Governance for Public Power. Written by Steve VanderMeer of Hometown Connections, Inc., this overview explains governance duties and responsibilities, strategies for effective oversight and planning, and the benefits of being a public power…
-
Increase Productivity & Positivity in the Workplace
Learn More: Increase Productivity & Positivity in the WorkplaceWith continuous change in our industry, there’s a lot for everyone to do, and success depends on each member of the team working together like a well-oiled machine. Sometimes personality differences and interpersonal dynamics can derail projects and productivity. With Totally Responsible Person® (TRP®) training from Hometown Connections, Inc., each of your team members will learn…
-
SAGE Development Authority Seeking Crowdfunding for New 235-Megawatt Wind Farm to Benefit the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Learn More: SAGE Development Authority Seeking Crowdfunding for New 235-Megawatt Wind Farm to Benefit the Standing Rock Sioux TribeSAGE Development Authority, the first public power authority owned by a single Native nation in the United States, announced the launch of a new crowdfunding initiative — www.anpetuwi.com — marking the next phase of development for its 235-megawatt wind farm named Anpetu Wi. The wind farm will be located on the Standing Rock Reservation, outside…
-
Public Power 101 Webinar Series Covers Benefits and Challenges of Community-owned Utilities
Learn More: Public Power 101 Webinar Series Covers Benefits and Challenges of Community-owned UtilitiesJoin this two-part series by the American Public Power Association to learn about the unique benefits and challenges facing the public power business model, and discuss strategies for the future. Learn what gives public power communities an edge and how we can continue to thrive and serve our communities well amid multiple disruptive trends. Led…
-
Cybersecurity Is Easier Than You Think
Learn More: Cybersecurity Is Easier Than You ThinkYou don’t need to be an expert in IT or have a huge consulting budget to champion your utility’s cybersecurity program. First and foremost, you must recognize that every city employee, utility employee, and governing official plays a key role in maintaining a cyber defense that protects business operations.
-
Industry Veteran Marc Gerken Brings Expertise in Public Power Business Operations to Hometown Connections Staff
Learn More: Industry Veteran Marc Gerken Brings Expertise in Public Power Business Operations to Hometown Connections StaffFollowing a distinguished career that saw him rise from a city engineer in Ohio to helm the nation’s largest public power joint action agency (JAA), Marc Gerken has joined the staff of Hometown Connections, Inc. He retired recently after serving for twenty years as president and chief executive officer of American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP),…
