ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Calvin Ball today announced the County’s Department of Finance was recognized with three+one®’s cashVest 90+ Award at this past weekend’s National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference, having achieved a perfect 100 cashVest® score. This award recognizes public entities and higher education institutions that excel in liquidity management. To qualify, an entity must achieve a cashVest® score of 90 or above for four consecutive quarters, which reflects the entity's efficiency in managing its finances, optimizing cash flow, and minimizing borrowing costs. Photos from the conference can be found on the County’s Flickr webpage.
Our Department of Finance team exemplifies what can be achieved when strong leadership, clear communication, and innovative tools align. Their results speak for themselves - as evident by this award and their recent receipt of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting – and their openness to innovation and continuous improvement has made them a standout example of excellence in public finance and financial stewardship.
NACo partnered with three+one® in 2020 to strengthen county finances using its cashVest® portal, allowing counties to put dollars on deposit to work while still maintaining necessary cash flow balances. This partnership has supported hundreds of county governments and generated more than $3 billion in new revenue for public entities to date.
This recognition and milestone in conjunction with the National Association of Counties and the Maryland Association of Counties reflects the forward-thinking leadership of County Executive Dr. Calvin Ball and the strong financial expertise of Finance Director Rafiu Ighile. Earning a perfect 100 cashVest score takes commitment, teamwork, and focus every day on making every public dollar work harder for the taxpayers. Howard County continues to lead by example in Maryland and beyond, and we’re proud to support their efforts in creating long-term value for the community.
In 2024, the County took advantage of this invaluable partnership by leveraging three+one® powerful tools, like cashVest and rfpPrep®, to unlock revenue opportunities and deliver measurable impact for Howard County residents.
“Working with the dedicated team in the Department of Finance who consistently prioritize fiscal responsibility and the effective, efficient management of public funds made this accomplishment possible. Strong leadership from Dr. Calvin Ball has been instrumental in our success. The CashVest analysis validated the team’s efforts and reinforces our ongoing commitment to continuous improvement,” said Rafiu Ighile, Director, Department of Finance.
Additionally, while at the conference, Howard County was officially presented with its record 83 Achievement Awards and Office of Emergency Management with NACo’s Best in Category award for its Call Center Training in the category of Risk and Emergency Management. One outstanding program from each of NACo’s 18 award categories are selected as the “Best of Category.”
“We are honored to receive a ‘Best of Category’ award for our Call Center Training program,” said Maria Bernadzikowski, Director, Office of Emergency Management. “This achievement highlights the critical behind-the-scenes work that our emergency management team does every day to ensure that our County is ready to respond with confidence, compassion, and clarity when our community need us most. We are thankful to our County partners for their endless support and to NACo for this recognition.”
NACo Achievement Awards are the premier national honor to recognize innovative and transformative programs that provide new services for county residents, improve existing programs, upgrade working conditions, and enhance public participation and policymaking. For 2025, NACo awarded a total of 1,592 Achievement Awards across 200 counties in 38 states. Howard County received a record breaking 83 awards this year, which reflects the highest number of annual NACo awards achieved by a County in Maryland’s history. In total, Maryland received a collective 136 awards.
Since Ball took office in December of 2018, he has led the County to become a national leader in innovation, achievement, and transformation, with Howard County earning a total of 195 NACo awards between 2019 and 2024.