Utility Service Partners

As Vice President of Business Development, Brad Carmichael is a resourceful business leader who knows how to deliver innovative ideas, improve business processes, and manage organizational change to serve municipal clients. Leading a team of seven Regional Account Managers, Brad enjoys reaching out to large and small cities alike to understand their unique challenges and provide flexible solutions that solve their specific needs.

Throughout Brad's career, collaboration has been a consistent theme, bringing people and ideas together to create value for the organization.

Away from work, Brad enjoys playing golf and being outdoors. He and his wife love to travel and spend time with their three grown children. As a native West Virginian, he appreciates the state's natural beauty and its simple way of life. Brad graduated from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Science degree.

As President and CEO of the Elim Group, a leadership and governance consulting firm, Mike Conduff has more than thirty-five years experience in municipal leadership, management and governance. In recognition of his career long commitment to excellence, Mike was recently inducted as a Fellow into the prestigious National Academy of Public Administration. Mike served as the city manager of four university communities including Denton, Texas, Bryan, Texas and Manhattan, Kansas.

Mike's firsthand experience from dealing with real issues faced by every city in today's challenging economic environment has enabled him to create solution based training programs for cities striving to improve their organizational performance. He is a widely acclaimed leadership and motivational speaker, having presented hundreds of programs, both in the USA and Canada, to local, state and national organizations. Mike is also a noted author, having written and published many articles in national journals. He is the co-author of The OnTarget Board Member – 8 Indisputable Behaviors and The Policy Governance Fieldbook.

It was through his widely acclaimed leadership that Mike came to the attention of USP. His vast experience and hands on experience garnered instant credibility with the USP management team and it did not take long to realize there was a partnership in the making. Mike graciously agreed to serve as USP's National Account Manager. When Mike is not on the road speaking or conducting training seminars, he and his wife Kathy enjoy taking their extended family to their ranch where they enjoy fishing and motorcycle riding.

Bill Diones began working with Utility Service Partners in September 2010 as a consultant. Previously, as the Executive Vice President of Operations for The Warranty Group, Bill was responsible for the marketing and administration of all consumer programs throughout the U.S. With a background in warranties, Bill is well versed to assist cities looking to enhance their public/private relationships but without adding any expense to their already taxed budgets.

Bill has sold, underwritten, and administered warranties for companies such as Aon Warranty, AIG/Chartis, and Metris/HSBC. He also played a vital role in the growth of credit card enhancement programs, including American Express, Visa, and MasterCard imbedded programs. He has been in the warranty business since 1993 and has a thorough grasp of enhancement service programs, business development, insurance and risk-management.

Bill is not only successful in the warranty business, but also as an athlete. He has completed three marathons and the 175-mile Colorado Relay two years in a row. Bill enjoys an active lifestyle and spending time outdoors with his wife and two children. Bill graduated from Drake University with a BA in Economics, Finance, and English.

With more than ten years experience in local government under his belt and having personally been inside over two thousand city halls across the nation, Brian has a keen understanding of the inner workings of local government and an appreciation for the challenges they face. This background has proven invaluable in his role as Southwestern Regional Account Manager for USP. An established speaker for many state and regional conferences, Brian has been the keynote speaker at the City Manager Association of Oklahoma annual conferences and the Texas and West Virginia Municipal League's Conferences, among many others. He has also served as the director of the Texas and Midwest ICMA Alliance of Innovation.

Another notable accomplishment is that Brian founded Accountability International, Inc., a web-based internet productivity tool that has saved the public and private sectors millions of dollars. In his free time, Brian enjoys spending time with his lovely wife and two adoring children. He also enjoys the occasional game of golf in which he has the noteworthy distinction of being a scratch player. Brian completed his undergrad at Abilene University and post-graduate work in Sociology at St. Hughes College, Oxford, England as well as DePaul University in Chicago.

As the Midwestern Regional Account Manager for USP, Oscar Arras, loves people and in his words "has never met a stranger". With over twenty-five years of Solution Selling experience, Oscar has played a key role in the success and profitability of many Medical Diagnostic and Technology companies.

Oscar's diverse background includes sales, R&D, market development, and sales management amongst many other skills. Oscar's outstanding performance has not gone unnoticed as he was awarded with the Strategic Selling and Sales Performance award from Learning International as well as the Group Leader and Recognition Award from the Dale Carnegie training program.

Oscar graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.S. in Business and Economics. Aside from work, Oscar loves spending time with his family, playing softball on his local neighborhood team, and having an active role in his local church.

As a Regional Account Manager with Utility Service Partners since 2009, Mike is responsible for helping his cities implement the National League of Cities Service Line Warranty Program. Before joining USP, Mike worked as a Branch Manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car for seven years. Even at an early age, Mike was dedicated to providing exceptional service. While at Enterprise, Mike participated in a two year training program. But due to his exceptional performance, Mike was promoted to Branch Manager after only one year. Mike's branch at Enterprise always ranked in the top ten for outstanding customer service and it is this level of consideration that immediately captured the attention of USP and continues to impress everyone he encounters.

Mike enjoys his work more than the average person. He loves the opportunity to travel, meet new people, and learn more about municipal governments. Outside of work, Mike enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and reading as much as he can about U.S. history. Having graduated from California University of Pennsylvania in 2002 with a B.A. in Communications, it is clear that his skills contribute to his ongoing success.

Mike Madden joined Utility Service Partners in May, 2011 as the Regional Account Manager for the southeastern region of the U.S. Prior to joining USP, Mike played an important leadership role within the Florida League of Cities (FLC) spearheading one of the largest and most successful specialty insurance programs in the U.S. During his tenure with the FLC, Mike orchestrated the turnaround of the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust and grew fund equity by six-hundred percent in just under 9 years. Having spent many years in the insurance industry, Mike heard many complaints from people with utility line breaks, leaks, etc., unfortunately, at the time, no service such as that offered by USP existed. Because Mike saw the necessity for service line warranties, and liked USP's management style and approach to warranties, he decided to embark on a new career with USP. Since most of Mike's professional experience is in the insurance field, he likes to stay current by obtaining new licenses and certificates and keeping the existing ones up-to-date. When Mike isn't busy with obtaining new licenses, he enjoys golfing, running, and sailing in his free time. Mike is also, a single parent and a devoted father. He is extremely proud of his son, Patrick, a Captain in the U.S. Marines, who was just recently awarded the bronze star for valor while serving in Afghanistan.

Albert Saussol has been with Utility Service Partners since the company's launch in 2003. Albert began his career in Information Technology (IT), but as the company grew and expanded, his rare qualities were recognized and he was transitioned to the Business Development Team. Albert is now the Regional Account Manager for the mid-Atlantic portion of the U.S.

Starting with the company right out of college has given Albert the opportunity to observe the company through each of its stages of growth and has given him a thorough understanding of USP from its core. A dedicated worker, he has enjoyed working and growing with USP and has advanced rapidly within the company.

Albert has been involved with the municipal outreach program since its inception in West Virginia. Due to the overwhelming success that was realized, USP was able to partner with the NLC to introduce the NLC Service Line Warranty Program which is now being offered nationally.

Albert has a bachelor's degree in Information Technology with a concentration in Marketing as well as an MBA from Waynesburg University. Outside of work, Albert enjoys spending time with his family, fishing, and hunting with his trained beagles.