Benjamin J. Mauldin

Full name

Benjamin J. Mauldin

Goes by

Ben Mauldin

Role

Co-owner and licensed insurance agent

Based in

Lexington, South Carolina

Previous career

Executive Director, Central Midlands Council of Governments 2012 – 2023 (with CMCOG since 1994)

Education

University of South Carolina M.A. Criminal Justice, Research and Planning (1994) · B.A. Political Science (1991)

Direct line

(803) 920-8827

The short version

I'm Ben Mauldin. I co-own Mauldin Insurance Group with my wife Jennifer, here in Lexington, South Carolina. We're an independent agency, which means we shop coverage across many carriers instead of selling for any single one. Most days you'll find me working on Medicare, life insurance, and property & casualty quotes for families and small businesses across the Midlands and the rest of the state.

Before insurance, I spent twenty-nine years in regional government. I joined the Central Midlands Council of Governments (CMCOG) in 1994 as a Transportation Planner and worked my way up through every level of the agency. From 2012 through 2023, I served as the agency's Executive Director — the staff lead for a regional planning organization covering the Central Midlands region.

Twenty-nine years at CMCOG — 1994 to 2023

CMCOG is one of the ten regional councils of governments in South Carolina. It exists to do the work that's too big for any single city or county to tackle alone — transportation planning, workforce development, services for older adults, economic development coordination, and grant administration across the Central Midlands region.

I joined CMCOG in 1994 as a transportation planner and stayed for the next twenty-nine years. Over that run I held five different titles, each one expanding what I was responsible for:

• 2012 – 2023 Executive Director. Led the agency overall — staff, budget, board relations, member-jurisdiction communication, federal and state representation, contract negotiation, and the slow, important work of building consensus among elected officials who don't always agree on much.
• 2010 – 2012 Director of Operations. Day-to-day operations of the agency — IT, fleet, project management, technical assistance to the Executive Director and staff. Special projects in transportation modeling, military, and energy-related work.
• 2003 – 2010 Director of Research and Planning. Managed Community and Economic Development, Local Government Planning, Environmental Planning, and the Demographics / Research / GIS program. Also ran a separate regional 501(c)(3) Community Development Corporation.
• 1996 – 2003 Research and GIS Manager. Built and maintained the regional urban travel demand model, administered the agency's GIS program, managed Census records for the region, and oversaw transportation and environmental planning grants.
• 1994 – 1996 Transportation Planner and Coordinator. Multimodal transportation planning, travel demand modeling, grant program administration, contract monitoring. Where it all started.

I left CMCOG in 2023 after almost three decades. It was a hard decision, but it was the right one. The work I'm doing now is the natural next chapter.

Why insurance, and why now

People ask me this a lot. The honest answer is that after twenty-nine years of public-sector work, I wanted to keep helping people — but in a more direct, one-on-one way. In regional government you do a lot of good for a lot of people, but you rarely see the individual outcome. Insurance is the opposite. When you help someone pick the right Medicare plan or get their family the life insurance they actually need, you see exactly how it lands for them.

Jennifer founded Mauldin Insurance Group in 2021. I came on full-time in July 2025 after a transition period. We are licensed in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia, and we represent six Medicare carriers offering 52 products in our service area — plus health, life, dental, vision, final expense, and personal and commercial property & casualty coverage through Smart Choice.

I'm personally licensed in Life & Health Insurance, Medicare (Advantage, Supplement, and Prescription Drug Plans), and Property & Casualty Insurance (home, auto, and business).

Community work

Most of my work outside the agency stays in the Midlands. A few of the things I'm currently involved in:

• Board Member, Midlands Workforce Development Board. Workforce policy and labor market planning across the region.
• Board Member, Our Place of Hope. A Clubhouse International model nonprofit in Cayce supporting adults living with mental illness.
• Member, Rotary Club of Five Points. Columbia, SC.
• Transportation Specialist (part-time), South Carolina Youth Advocate Program (SCYAP). Since February 2024 I've provided transportation for foster children and families across South Carolina — therapy sessions, court hearings, family reunions, pre-placement visits. The moments matter, and I try to make the trips themselves safe and steady.
• Member, CrossRoads Church. Irmo/Lexington area.

Education and background

Both of my degrees are from the University of South Carolina. I earned a Master's in Criminal Justice (Research and Planning concentration) in 1994 — the same year I started at CMCOG — and a B.A. in Political Science with a computer science minor in 1991.

I'm a lifelong South Carolinian. Jennifer and I live in Lexington with our dog Chipper, and the family-business side of things suits us. The agency isn't huge and I like it that way — it means clients talk to us, not to a call center, and we know who they are when they call back next year.

Want to reach me directly?

For Medicare, life insurance, ACA, dental and vision, or property & casualty — call or text. I answer my own phone.