REGISTER for 2023 Conference

Session 1 (8:40am-9:30am): 2023 Economic Update 

Nick Sargen, MBA, MA & PhD in Economics

Nick Sargen is an international economist turned global money manager. He has been involved in international financial markets since the early 1970s, when he began his career at the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He subsequently worked on Wall Street for 25 years, holding senior positions with Morgan Guaranty Trust (VP- International Economics Department), Salomon Brothers Inc. (Director of Bond Market Research), Prudential Insurance (CIO for Global Fixed Income Advisors) and J.P. Morgan Private Bank (Chief Investment Strategist). In 2003, he became Chief Investment Officer for the Western & Southern Financial Group and its affiliate, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc., and served as Chief Economist from 2014 until 2019. He currently is a Senior Economic Consultant to Fort Washington.

Nick has written extensively on international financial markets. He has authored three books; Global Shocks, Investing in the Trump Era and JPMorgan’s Fall and Revival, all three published by Palgrave Macmillan. Sargen is also a regular contributor to THE HILL and Forbes.com. He appeared frequently on business television programs throughout his career on Wall Street, and was a regular panelist on Louis Rukeyser’s Wall Street Week. He was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and received a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He then earned his MBA, M.A. and PhD in Economics from Stanford University. Nick recently relocated to Keswick, Virginia.

Session 2 (9:45am-10:35am): The Great 'Retention'  

Rob Boyle, Vice President & Senior Talent Manager, at Robert Half

For more than 15 years, Rob Boyle has provided Robert Half clients with staffing, recruiting, project management, and business transformation services. His primary areas of focus are on Accounting/Finance, Administrative, Human Resources, Revenue Cycle Management and Customer Service in Healthcare/Manufacturing/Professional Services and many other industries. Rob lives in Loveland with his wife Melanie and two daughters. 

Chris Janson, Vice President , Strategic Accounts at Robert Half

Chris has been with Robert Half since 2003, and is responsible for managing the Enterprise Talent Solutions partnerships in the US and Canada. He started his career in the Accountemps division, and eventually expanded his reach to all of Robert Half's specialized professional practice areas across the Cincinnati Region. Chris is currently responsible for supporting our largest Strategic Account clients nationally, from his base here in Ohio. Chris earned his Bachelor and MBA degrees from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, and currently resides in Anderson, OH

Session 3 (10:50am-11:40am):  The Science and Practice of Mental Fitness at Work 

Meriden McGraw, Founder of Meriden Mental Fitness

Meriden McGraw is the Director of the Workplace Mindfulness Team at The University of Cincinnati Center for Integrative Health & Wellness. Meriden combines her Master's level education in mental and public health with her training in mind-body modalities, including mindfulness and positive psychology, to teach individuals and groups techniques for optimal wellbeing. Meriden has worked with a variety of clients such as professional athletic teams including both the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns, Fortune 500 Companies, C-suite leadership teams, human resource departments, veterans, mental health professionals, families, and beyond. 

Session: The mental health of professionals is not a nice "to have," it’s a strategic priority. This session will provide an introduction to an evidence-based practice called 'mindfulness' that can increase focus, self-awareness, resilience, relationship satisfaction and emotion regulation resulting in happier, healthier, more successful individuals and businesses. Participants will walk away with two tangible practices they can implement immediately. 

Session 4 (12:40pm-1:30pm):  Vendor Overpayments: How a Recovery Audit can help companies to identify, recoup and prevent lost profits

Pearsall Smith, VP at Illumis Inc.

Pearsall Smith joined Illumis in July of 2009. Pearsall is responsible for business development, sales and marketing of recovery audit services to Fortune 1500 companies, personally overseeing accounts payable audits that have resulted in millions of dollars in recoveries for clients.  

Prior to joining Illumis, Pearsall spent 23 years working in senior executive positions in the wireless telecommunications field at several companies, including MobileComm and XATA Corporation.

Session 5 (1:45pm-2:35pm): From Dream to Reality: Implementing a Successful Credit Card Surcharging Program 

Jeff Boeh, Assistant Treasurer, E.W. Scripps Company

Jeff obtained his undergraduate degree in Finance from Northern Kentucky University and his MBA from Xavier University. He has led the treasury operations at Scripps for over 20 years, and has been Assistant Treasurer since 2014. His responsibilities include overseeing daily cash management activities, leading bank relationships and capital markets activities, and payment system implementation and maintenance.  Jeff was SWOAFP board president in 2012-2013, and has sat on various payments panels and roundtables of the Media Finance Management Association.

Lenny Ebel, Vice President Relationship Management, FISERV

Lenny Ebel is a 25 year finance and payments industry veteran. Upon graduation from Susquehanna University with a degree in Accounting, Lenny worked at Arthur Andersen in the Audits practice. While at Arthur Andersen, Lenny was engaged with clients from various industries, including agri-business, retail and financial services. Leveraging these experiences, he then spent 11 years leading the Revenue Accounting function at Rite Aid Drug Stores, a $27 billion pharmacy chain. As the Senior Director of Revenue Accounting, Lenny had a focus on the Sales Audit and Payment strategies for Rite Aid. He led the efforts to modernize Rite Aid’s payment acceptances at that time, spearheading numerous projects that led to millions of dollars of savings for the company.

During his career, Lenny also became a founding Board Member of the Merchant Advisor Group (MAG), an industry leading payments advocacy organization. For the past 12 years, Lenny has been leading various teams within Bank of America Merchant Services and Fiserv. His experiences have allowed him to work with some of the top merchants in the United States, in both the retail and e-commerce industries. Lenny is now Vice President Relationship Management for Mid Market at Fiserv, leading a team of Relationship Managers who work with clients to help them increase their sales, reduce their costs and create greater operational efficiencies.

Session 6 (2:50pm-3:40pm):  Combatting Modern Cyber Threats

Adam Lawson, Supervisory Special Agent for Cyber Crime, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cincinnati Division

Adam Lawson entered on duty as a Special Agent with the FBI in March 2010 in the Pittsburgh Field Office, where he investigated Counterintelligence and Cyber matters. During that time, he also served on the FBI's SWAT team.

In 2018, Mr. Lawson was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent for the FBI’s Cyber Division, Major Cyber Crimes Unit. During there, Adam oversaw cyber-criminal investigations of various FBI field offices and all FBI ransomware investigations. In 2019, Mr. Lawson was selected to serve as the Cyber supervisor for the Cincinnati Field Office, and reported to the division in January of 2020.

As the Cincinnati Cyber supervisor, Mr. Lawson is responsible for overseeing all criminal and national security computer intrusion investigations affecting the southern district of Ohio. Mr. Lawson is also responsible for Cincinnati’s computer forensics (CART) program, as well as the Computer Scientist program. 

Prior to his FBI career, Mr. Lawson served in the United States Air Force as an Intelligence Analyst, focusing on foreign military capabilities, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle operations, and Middle Eastern affairs. Mr. Lawson served one tour of duty in Baghdad, Iraq during that time. Mr. Lawson received his Bachelor's Degree in International Studies from the University of Illinois, along with a Minor in the Study of the Islamic World.