Speaker: Ron Meischker

Title & Organization: Director of Industry and Labor Compliance, Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters.

About: With more than 25 years of construction regulatory and compliance experience, Ron is widely regarded as an expert in labor regulations and identifying and exposing construction industry fraud. He has provided investigative, audit, and best practices training to the following government agencies: 

• Internal Revenue Service 
• United States Department of Labor 
• New Jersey Department of Labor 
• NJ Department of Treasury Division of Taxation 
• New Jersey Office of the Attorney General 
• Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry 
• Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General 
• Maryland Comptroller’s Office 
• Baltimore City Comptroller’s Office 
• Baltimore City Wage Commission 
• District of Columbia’s Department of Employment Services 
• District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General 
• District of Columbia Department of Taxation
• Delaware Department of Labor 
• Delaware Department of Justice- Office of Attorney General 
• Delaware Department of Finance 
• West Virginia Department of Taxation 
• Virginia Tax 
• Virginia Office of the Attorney General 

Class Session: 

Best Practices for Managing Public Funded Construction Projects

Presentation Summary:

This program provides municipal officials with tips, strategies, and best practices for administering publicly funded construction projects. Some of the specific topics include projects subject to prevailing wages, documents required from contractor before and during projects, and best practices to ensure contractors are compliant

Presentation Time:

Session 4 (2:10 PM - 3:00 PM)

CEU Credits:

CMFO: 1.0 Ethics 

CCFO:  1.0 Ethics

CTC:  1.0 Ethics

CPWM:  1.0 Ethics

RMC: 1.0 Ethics 

QPA: 1.0 Ethics

Speaker: Arthur Staerk

Title & Company: Director, AccuScan

About: Arthur Staerk is the Director of AccuScan, a company that specializes in all forms of scanning, digital archiving and cad conversion. Started in 1996 AccuScan specializes in serving the needs of the educational, and municipal government document conversion and data management. Our customers include over 350 New Jersey municipalities and school districts. 

Art stresses compliance with New Jersey DORES requirements for record retention, scanning and State approved record disposal. Art prepares and submits the required compliance pieces ensuring conformance for all districts and municipalities AccuScan serves. 

Arthur Staerk is a member of Association for Information & Image Management (AIIM) and is sought out by professional organizations whose member institutions are seeking answers and best practices for Enterprise Content Management (ECM) of their paper and digital documents. Some of the groups that Mr. Staerk has addressed are the NJASBO County Chapters, New Jersey School Buildings and Grounds Association, Annual Meetings of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO), NJ Hospital Facility Managers (HFMS) of NJ, New York State Association of Buildings and Grounds Supervisors, and each of the 3 different state chapters of the Eastern Regional Association of Higher Education Plant Managers (ERAPPA). 

Class Session: 

Solving Your Records Management Problems Forever

Presentation Summary:

This program is designed to give public officials a greater understanding of their obligations under Title 15 of the New Jersey Administrative Code. Public agencies are required to maintain records in accordance with state established retention and disposal schedules. Understanding these requirements will assist public officials in working with NJ DORES and selecting an appropriate contractor to create a migration path for long term electronic storage and disposal of records as needed. 

Presentation Time:

Session 3 (12:40 PM - 1:30 PM)

CEU Credits:

CMFO: 1.0 Office Management and Ancillary Subjects

CCFO:  1.0 Office Management and Ancillary Subjects

CTC:  1.0 General/Secondary

CPWM:  1.0 Management 

RMC:  1.0 Records 

QPA: 1.0 Office Admin./General Duties

Speaker: Keith Gourlay

Title & Company: Executive Director, New Jersey School Building & Grounds Association 

About: Keith Gourlay is the Executive Director for the New Jersey School Building & Grounds Association moving on to that role after retiring from public schools. Keith has decades of hospital and public school experience specializing in facilities management with a focus on project management and health and safety. Keith has been an instructor for the Rutgers Certified educational Facility Manager program for 30 years sharing his knowledge and experience with those coming through the program. 

Class Session: 

Code Changes

Presentation Summary: 

This presentation discusses the recent Code changes that every school official should be made aware of. The presentation discussed preparation for QSAC and the things you need to do to prepare your classrooms and schools. Review of proper courses and documents for Facilities Managers and Business Administrators.

Presentation Time: 

Session 1 (9:50 AM -10:40 AM)

CEU Credits:

CMFO: 1.0 Office Management and Ancillary Subjects 

CCFO:  1.0 Office Management and Ancillary Subjects

CTC:  1.0 General/Secondary

CPWM:  1.0 Management 

RMC:  1.0 PD

QPA: 1.0 Office Admin./General Duties

Speaker: JoAnna Contarino & Mylena Guimaraes

Title & Company: Program Coordinator & Research and Project Specialist, Sustainable Jersey

Class Session: 

Green Purchasing Resources for School Districts 

Presentation Summary:

This session will be an overview of Sustainable Jersey resources for green purchasing topics including - establishing a green purchasing policy and best practices for green products equipment, and vehicles. This session will also provide an overview of Sustainable Jersey's resource that support school districts from the certification program to free technical assistance for schools.

Presentation Time:

Session 1 (9:50 AM - 10:40 AM)

CEU Credits:

CMFO: 1.0 Budgeting 

CCFO:  1.0 Budgeting 

CTC:  1.0 General/Secondary

CPWM:  1.0 Government 

RMC:  1.0 Finance

QPA: 1.0 Green Purchasing

Speaker: Bill Moul, Charles De Casteja, and Edward Carey

Title & Company: Sales Director, Procurement Director, and CCA Natural Gas Director, Good Energy LP

About: Bill Moul is Mid-Atlantic Sales Director for Good Energy LP, a national leader in energy consulting to Public-Sector, Municipal, Residential, Commercial and Industrial customers in markets across the US and U.K. For more than 15 years, Good Energy has  provided consulting services to the ESCNJ Co-Op, yielding tens of millions of dollars in savings to participating members.

Mr. Moul is an energy industry veteran of 20+ years, having held Executive Sales & Marketing roles at high-growth retail energy suppliers operating in every deregulated market in America. An expert in both power and natural gas commodities, Bill has implemented procurement, price risk management and cost-avoidance strategies for many thousands of customers, saving clients in excess of $200mm dollars. As a lifelong Morris County resident, Bill has deep insight into the challenges facing energy consumers in the Garden State. He is laser-focused on creating solutions for the ESCNJ membership, protecting energy budgets and acting as a resource for stakeholders' education and planning around this important component of facility and financial management. 

Mr. De Casteja is the National Director of Mass Markets & Aggregation for Good Energy. He has exceptional relationships at the C-suite level with all of the largest national retail suppliers. He has successfully procured power for close to one million customers through Community Choice Aggregation. Mr. De Casteja is a veteran who served in the Gulf War.

Director of Retail Energy for Good Energy, Mr. Carey has more than 25 years of experience in the energy and environmental industries and a background in public policy and energy-related sales to public and private commercial and industrial organizations. Mr. Carey was a manager within City of New York Mayor’s Office of Environmental Coordination within the Bloomberg and Giuliani administrations, reporting directly to the Mayor and Deputy Director of Operations. Prior to being in the Mayor’s Office, Mr. Carey was a director within the City of New York’s Department of Consumer Affairs in the Giuliani Administration. Prior to serving the City of New York, he was a sales and marketing representative for Hess Corporation in a business development capacity focused on government and the public sector. Mr. Carey is a resident of Nassau County.

Class Session: Understanding Your Utilities Bills

Presentation Summary: This session will examine recent energy market dynamics and future outlook, along with ESCNJ Co-Op offerings available to members. We will examine power and gas charges on bills for all 4 power and 4 gas utilities, components that can be addressed, approaches to price risk management and programs available to public-sector entities that contribute to rate stabilization, budget certainty, reduced consumption, renewable energy and options for revenue generation.

Presentation Time:

Session 2 (10:50 AM - 11:40 AM)

CEU Credits:

CMFO: 1.0 Management

CCFO:  1.0 Management

CTC:  1.0 Management

RMC:  1.0 Management

QPA: 1.0 Management

Speaker: Joe Kostecki and Nicole Jacoby

Title & Company: Public Entity Liaison and Community Engagement Manager, NJDOL

Class Session: Checklists and updates on Public Work Projects

Bio: Joseph Kostecki II, MPA, ICMA-CM, CMC, RMC, QPA, CMR, RPPS, is a public policy professional with more than a decade of leadership experience spanning local, state, and federal government. He has a strong record in community engagement, redevelopment initiatives, and policy implementation. In his current role as a Public Entity Liaison at the New Jersey Department of Labor, Joseph leads statewide outreach and policy coordination with public officials and stakeholders, contributing significantly to the successful launch of the NJ Wage Hub platform.

Nicole Jacoby serves as the Community Engagement Manager for the Office of Strategic Enforcement and Compliance (“OSEC”) at the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. She builds partnerships with stakeholders, including public entities, to support labor compliance in New Jersey. OSEC manages the Workplace Accountability in Labor List (“the WALL”), the Substantial Good Standing mandate (“SGS”), and the Wage Violation Watchlist mandate (“the Watchlist”). Together, these tools create a compliance ecosystem using various strategies to encourage compliance with labor laws, hold bad actors accountable, and promote a level playing field for businesses who follow the rules.

Presentation Summary: This session will review the key requirements enforced by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, with a focus on the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance. It will cover employer obligations related to wages, hours, and employee classification. Attendees will also gain insight into common compliance issues and best practices for avoiding violations.

Presentation Time:

Session 4 (2:10 PM - 3:00 PM)

CEU Credits:

CMFO: 1.0 Budgeting 

CCFO:  1.0 Budgeting

CTC:  1.0 General/Secondary

CPWM:  1.0 Management 

RMC:  1.0 Finance 

QPA: 1.0 Office Admin./General Duties