Collaborate 2014 Conference

Aji Abraham is senior vice president of Business Development for Capital BlueCross. He is responsible for formulating and implementing a strategy to expand and diversify the company’s business ventures. He also oversees the company’s health care reform initiatives.

Mr. Abraham has been with the company for 10 years.

Prior to joining Capital BlueCross, Mr. Abraham served as deputy secretary for Administration, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of State. He was also the executive assistant to the secretary of Administration, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Governor’s Office of Administration.

Other positions held by Mr. Abraham include director of government relations, Pennsylvania Dental Association; deputy district attorney, Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office; business manager/purchasing agent, Adtech Consultants, Inc., and legislative aide/system manager for Congressman George W. Gekas.

Mr. Abraham is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and the Dickinson School of Law.

Michael Biggerstaff is the Chief Inspiration Officer of Nxtbook Media. (You would know the position as CEO)  As one of the owners of Nxtbook, Michael has 24 years of company ownership in the Lancaster community. Michael and 2 others owned Reprint Management Services until they sold the company in 2007 to focus solely on Nxtbook Media, a company they started in 2003.

Michael has lead Nxtbook Media from its inception and through many company awards. Including twice on the list of the Inc. 500’s fastest growing privately held companies in the US, the Ethics in Business award from the Samaritan Counseling and the last 6 years Nxtbook Media has been in the top 3 Best Places to Work in PA, finishing number one 3 of those years. In 2009 Michael was named the Small Business Person of the year by the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Michael attended Stevens College and received an associate’s degree in Graphic Arts. He also attended Franklin and Marshall and receive a bachelors degree in Business.

Michael lives in Lancaster,  has four children and has been involved in the local community for 25 years. Through his avid love of soccer, he has coached numerous teams for a total of 22 years. He has also been the president of the Twin Valley Soccer club for six years and loves to watch his favorite team Manchester United. Michael has been active on local boards and involved in the Lancaster Chamber on various committees since 1995.

The Honorable Mark Everson is the Vice Chairman of alliantgroup, who formerly served as Commissioner of Internal Revenue from 2003 until 2007. Prior to joining the IRS, he held other posts in the George W. Bush administration as Deputy Director for Management for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Controller of the Office of Federal Financial Management.

Mark also served in the Ronald Reagan administration from 1982 until 1988 holding several positions at the United States Information Agency and the Department of Justice, where he was deputy commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. While at INS, he oversaw implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, landmark legislation providing for sanctions against employers hiring illegal immigrants and granting amnesty to qualifying illegal immigrants. In the private sector, Mark served as Group Vice President of Finance at SC International Services, Inc., a $2 billion food services company, and as an executive with the Pechiney Group, one of France’s largest industrial Groups.

Mark joined the cabinet of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels in January of 2009, first as the Department of Administration Commissioner. He served as the Commissioner of the Department of Workforce Development from May 2010 until May of 2012.

Mark has been working with alliantgroup since 2009, helping CPAs and businesses better understand tax incentives and giving insights on compliance with the IRS. He regularly hosts alliantgroup webinars on tax issues, moderates roundtable discussions with clients and current IRS officials, and appears at industry conferences on behalf of the firm to speak on the latest legislative updates.

Michael Hoffner joined McKonly & Asbury in 2005 and is a Partner with the firm. Prior to joining McKonly & Asbury, Mike was a Senior Manager in the Baltimore office of an international accounting firm, where he served a variety of industries and also served as an instructor in the firm’s national training program.

At McKonly & Asbury, Mike serves clients in a number of industries, including manufacturing and distribution, insurance, construction, and employee benefit plans. He also serves as leader of McKonly & Asbury’s Audit Segment and Employee Benefit Plan Audit Practice and heads the firm’s Audit and Accounting Committee.

Mike is a member of the American and Pennsylvania Institutes of Certified Public Accountants. He is also President of the Big 33 Scholarship Foundation, board member of Volunteers of America Pennsylvania, and active in community organizations including Cub Scouts and Little League Baseball.

Daniel Matarrese joined McKonly & Asbury in 2006. He is a Senior Manager in the firm’s Tax Department and currently co-leads the firm’s Private Client Services Group. Along with other members of the PCS team, Dan helps families protect, enhance, and transfer their wealth to the next generation.

Dan is a graduate of Messiah College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting. Dan is a Certified Public Accountant and is also a member of both the American and Pennsylvania Institutes of Certified Public Accountants.

Quincy Miller is Executive Vice President and Head of Business Banking for RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (RBSCFG), a $120 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. He oversees 400 colleagues who support the banking needs of businesses with annual revenues up to $25 million across the 11 states served by RBSCFG’s Citizens Bank and Charter One brands.

Previously, Miller had been Business Banking Director of Strategy. He also has served as the Massachusetts Director of Retail Branch Banking for Citizens Bank, responsible for overseeing more than 130 branches and 1,100 colleagues.

Miller, a member of RBSCFG’s Executive Leadership Group, also has served as a member of RBS Citizens Financial Group’s Advisory Group to the President, and he was a member of the 2008 RBSCFG Leaders Teaching Leaders program. He also participated in the RBS Senior Leaders Development Program.

Prior to joining Charter One in 2006, Miller spent nine years at M&T Bank in New York City and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he was Vice President and Retail Regional Manager.

Miller is a graduate of Lafayette College, where he earned a B.A. in Economics and Business; and of the Consumer Bankers Association Graduate School of Retail Bank Management.

Throughout his career, Miller has been engaged in the community. He currently serves on the board of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. He is a past board chair of the Camp Curtain YMCA and board member of Central PA Big Brothers & Big Sisters and Cuyahoga County Community College. The Central Penn Business Journal, 2002; Crain’s Cleveland Business, 2008; and Boston Business Journal, 2012, have recognized him as a 40 under 40.

Tom Reese is a consulting actuary and member of Conrad Siegel Actuaries’ business development committee, and an investment adviser representative for Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors, Inc. He specializes in retirement plan consulting, administration and employee communication for daily valuation plans as well as investment advisory services for retirement plans. Tom works with private sector employers and tax-exempt organizations and is proficient in plan design for profit sharing plans, ESOPs, 403(b) and 401(k) plans.

Tom earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering, magna cum laude, from the University of Akron. He is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries, a Certified Pension Consultant with the American Society of Pension Actuaries, an Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent, and participates in local youth and church organizations.

Janice Snyder joined McKonly & Asbury in 2010 and is a Partner with the firm. She has over 14 years experience in public accounting, with 11 of those years at an international accounting firm. Janice has specialized in serving for-profit family owned and foreign-owned businesses (manufacturing, distribution, and services) as well as healthcare entities and other nonprofit organizations in Pennsylvania and northern Maryland.

Janice assists clients with financial statement audits and reviews, employee benefit plan audits, implementation of new accounting pronouncements, interpretation and adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), acquisition/merger accounting, and internal controls evaluations. She has developed focused industry knowledge in serving food manufacturers and distributors, health care providers, law firms and various start-up businesses.

Janice is a member of the American and Pennsylvania Institutes of Certified Public Accountants, as well as the Healthcare Financial Management Association. She is also Treasurer of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Pennsylvania, member of the Board of Directors for Tri-County OIC, and serves on the Advisory Committee for the Women’s Leadership Network of the United Way of the Capital Region.

David Warren is President and CEO of Bridgeford Trust Company and member of the Board of Managers. He is an attorney with over 15 years of professional experience practicing law and working in the financial services industry serving the trust and wealth management needs of high and ultra high net worth families across Central Pennsylvania.

Mr. Warren was recruited out of Barley Snyder, a large and prestigious Central Pennsylvania law firm, to join the Wealth Management/Trust Department of a large regional bank as a Vice President/Senior Trust Administrator. In this position, Mr. Warren worked extensively with wealthy families and individuals on a variety of trusts and fiduciary issues. He subsequently transitioned his career to Bank of New York Mellon and later PNC Wealth Management where he worked exclusively and extensively with high and ultra high net worth families on various wealth management issues including asset protection and legacy planning.

Mr. Warren is very active in the Central Pennsylvania community having served in leadership roles for many non-profit organizations over the years including both the Lancaster Bar Association and Central Pennsylvania Estate Planning Council. He is a graduate of Leadership Lancaster and a member of Vistage International, the world’s foremost executive leadership organization, as well as a 2012 recipient of the prestigious “Forty Under 40” award by the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal. Mr. Warren is also a lecturer for the PA Bar Institute, the continuing education arm of the PA Bar Association, and an adjunct professor at Harrisburg Area Community College where he has taught business law in the business law and paralegal program.

Jill Sebest Welch is a partner at Barley Snyder and represents employers in all aspects of labor and employment including employment discrimination, employee benefits, employment contracts, wage and hour claims, Sarbanes-Oxley and whistleblower claims, and labor management relations. She has represented clients before administrative tribunals and state and federal courts.

Jill also counsels employers on employment policies, handbook provisions and non-compete and severance agreements. Jill is licensed in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey and previously worked as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas L. Ambro, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Jill is a graduate of Wittenberg University and Rutgers University School of Law.

Dean Zerbe is National Managing Director for alliantgroup and is based out of alliantgroup’s Washington D.C. office. In this role, Dean is responsible for, among other things, monitoring tax-related legislative activity in Washington to help keep our clients and staff informed and help direct alliantgroup’s service offerings to ensure we are meeting client needs.

Prior to joining alliantgroup in February 2008, Dean was Senior Counsel and Tax Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, where he worked closely with the Chairman (and currently Ranking Member) of the Finance Committee, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) on tax legislation. During his time on the Finance Committee, Dean was intimately involved with almost every major piece of tax legislation that was signed into law – including the 2001 and 2003 tax reconciliation bills (representing two of the largest tax cuts in the nation’s history); the JOBS bill in 2004 (corporate tax reform); and, the Pension Protection Act.