Full Schedule |
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
| Monday, April 27 | 7:00 – 5:00 pm | Registration Open | ||
| Monday, April 27 | 7:30 – 8:15 am | Breakfast with Exhibitors | ||
| Monday, April 27 | 8:20 – 8:30 am | Welcome | Terri Noll | |
| Monday, April 27 | 8:30 – 9:30 am | Keynote: AI’s Biggest Questions, Myths and Mysteries | Beth Ziesenis | |
| Artificial Intelligence (AI) often feels like a blend of buzzwords and bewilderment. Will robots take our jobs? Does ChatGPT steal our data? Are AI tools big fat liars?
Join Beth Z, Your Nerdy Best Friend, in a lively exploration of AI’s most puzzling questions and common myths. With nerdy humor mixed with practical tips, Beth Z makes the enigmatic world of AI a tad less intimidating and a lot more intriguing. |
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| Monday, April 27 | 9:30 – 9:45 am | Break with Exhibitors | ||
| Monday, April 27 | 9:45 – 10:35 am | Forecasting and Finance | Jim Arms | Synario |
| In this breakout session, learn how to leverage forecasting tools and creative financing strategies to plan for the future with confidence. Discover how to balance ambitious municipal goals with fiscal responsibility and transparency, while building a long-term financial outlook that positions your community for sustainable success. | ||||
| Monday, April 27 | 9:45 – 10:35 am | Beyond the Balance Sheet: Investing in Employees Through Smarter Benefits | Adam Seger | Acrisure |
| Evaluate your medical coverage through a new lens, exploring new ways to ensure your plans remain competitive and cost-effective. Strengthen employee retention by offering robust ancillary benefits that support overall well-being and demonstrate organizational commitment to your workforce. Finally, gain insight into what to expect in employee benefits under the current administration and how potential policy changes could impact your organization’s strategy moving forward. | ||||
| Monday, April 27 | 10:35 – 10:45 am | Break | ||
| Monday, April 27 | 10:45 – 11:35 am | ERP + Payroll Alignment | Shahrzad Rizvi | Open Gov |
| Personnel costs are often the largest line item in a government budget—yet payroll data is frequently disconnected from financial and budgeting systems. Manual exports, duplicate data entry, and delayed reconciliation create discrepancies that slow reporting and complicate year-end close. In this session, we will share how agencies unify payroll, budgeting, and financial management to create a single source of truth for personnel data. Attendees will learn how integrated ERP and payroll systems enable real-time forecasting, accurate reporting, and stronger collaboration between HR and finance teams. Drawing from real agency experiences, this session highlights how modern cloud ERP eliminates redundant processes, improves compliance, and gives leaders better visibility into workforce costs. Participants will leave with actionable strategies to streamline payroll workflows, reduce errors, and improve confidence in financial planning. |
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| Monday, April 27 | 10:45 – 11:35 am | Stronger Together: Financial Benefits of Regional Shared Services | Kimberlee MacMullan | Centre Region Council of Governments |
| Shared services can significantly improve municipal financial resilience. Using Centre Region examples, this session shows how collaborative budgeting, fair cost-sharing, and coordinated capital planning reduce volatility, manage inflation, and stabilize contributions. Participants will learn how transparent formulas and regional partnerships strengthen long-term fiscal sustainability while supporting efficient, reliable service delivery. | ||||
| Monday, April 27 | 11:35 – 12:35 am | Lunch and Visit with Exhibitors | ||
| Monday, April 27 | 12:45 – 1:35 pm | Basics of Local Government – Year End Reporting | Teri Cunkle, PA | DCED |
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Municipalities and County governments are required to submit annual reports to the PA Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED). This training will include an overview of each form type and instructions for e-filing via the MunStats website. |
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| Monday, April 27 | 12:45 – 1:35 pm | Modernizing Municipal Finance: The Path to Digital Transformation | James Harris | Workday |
| Explore how to replace a legacy ERP and unlock efficiency and transparency with a modern finance and HR system. See how digital transformation and AI/ML reshape government operations—streamlining hiring, payroll, budgeting, and more. Eliminate silos, improve data access, and guide your team toward a more agile, connected future. | ||||
| Monday, April 27 | 1:45 – 2:35 pm | Maximizing Retirement Savings: Innovative Approaches for Pennsylvania Government Entities Using Accrued Leave Contributions | Rich Ritzer | CBIZ |
| Discover a powerful new strategy for governmental entities in Pennsylvania to enhance employee retirement benefits while reducing payroll tax obligations. This presentation will outline the process and advantages of implementing a plan that allows employees to deposit accrued sick and vacation time directly into a retirement account. Attendees will learn how this approach can provide significantly higher contribution limits compared to traditional 457 plans and enables both employers and employees to permanently avoid FICA taxes on the deposited amounts. Practical implementation steps, compliance considerations, and case studies will also be discussed to equip organizations with actionable knowledge. | ||||
| Monday, April 27 | 1:45 – 2:35 pm | Using A.I. in Budgeting – Dive into the Future | Vince Visoskas | Middletown Township |
| This session will demonstrate how free AI tools can help with your budget preparation. A sample of budget data will be analyzed and refined to get more detailed budget figures. Time will be scheduled for participants to ask the AI questions and to see if the answers are useful. | ||||
| Monday, April 27 | 2:35 – 3:00 pm | Break with Exhibitors | ||
| Monday, April 27 | 3:10 pm – 4:00 pm | The Dwight/Mega Power Hour — Excel Tips & Tricks | Dwight Miller | Borough of State College |
| Bring your laptop to this hands on session. Learn time-saving Excel techniques to include shortcuts, essential formulas and tools you can use to produce faster, cleaner, and more reliable spreadsheets. | Mega Bhandary | Lower Makefield Township | ||
| Monday, April 27 | 3:10 – 4:00 pm | Why yes, we did do a banking RFP! | Erica Brusselars | Allegheny County |
| Treasurer Brusselars will share highlights and lessons learned from Allegheny County’s recent Banking RFP. All services – traditional banking, custody, lock box, payables, and credit card (merchant) services – were included. Treasurer Brusselars is excited to share so others can apply insights to their next RFP or negotiating current services and fees. | ||||
| Monday, April 27 | 4:10 – 5:00 pm | Building a Better P-Card Program | Mark Romito | Transcend Finance |
| Enhance your purchasing process with a P-Card program built for accountability, efficiency, and transparency. Learn practical strategies for policy development, risk controls, reconciliation, reporting, and selecting the right provider | ||||
| Monday, April 27 | 4:10 – 5:00 pm | Topic TBA | ||
| Monday, April 27 | 5:00 – 10:00 pm | Dine Around at the Southern Market | ||
| We’re excited to announce a featured networking event at the GFOA-PA Annual Statewide Conference — a Dine Around at Southern Market in Lancaster.
join fellow attendees on Monday, April 27, from 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. for an evening of connection and conversation in one of downtown Lancaster’s most vibrant gathering spaces. GFOA-PA has reserved the entire venue for the evening, giving conference participants exclusive access to explore the market and purchase from a variety of on-site dining options at their leisure. A full-service bar will also be open for beverage purchases. Click to view the menus of participating restaurants include. |
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| Monday, April 27 | 5:00 pm | West, East Region Meet Up at the Southern Market | ||
| Connect with colleagues from your region at the Southern Market Bar area. |