Jeff Brassel and Gregg Kloss, Nationwide insurance
Commercial Cooking Hood Performance Evaluation
Jeff Brassel is a Loss Control Consultant and Property Subject Matter Specialist for Nationwide Insurance. He is responsible for property and casualty risk consulting for local and national clients. Regular duties include underwriting assessments for prospective new business, insurability evaluations for renewals and risk service coordination on large accounts.
Mr. Brassel completes multi-line casualty and property assessments. Mr. Brassel graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1980. He became a registered Professional Engineer in 1985. He has been a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for 38 years. He is a registered OSHA outreach trainer and earned his CSP designation in 2015. Jeff previously worked with loss control teams at Zurich, Chubb and Harleysville Insurance. Prior to insurance risk consulting, Jeff was a Sr. Engineer at multiple locations for Alcoa including Rancho Bernardo California.
Jeff enjoys competitive one design sail boat racing. Jeff and his wife Diane Brassel, CSP reside in Wheaton, IL. Diane is the AVP Risk Engineering Quality and Training Manager for Zurich North America. They have four adult daughters and are “empty nesters” recently when the youngest graduated college.
Gregg Kloss is Loss Control consultant for Nationwide Insurance and provides risk management solutions to customers. As part of Gregg’s duties at Nationwide he provides technical support to loss control field associates on topics related to industrial hygiene and ergonomics across the entire Nationwide enterprise.
Mr. Kloss has a bachelor’s degree from Minnesota State University (Moorhead) and a master’s degree from University of Minnesota. Gregg has also obtained Certified Industrial Ergonomist (CIE) designation.
Gregg’s career within the commercial insurance industry has spanned for almost 30 years. Prior to Gregg’s insurance career, he was a college professor and taught college level courses in Health and Safety.
Eric Scolari, RHP Mechanical Systems
Slips and Falls, PPE, Ladder Safety, Chemical Safety and Handling, and Confined Spaces
Eric Scolari; ASCS, CECS, CVI, VSMR
Eric is from Reno, Nevada. He is the fourth generation owner of a Mechanical Contracting Firm, RHP Mechanical Systems and has been RHP’s risk manager since 1999. Eric became a qualified OSHA instructor in 2002. RHP has received numerous local and national safety awards and his firm received full SHARP status from Nevada OSHA in 2014 -2019. RHP currently employs 205 technicians and skilled trade’s workers. Eric is a journeyman sheet metal worker with a background in business administration, indoor air quality and risk management. He has trained thousands of workers in all aspects of safety and has conducted hundreds of safety audits. Eric is very passionate about his community and is highly involved in many community organizations. Eric was recently appointed to the Make a Wish Regional Council. He has helped grant 30 wishes, annually to ill or terminally ill children. He has been married to his wife Tracy for 24 years and they have three sons, Brady, Dalton and Cal.
Randy Conforti, Precision Kleen
AHJ Sessions 1-3, Tech and Code Review 1-3, Identifying Hazards in Cooking Appliances
With over 25 years of experience in commercial cooking operations. Randy Conforti and his organization, perform mechanical service in HVAC, Refrigeration, cooking appliance, kitchen exhaust service and fire protection. Randy’s involvement with IKECA includes: Current President, ANSI/IKCEA consensus body, certification, education and AHJ committee’s. Randy’s passion for the industry includes being a CSA for Gaylord and Halton providing service throughout his territory and staying on the forefront of the latest technologies.
Jim Roberts, Derby Pressure Wash
AHJ Sessions 1-3, Tech and Code Review 1-3
Pete McDonnell, IIR Independent Insurance Review
IKECA Insurance Program Overview, What You Can Do Right Now To Lower the Cost Of Your Insurance Program
Pete specializes in assisting employers develop, implement, and manage their underwriting, cost containment, and risk management programs for their businesses. He has been providing insurance consulting services, including the development of insurance program bids and other proposals, for the commercial insurance industry for over 30 years helping employers lower the costs of their insurance.
Pete insurance experience has covered the full spectrum of insurance from at one time being an insurance agent to also holding a variety of senior executive roles with numerous national insurance carriers and claims cost containment companies. Pete’s background includes Chief Operating Officer of a national property & casualty insurance carrier, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of a national managing general agency operation and numerous underwriting and claims management roles including Commercial Lines Underwriting Manager with major insurance companies, including The Travelers.
Insurance coverage expertise includes Property and Allied Lines, General Liability, Inland Marine, Commercial Automobile, Workers Compensation, Directors and Officers and other Professional Liability, Umbrella, Pollution Liability, Cyber, Excess & Surplus Lines and Reinsurance.
In addition to his individual client practice, Pete is also the insurance consultant for several associations throughout the U.S. Pete holds the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation and he is also an expert speaker on insurance and risk management topics.
Pete can be contacted at 317-460-9819 or email him at email@example.com
Angela Adams, Director of Legal Services – American Society for Asset Protection
Don’t Kill Your Golden Goose – Protect & Perpetuate Your Business
Asset protection specialist Angela Adams is the director of legal services for American Society for Asset Protection (ASAP). She serves as the liaison between ASAP clients and their asset protection attorneys. Adams has extensive knowledge and experience helping clients implement the protection and planning strategies recommended by attorneys and has saved clients millions of dollars. She not only helps customers get protected, but she helps them stay protected by assisting them with updating and maintaining total asset protection.
Bill Kinnard , Grandy & Associates
Money Matters – The Monthly Financial Review Part 1
Bill Kinnard has over 35 years of experience
in Business Training, HVAC Sales, Service Management, Sales Management and Customer Service. He has worked with companies both large and small and has a unique ability to connect with people. He is an individual with a real passion for teaching contractors to better understand their businesses and help their employees become superior performers.
Bill has been recognized for “Best Practices” by Carrier Corporation for technical and customer service training. He has conducted decades of business, financial, technical and customer service training. As a result of his unique style and professionalism, Bill was awarded the Richard Theoret Training Excellence Award.
Bill has spent years improving the industry by serving as Chairman of an ad-hoc advisory committee for Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay for the purpose of creating a two-year Associate Degree program in Heating and Cooling. Upon completion, Bill was re-elected to serve as Chairman for another six years of the official, state approved Associate Degree Program HVAC Advisory Commttee for Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.
Bill is president / CEO of Grandy & Associates—an industry leader in business training— with a mission of teaching contractors how to run profitable businesses.
They feature the Planning for Profit Workshop utilizing the Labor Pricing for a Profit soft- ware. Bill is certified both as a Behavioral and Motivational Analyst (CPBA) and TriMetrix Certified (CTRI). Bill has presented programs to QSC, NAED, IMARK, PHCC, CLCA , plus distributors and manufacturers across the United States and Canada.
Nick Nava and Pock Utiskul, Exponent
Cleaning the System without Modification (Take the grease, leave the rest as you found it)
Nicholas Nava is a licensed fire protection engineer in the Exponent Thermal Science practice. Mr. Nava uses his extensive background in designing fire protection systems in his investigation of fire protection system failures including dry and wet chemical fire suppression systems. Mr. Nava has investigated the origin and cause of fires involving the operational failure of commercial cooking fire protection equipment (wet chemical systems and dry chemical systems), commercial cooking ventilation systems (hood, duct work, fans), amongst other fires. Mr. Nava is a member of the NFPA 17/17A Technical Committee as an alternate and regularly participates in meetings. His experience also includes the evaluation, inspection, and maintenance of buildings, facilities, and products for code compliance in accordance with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes, International Code Council (ICC) codes, and state/local codes.
Pock Utiskul is a licensed fire protection engineer in the Exponent Thermal Science practice. He has extensive experience in kitchen fire suppression system design, maintenance, testing, and inspection based on industry recognized standards. He applies his knowledge of fire protection engineering and fire dynamics principles to the analysis of the origin and cause investigation of fires and explosions. He has investigated fire incidents involving kitchen appliances, hoods, exhaust ducts to determine the fire origin and cause. He provides consultation and analysis on complex issues related to building, fire, and life safety codes for various occupancies including restaurants and commercial establishments.
Brian Smith, IA Business Advisors
Digital Marketing Strategies for KEC Companies
Brian is the founder and senior managing partner of IA Business Advisors, an international business consulting, advisory, and coaching firm headquartered in Elgin, Illinois. Brian’s company has provided business advisory services to over 18,000 business owners and managers world-wide since 1996. Brian also serves on the board of directors for 43 companies in various capacities, advising on issues related to culture, operations, growth, and change. Brian has been a member of IKECA since 2010 and been on the board since 2017, being the association’s first Associate Board Member. He has a PhD in organizational psychology and is a certified Six Sigma master black belt consultant, his first book; Individual Advantages, Find the I in Team, has sold over 37,000 copies world-wide and the second book in The I in Team Series will be available in 2020.