OSCPA Construction Industry Conference

Steve Scranton is the Chief Investment Officer & Economist for Washington Trust Bank and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation with over 35 years of investment and economic experience.

As Washington Trust Bank’s Chief Investment Officer, Steve is responsible for management of the Portfolio Management Group and actively participates on committees within the bank to help design strategies and policies related to investments. As the economist for Washington Trust Bank, Steve participates in public speaking engagements, as well as authoring multiple communications, to keep clients and the public informed of economic and investment market conditions. Throughout the Pacific Northwest, Steve is a well-known speaker on the economic conditions and the world financial markets.

Nicole Elgin is an attorney at Barran Liebman LLP, where she represents employers in a variety of labor and employment law matters. Nicole’s employment law practice includes working with employers to adapt workplace policies to the ever-evolving legislative and regulatory changes at the local, state, and national levels. Nicole’s labor practice ranges from strategizing employer campaigns during union elections to negotiating collective bargaining agreements and representing employers in hearings before arbitrators and the National Labor Relations Board. Nicole was also a member of BOLI’s Rulemaking Advisory Committee for Oregon’s Equal Pay Act and has helped numerous employers perform equal pay analyses.

James Spellos is the President of Meeting U. whose mission for over 25 years is to help people become more productive and
comfortable with technology.
In 2024, Meetings Today magazine named Jim one of the Meeting Industry trendsetters, for his "AI Education with Integrity"
commitment. In 2022, Meeting Professionals International included Jim on their most influential list in the hospitality industry in honor
of their 50th anniversary celebration.
He was a faculty member at New York University for 25 years, receiving both their Award for Teaching Excellence and their
Outstanding Service Award. Jim was previously named one of the Meeting Industry's trendsetters by Meetings Today magazine in
2015.
Jim is on the Board of Directors for Rock and Wrap It Up, an anti-poverty, anti-hunger organization which recovers excess food from
films, tv productions, concerts, sports and other events. Jim co-created their Whole Earth Calculator app. He also speaks about food
recovery and sustainability to groups around the country. In 2018 & 2019, BizBash named Jim one of their top 500 people for his work
in sustainability.
Jim is an accomplished musician and songwriter who released his first solo album, Stroke of Genius in 2020. He has a certificate in
Plant-Based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutritional Studies, is a certified Physician's Committee for Responsible
Medicine's Food for Life Instructor, and supports Plant Powered Metro New York in educating people about a healthy diet and lifestyle,
which helped to save his own life. Jim was named Plant Powered Metro New York's Grassroots Champion in 2024.

Jared graduated with a degree in accounting and computer information systems from Indiana University. Beginning his career in
Chicago with a large national CPA firm, he transferred to the Phoenix office to help lead the construction practice in the fast-growing
Valley of the Sun. He and his tax partner began Conover Asay CPAs in 2017 and exclusively serve the construction industry. Jared
has written several articles in National Magazines and presented at several conferences on construction accounting topics. He has
previously served as the co-chair of the Arizona Society of CPAs Construction Industry Conference, as well as Treasurer and co-chair
of multiple committees for other construction organizations, such as CFMA, Surety Association of Arizona, and AZUCA.

Will joined k.p.d. as a Surety Account Advisor in 2021. Will started his insurance career in 2015 and has worked as an underwriter at surety carriers across the country. Will’s experience as an underwriter, coupled with his creative and dynamic approach to problem-solving, allows him to provide strategic guidance on clients’ surety program and business. His goals are to maximize a client’s surety capacity, and anticipate both the client’s and surety company’s needs, while effectively managing relationships between the two. Will graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics & Business from Cornell College, and has earned the Associate in Fidelity and Surety Bonding (AFSB) designation. Will’s professional affiliations include Associated General Contractors, Construction Financial Management Association, Northwest Utility Contractors Association, Southwest Washington Contractors Association, and Surety Association of Oregon.