Mark Burroughs, Director of Government Contract Services, Deloitte

Mark Burroughs is the Director of Government Contract Services at Deloitte & Touche. He specializes in Information Systems and government contract compliance, audit and regulatory matters relating to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS). His background also includes consultation on the GSA Federal Supplies Schedule.

Rob Burton, former Acting and Deputy Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy, Executive Office of the President; Partner, Venable, LLP

Robert Burton has served as Deputy Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), the highest ranking career official in that office, for the last seven years. He also spent two years as the Acting Administrator over the course of his tenure. As Deputy Administrator during the Bush Administration, Mr. Burton was responsible for the government's acquisition policy and procurement guidance to all Executive Branch agencies.

Mr. Burton is currently a Partner in the Washington, DC office of Venable LLP. At the Venable law firm, he is a member of the Government Contracts and Government Affairs Practice Groups. He assists large and small businesses with navigating the rule-driven procurement process and represents them in their business dealings with the federal agencies.

Alan Chvotkin, Executive Vice President and Counsel, Professional Services Council

Alan Chvotkin, is one of the most knowledgeable and respected experts on federal acquisition policy, legislation and regulation. At Professional Services Council, he is responsible for the association's legislative and regulatory policy affecting PSC's membership. Mr. Chvotkin is a member of the Supreme Court, American and District of Columbia Bar Associations. He is also a member of the National Contract Management Association and serves on its national board of advisors and as a "Fellow" of the organization. Mr. Chvotkin is also a two-time "Fed 100" winner.

Carl Dickson, Publisher, CapturePlanning.com

Carl Dickson has helped companies submit thousands of proposals to government and industry clients. His background includes two terms as President of the National Capital Area Chapter of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals and he is currently the Editor and Publisher of CapturePlanning.com. CapturePlanning.com is an online training resource where project managers and engineers can learn about business and proposal development.

Noranne Downs, P.E., District Secretary, Florida Department of Transportation, District 5

Noranne Downs joined the Expressway Authority Board in Oct. 2006 when she was named District 5 Secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation.  She was named Secretary Treasurer of the Expressway Authority Board in January 2007. As District Secretary, she is responsible for all Florida Department of Transportation operations for the nine-county Central Florida area.

Ms. Downs has been with the Florida Department of Transportation since 1991. She received her registration as a Professional Engineer in Florida in 1987. She is a 1980 graduate of Southeastern Massachusetts University at North Dartmouth with a degree in Civil Engineering. Ms. Downs also serves as a board member for LYNX.

Julie Ellegood, Senior Consultant, PSMJ Resources and Sky Harbor International Airport

Julie Ellegood, consultant for PSMJ, has been working with the Public Sector for 30 years. As a small business owner, she provided construction coordination, public participation and communication services to local and state governments for 16 of those years. Ms. Ellegood developed and implemented the highly successful "Pardon Our Dust" program for Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix Arizona. Sky Harbor is the sixth largest airport in the nation and often has over twenty major projects under design and construction simultaneously. The program coordinates activities with all airport divisions, airlines, business partners, emergency responders, utilities and the public. It also staffs a 24-hour construction emergency hotline and issues all notices and wayfarer signage for all construction and major maintenance projects. Following her retirement from her firm, she joined PSMJ to develop materials and conduct training for public sector project managers.

Michael Ellegood, Principal Consultant, PSMJ Resources and former Director of Public Works, Maricopa County, AZ

Michael Ellegood has over 40 years experience in civil engineering, including significant experience in design and management of multi-million dollar public works projects. He has held senior management positions with leading consulting engineering firms and public sector agencies. Mike specializes in assisting public works agencies in training, developing and implementing successful project management protocols to deliver vital public infrastructure projects.

As the former Director of Public Works for Maricopa County (Phoenix), Arizona, Mike was directly responsible for the Transportation, Flood Control and Solid Waste departments and had oversight of all capital improvements accomplished by the County including the multi-billion dollar jail expansion program.

Jack Fisher, former Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) Auditor and Director of Compliance, L-3

Jack Fisher has more than 35 years of experience in the world of government contracting. He has ten years of service with the Defense Contract Audit Agency providing a base for his career, which ranges from time spent as the national contract manager of a Big 4 public accounting firm, to service as the SME for federal government matters with an international telephone company, to his current role as senior manager of regulatory compliance matters for a global communications firm.

Renee Hagen CPA, CMA, Director of Business Services (former DCAA auditor), Chenega Corp.

Ms. Renee Hagen received her Bachelors of Science Degree from Central Washington University, with a Major in Accounting. She is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the State of Washington. Ms. Hagen spent over 20 years as a Federal Employee working for the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) as a Senior Auditor and most recently as a Supervisory Auditor at the Alaska Sub-office in Anchorage, Alaska. As Supervisory Auditor, Ms. Hagen was responsible for supervising the planning and performance of a full range of complex contract audit assignments performed at both large and small contractor locations. Ms. Hagen left Federal Service in 2003 to join Chenega Corporation, a private company in Anchorage, Alaska. Ms. Hagen is currently the Director of Business Services and is responsible for Government contract compliance and reporting, DCAA interface and audit support, quality control support for bid and proposal activity, quality control for estimating and accounting procedures, as well as all aspect of the Small Business Administration compliance and reporting for Chenega Corporation's various subsidiaries involved in Government contracting.

Mickey Jacob, Regional Director, American Institute of Architects (AIA)

Mickey Jacob is managing principal at Urban Studio Architects, an award-winning Tampa firm specializing in multiple-family residential, traditional neighborhood design, restaurants, space planning, and corporate interiors.

An advocate of AIA participation, Mickey has held numerous leadership positions in both the AIA Tampa Bay and the state components. Following his 18-month term as president of AIA Florida, Mickey was elected as the 2007-2009 AIA Florida/Caribbean regional director. On the national board, he serves on the Advocacy Committee. With his interest in government advocacy, Mickey has chaired the Florida Architects Political Action Committee, was appointed to serve for four years as the chair of ArchiPAC. In recognition of his contributions to the profession, Mickey was awarded the AIA Tampa Bay Medal of Honor (1999), received an AIA Component Excellence Award for the Breakfast of Champions program, and is the recipient of the 2008 AIA Florida Gold Medal, AIA Florida's highest honor.

Wayne Klotz, President, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

D. Wayne Klotz, P.E. is President of Klotz Associates, Inc., a full service civil engineering firm based in Houston, Texas. Wayne is on the Board of Directors of the Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District. He currently serves as President of ASCE and has served as Officer for ASCE, HCEC, CEC-T, Harris County Flood Control Task Force, the C Club and the University of Houston and Texas A&M Civil Engineering Advisory Boards. He started the Klotz Associates Endowed Scholarship in Civil Engineering at both universities.

Among his awards are the ASCE National 2005 Edmund Friedman Professional Recognition Award and the 2004 Texas A&M Distinguished Graduate of the Department of Civil Engineering. He has also been awarded the Texas Section and Houston Branch ASCE Awards of Honor. The American Water Works Association awarded him a Life Membership, and is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers (AAWRE). In 2008, he was awarded Honorary Professor from the Ricardo Palma University in Lima, Peru.

Peter Lauria, Partner, Beers & Cutler

As partner and practice leader of Beers + Cutler's Business Information Systems consulting practice, Peter Lauria advises clients on all aspects of financial and business information systems assessment, selection, integration and optimization. Beers + Cutler was Deltek's first strategic alliance partner and provides professional and comprehensive consulting services, including project and financial accounting, time and expense collection and business intelligence and reporting. 

Mick Morrissey, Managing Principal, Morrissey Goodale

Prior to co-founding Morrissey Goodale, Mick Morrissey served as Director of Strategic Growth for PBS&J, one of the nation's leading EA firms. Before that, he was Senior Vice President with ZweigWhite where for over a decade he helped develop and lead the firm's Management Consulting business. Mick has authored numerous articles and publications on business management and trends in the AEC industry. He served as editor for ZweigWhite's Strategic Planning Advisor and was a contributing author for the firm's Insiders Guide to Strategic Planning and Insiders Guide to Mergers and Acquisitions. Since 1998, Mick has spoken annually at national AEC industry conferences and gatherings on the topics of strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, organization structure and leadership development and transition.

Robert Murray, Chief Economist, McGraw Hill

Robert Murray, Chief Economist of McGraw Hill Construction, joined McGraw-Hill in 1980 with a primary focus on analyzing construction industry trends. In the mid-1980s he directed a team of economists that developed the Construction Market Forecasting Service, providing five-year projections for 22 building types by nine regions of the U.S. This product has subsequently become the pre-eminent forecast of the nation's construction industry, and it serves as the foundation for other construction and real estate forecast products offered by MHC's Analytics group in Bedford, Mass.

Robert is the author of the widely circulated Construction Outlook – a seminal reference for the industry – and he serves as anchorman for McGraw-Hill's prestigious Construction Industry Outlook Conference held in Washington each October. He also conducts a series of construction outlook seminars every spring and fall in various cities across the U.S. and Canada.

David Muzio, Former Deputy Associate Administrator for Procurement at OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy,
Principal, MCR, LLC

David Muzio is the former Procurement Policy Analyst at OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy where he was responsible for developing the requirements for the use of Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS) for major acquisitions. He also provided assistance and training to agencies and OMB Resource Management Offices to improve project management on poor performing projects. Mr. Muzio has thirty-eight years of Federal acquisition experience covering all aspects of the acquisition/procurement process, including organizational-level purchasing, major systems acquisition and headquarters staff positions in the U.S. Air Force, Resolution Trust Corporation and NASA. He currently applies his extensive acquisition management experience as part of MCR, LLC's Corporate Technical Directorate, where he assists various Federal agencies improve their business case process.

Deniece Peterson, Principal Analyst, INPUT

As a Principal Analyst Industry Analysis at INPUT, Deniece Peterson provides in-depth member-driven research and analysis of government market trends, business development best practices, and emerging opportunities. With over 8 years of management consulting and research experience, Ms. Peterson has extensive experience in developing sales and marketing strategies for IT product and services companies. Her expertise includes performing strategic market research and competitive analysis, and developing strategic marketing plans to assist federal IT vendors in creating an alignment of the best products, markets, customers, channels and partners.

Kevin Plexico, Senior Vice President, INPUT

Kevin Plexico is Senior Vice President, Operations at INPUT where he manages the delivery of INPUT's information products providing essential industry information and insights to over 2,000 member companies.

Mr. Plexico has responsibility for leading the industry's largest team of analysts focused on the public sector market. Mr. Plexico joined INPUT in 1992 and has guided the evolution of INPUT's product and service offerings over the last 10 years where he has played an instrumental role in helping to grow the company from 15 employees to 160 employees.

Mr. Plexico provides thought leadership and expert opinion to industry executives and is a recognized expert on the public sector market. Mr. Plexico earned an MBA in Information Systems from the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland and a B.B.A. in Economics from James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Bernie Siben, Consultant, The Siben Consult, LLC

Bernie Siben, CPSM, established the Siben Consult, LLC (TSC) in December 2003. Its purpose is to provide high-quality strategic, production and training services to assist the marketing efforts of firms working in the planning, design, permitting and construction of the "built environment." Bernie has more than 30 years of varied professional experience - including his specific work background in the A/E/C/Planning/Environmental arena, involvement in local and national professional organizations (such as SMPS), national recognition as a Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) and extensive experience as a writer and speaker on marketing issues.

Kenneth Simonson, Chief Economist, The Association of General Contractors of America (AGC)

Kenneth D. Simonson, Chief Economist, The Associated General Contractors of America, has 35 years of experience analyzing, advocating and communicating about economic and tax issues. Before joining the AGC, he was senior economic advisor in the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy. Earlier, he was vice president and chief economist for the American Trucking Associations. Ken also worked with the President's Commission on Industrial Competitiveness, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, and an economic consulting firm.

Ken's weekly email newsletter for the AGC, The Data DIGest, provides 10,000 readers with the latest economic news relevant to construction. He also sends out a variety of state-specific information. He is interviewed and quoted almost daily by local and national media, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and CNBC. In addition, he contributes frequently to a variety of business and professional publications and conferences. Ken served on the Blue Ribbon Panel of experts advising the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission.

David Winstead, Former Commissioner of Public Buildings, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Attorney, Ballard Spahr

David L. Winstead, former Commissioner of the federal Public Buildings Service (PBS) within the U.S. General Services Administration, is currently part of the Real Estate Department practice of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. He joined Ballard Spahr following his presidential appointment and service as Commissioner of the Public Buildings at the U.S. General Services Administration. As Commissioner, Mr. Winstead wielded responsibility for the asset management, design and construction, leasing and operations of a portfolio of more than 8,600 public and private buildings that housed over one million federal workers.

Po-Sun Chen, Managing Director, ValleyCrest Design Group

Po-Sun Chen is Managing Director of ValleyCrest Design Group (VCDG), a landscape architecture practice that has offices in multiple locations across the country. Chen has primary responsibility for establishing and executing the strategic vision for VCDG. He works with executive leadership of the company to oversee the growth, business planning, market penetration and leadership training of VCDG.

Chen works closely with the design group's principals and operations managers to determine and effectively implement best practices in each studio. He also works with key members of ValleyCrest's Pre-Construction and Landscape Development teams to help advance the firm's innovative design/build initiative. Prior to joining ValleyCrest Design Group, Chen served as Executive Director at WD Partners, an integrated multi-disciplinary architecture and engineering firm active in the retail market. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director at ZweigWhite, a management consulting firm exclusively serving the architecture, engineering and construction industry.

R. Craig Finley, Jr., P.E., Managing Principal, Finley Engineering Group, Inc.

Mr. Finley is Managing Principal of Finley Engineering Group and has been a consulting engineer for over 28 years. He is involved in the design, management, construction engineering and inspection of a wide range of complex steel, prestressed concrete and cable-stayed bridges. Mr. Finley's expertise also includes management and design of a wide range of fast-tracked bridge projects as part of Design/Build Teams, Contractor Proposed Redesigns, and Value Engineering Proposals. During his career, Mr. Finley has contributed his experience to over 100 bridge projects.

He has a BS degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Kansas, is past president of the American Segmental Bridge Institute and is a registered engineer in 37 states. He is a two time winner of ASBI's Leadership Award and one of ENR's top Newsmakers in 1995 for innovative construction techniques.

Thomas Schanze, President and CEO - Applied Technology and Management

Mr. Schanze is President and CEO of Applied Technology & Management, Inc., an Environmental, Water Resources and Coastal Engineering firm serving the specialized needs of public and private clients around the globe. Upon graduation from the University of Florida with an M.E. in Agricultural engineering, Mr. Schanze promoted multi-discipline approaches to natural resource issues associated with large infrastructure projects throughout the southeast US. Joining ATM in 1991, Mr. Schanze significantly expanded the client base, niche services approach and geographic breadth of the firm resulting in establishing the first international office in Dubai, UAE in 1995.

Amir Kangari, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, PBS&J International

Amir Kangari is a Senior Vice President and the Managing Director of PBS&J International, Inc. He joined PBS&J as a transportation engineer and has served the company as a senior engineer, program manager and the National Business Sector Manager for the transportation structures group for the past twenty years. He has been a director of the PBS&J International board since its inception in 2007. Mr. Kangari holds a master of science degree in structural engineering from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from the University of California. He is a licensed professional engineer and is a member of the American society of Civil Engineers and the Florida Engineering society.

Hope A. Lane, Officer, Aronson & Company, Government Contract Services Group

Hope A. Lane, CPA, leads Aronson & Company's Government Contract Consulting practice with over 18 years of experience in the government contracting arena. A&C's Government Contract Consulting Group supports all aspects of government financial compliance and contract management with a specialization in the GSA Schedule.

With an in-depth understanding of the government contracting environment and intensive hands-on experience, Hope specializes in development of bidding strategies, contract acquisition, compliance, OIG audit support and strategies for maintaining contract profitability. As an esteemed expert in the field, Hope's industry knowledge is frequently sought after by GSA and other organizations. She often serves as a guest speaker and lecturer for law firms, association and membership organizations, and industry events throughout the world. Most recently, she traveled with The Greater Washington Initiative to speak with European companies about doing business with the federal government.

John D. Doehring, Jr., Senior Vice President, ZweigWhite

John Doehring is Senior Vice President, and Managing Director of ZweigWhite's Strategic and Financial Advisory Services consulting group. John advises A/E/C, planning, and environmental consulting firm clients on creating and implementing strategic business plans, enhancing sales and marketing effectiveness, building and developing leadership teams, and improving overall organizational performance. He speaks frequently with firm leaders on strategic topics including business strategy, leadership, marketing, project management, and industry outlook and trends. John is a frequent seminar leader for ZweigWhite's In Control (Business Planning), Out Front (Strategic Marketing), Get Ahead (Business Development), and Managing a Growing Firm offerings, and is a part of the senior team presenting the firm's flagship training experience, Pathway to Principal.

Prior to joining ZweigWhite, John was Vice President of Development and Chief Marketing Officer at Geologic Services Corporation (GSC) – and subsequently GSC|Kleinfelder, Inc. John holds a B.S. in Geology and a B.A. in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin, and earned his MBA (Management and Marketing) from New York University's Stern School of Business.