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KPERS Employer Conference

Friday, October 30, 2026

9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Hilton Garden Inn Manhattan

410 S 3rd St. Manhattan, KS 66502

People with their hands raised, attending a conference.

Conference Schedule

  • 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. | Check-In/Registration Open
    (Networking, Coffee/Tea & Pastries, Find a Seat)
  • 9:30 - 9:50 a.m. | Welcome, Housekeeping, Icebreaker
    (Emily Wilson, Communications Officer & Les Lauber, Professional Development Manager)
  • 9:50 - 10:15 a.m. | KPERS Updates
    (Alan Conroy, KPERS Executive Director)
  • 10:35 - 11:35 a.m. | Employer Roundtables
    • Local Non-School (Matt Renyer & April Martinez, Benefits Analysts, KPERS)
    • Local Schools (Ciera Seele & Bree Briggs, Benefits Analysts, KPERS)
    • State (Alex Foster & Marla Rivares, Benefits Analysts, KPERS)
    • KP&F (Shauna Johnston & Britany Hulse, Benefits Analysts, KPERS)
    • KBOR (Elaine Gaer, Administrative Officer & Billie-Jo Gerisch, Benefits Analyst, KPERS)
  • 11:35 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. | Lunch (provided by KPERS)
    (Music provided by: The Manhattan High School Orchestra)
  • 12:45 - 1:30 p.m. | Breakout Session A
    • KPERS 3 (Justin Quick, Sr. Benefit Education Representative, KPERS)
    • Working After Retirement (Heather McHardie, Deputy Benefits Officer & Laurie McKinnon, General Counsel, KPERS)
    • KPERS 101 (Ciera Seele, Benefits Analysts & Alley Salmon, Benefit Education Representative, KPERS)
    • Disability (Elain Gaer, Administrative Officer & Alex Foster, Benefits Analysts, KPERS)
    • KP&F DROP (Teresa Ryan, Benefits Manager, KPERS)
  • 1:30 - 1:45 p.m. | Break
  • 1:45 - 2:30 p.m. | Breakout Session B
    • Adjustments/Certifications (Hallie Shermoen, Sr. Employer Reporting Analyst, Rhonda Shumway, Lead Employer Reporting Analyst, Teresa Ryan, Benefits Manager, Billie-Jo Gerisch & Matt Renyer Benefits Analyts, KPERS)
    • Pay Reporting (Justin Quick, Sr. Benefit Education Representative, Brecken Stadler, Sr. Employer Reporting Analyst & Lanette Wagner, Manager of Employer Reporting, KPERS)
    • General KPERS Q&A (Marla Rivaries, Shauna Johnston, Benefit Analysts & Jackie VandeVelde, Benefits Manager, KPERS)
    • Employer Auditing (Kelly Alexander, Sr. Auditor & Jamie Rose, Lead Auditor, KPERS)
    • KPERS 457 Updates (Affliated) (Arlen Zentner, Deferred Comp Plan Officer & Becky Dekat, Deferred Comp Plan Administrator KPERS)
  • 2:30 - 2:45 p.m. | Break
  • 2:45 - 3:30 p.m. | Breakout Session C
    • Retirement 101 (Brittany Hulse, April Martinez & Alex Foster, Benefit Analysts, KPERS)
    • Benefits Estimates (Jackie VandeVelde, Benefits Manager & Billie-Jo Gerisch, Benefits Analyst, KPERS)
    • Optional Life Insurance (Melissa Findlay, Sr. Employer Reporting Analyst, KPERS, Missy Johnson, Sr. Dedicated Account Specialist, The Standard & Bree Briggs, Benefits Anaylst, KPERS)
    • Notification of Death (Marais Johnson-Herl, Benefits Manager & Kelsea Watts, Benefits Analysts, KPERS)
    • Enrollments Q&A (Kristy Lewis & Marsha Stafford, Benefits Analysts, KPERS)
    • KPERS 457 (Not Affiliated) (Len Lehmann, New Employer Specialist, Empower)
  • 3:45 - 4:00 p.m. | Closing Session
  • 4:00 p.m. | Conference Adjourned

Hilton Garden Inn Manhattan

Book a Room | Conference Map


Registration

Click Here

This is a free conference.


Questions?

[email protected]