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
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
Registration
This is a free conference.