The race continues at the NACM Connect Columbus Credit Conference, where credit professionals from across the region will come together for a high-energy event focused on learning, collaboration, and growth. Inspired by the excitement of The Credit Races, this conference offers a winning combination of expert educational sessions, valuable networking opportunities, and practical insights into today’s evolving credit and financial landscape. Attendees will connect with industry peers, hear from knowledgeable speakers, and discover new products and services designed to help their organizations succeed. Whether you’re seeking fresh ideas, proven strategies, or new professional connections, the Columbus Credit Conference provides the perfect opportunity to accelerate your success and stay ahead of the competition.
What if the key to lasting impact comes down to one timeless truth: People Power Everything That Matters.In this interactive keynote, you’ll discover how one single pajama sparked a discovery with the power to drive the results that matter most to your sales teams, credit managers, and clients. Genevieve will take you on a journey that is equal parts eye-opening and heart-opening, revealing that the strongest relationships – and the most rewarding success – are built when we choose connection over transaction. When we lead with purpose, we also help our clients find deeper meaning in their work. And as trust grows, something even more meaningful happens: lasting partnerships form, and we become invested in a shared vision, inspired to show up as our very best. More than a keynote, this is an experience that shifts how you see yourself and the impact you have on others every day.
Genevieve Piturro is a former television marketing executive and VP who left the corporate world in 2001 to found Pajama Program (now Beyond Bedtime) after a life-changing encounter with a child in an emergency shelter. Over the past 25 years, the organization has grown into a national movement with 40 chapters, providing more than nine million pajamas and books to children in need. After leading the nonprofit for two decades, she transitioned to leadership development, creating the Purpose ACER program, leadership masterclasses, and Purpose Summits. An award-winning author and sought-after speaker, she teaches leaders to “Stop Bossing. Start Loving.” through purpose-driven, compassionate leadership. Featured by major media outlets including Oprah, TODAY, CNN, and Forbes, Genevieve continues to inspire audiences nationwide to lead with authenticity, human connection, and purpose.
Want to further explore Genevieve Piturro’s keynote message? Join Genevieve for an inspiring deeper dive into how passion, purpose, and authentic human connection can transform the way we lead, serve, and support one another. Drawing on her journey from television marketing executive to founder of the national nonprofit Pajama Program and her work as a TEDx “Human Connection” speaker, Genevieve will help participants reconnect with what matters most, lead with intention, and recognize the power of empathy, clear communication, and shared purpose in building stronger teams and communities. This session also offers time to reflect and discuss with fellow credit managers how to find meaning and purpose in both ordinary and extraordinary moments of life.
The ongoing trend of businesses changing hands, merging, and otherwise reshuffling their organizational charts reached a fever pitch during the zero-interest economic era of 2020-2022. Changes in a customer’s ownership, business structure, or both, or dealing with a customer that is part of a conglomerate, will result in changes to the credit risk your company faces. This program discusses, with practical examples, the risks and best practices that a credit professional should follow when doing business with customers that have merged with or been acquired by another company, have rearranged their assets and liabilities, or are otherwise part of a complex corporate structure including multiple affiliated companies. The speakers will discuss best practices for identifying changes in ownership and corporate structure and relationships with affiliated entities (including actual case studies), and the tools and tactics to protect your business from the ever-shifting risks created thereby.
Credit teams are under pressure to move faster, back better customers, and avoid risk, all with the same time and tools. The real challenge is not a lack of data. It’s too much of it, spread everywhere, with no clear signal on what matters. AI is changing that. In this session, Melanie Albert, COO, of Credit Pulse, will walk through how teams are using AI in practice. Catching fraud earlier, connecting scattered data, spotting changes in customer behavior, and removing the manual work that slows decisions down. We’ll also cover where to be cautious, what still needs a human eye, and how to use AI to make better calls without overcomplicating your process.
Despite the passage of the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (“ESIGN”) Act in 2000 and the creation of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (“UETA”) in 1999, not all states have adopted or follow these statutes. Some states have their own versions of these statutes. For years, companies have been accepting documents by email or other electronic means, mistakenly believing those documents constituted “electronic signatures”. Since the onslaught of the coronavirus, business is being conducted electronically more than ever before. As companies create and adopt actual procedures for utilizing and accepting electronic signatures on credit applications, purchase orders and other documents, it becomes incumbent upon the credit executive to understand what does or does not create a binding electronic contract.
This updated program provides credit executives with an understanding of the modern rules governing electronic transactions. Participants will learn how courts are currently evaluating electronic signatures, what technological and procedural safeguards companies must implement, and how to ensure that electronically executed credit applications, insertion orders, and commercial agreements are legally binding and defensible.
This program will include information on
• the legalities of electronic signatures and the laws on which these legalities are based
• what companies need to do to effectuate the creation and use of “electronic signatures”
• how to create a truly binding electronic contract
• what the courts look for to permit the enforcement of these electronic documents
This session will explore the importance of succession planning within the credit department, and the steps companies can take to ensure a smooth transition between leaders. Panelists will share practical strategies for documenting processes, developing team members, and transferring institutional knowledge to minimize disruption. The discussion will focus on building a well-prepared, resilient credit team that can continue to operate effectively through leadership changes. Attendees will gain insights and real-world examples to help strengthen long-term continuity and success within their own organizations.
Discover how AI-enabled invoicing and billing automation is transforming traditional billing operations into intelligent, accurate, and highly scalable processes that help accelerate revenue realization, improve cash flow, and strengthen the customer experience.
In this session, we’ll explore practical applications and uses of AI across the invoicing lifecycle—from automated invoice generation and intelligent validation to digital presentment, recurring billing, exception management, and real-time analytics. Learn how AI can identify billing anomalies, validate pricing, taxes, contract terms, and customer-specific requirements before invoices are delivered, helping reduce errors and prevent downstream disputes.
Attendees will gain insight into how organizations can reduce manual intervention, improve billing accuracy and visibility, and build a more scalable foundation for faster, more efficient Order-to-Cash operations.
Small businesses remain a critical driver of the U.S. economy, yet they continue to navigate evolving economic conditions, changing borrowing costs, and shifting payment behaviors. This session explores the current economic landscape for U.S. small businesses alongside recent trends in business credit performance. Attendees will gain insight into how macroeconomic conditions influence commercial credit behavior, including payment performance, delinquency trends, and financial health indicators. The session will connect economic developments with practical implications for credit risk assessment, portfolio management, and informed credit decisioning.
Join us for the launch of our newest program, Crafted Connections, where happy hour, craft cocktails, and innovative B2B credit topics come together. Your hosts will guide you through a new cocktail while facilitating a vibrant, small-group discussion with peers about the most relevant situations and challenges facing credit managers in our rapidly changing profession. If you love Coffee with Connect, you’re sure to become a fan of Crafted Connections. Check the back of your name badge for your discussion group’s table number.
Melanie Albert
Chief Operating Officer, Credit Pulse
Melanie Albert is the Chief Operating Officer of Credit Pulse. She brings years of operations leadership to the company, working with finance and credit teams to modernize how they assess and extend credit, reduce bad debt, and approve strong customers faster.
Her background is in scaling operations at fast-growing companies. She is known for taking manual, inconsistent processes and turning them into systems that keep working as a business grows, connecting product, technology, and the people who run it. She and her teams are especially effective at driving adoption, helping people commit to new ways of working instead of falling back on old habits. She brings that same discipline to credit, always through the lens of the customer, helping teams modernize how they work in ways that last.
Andrew Behlman
Partner, Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Andrew Behlmann leverages his background in corporate finance and management to approach restructuring problems, both in and out of court, from a practical, results-oriented perspective. With a focus on building consensus among multiple parties that have competing priorities, Andrew is equally at home both in and out of the courtroom, and he has a track record of turning financial distress into positive business outcomes. Clients value his counsel in complex Chapter 11 cases, where he represents debtors, creditors’ committees, purchasers, and investors. Andrew writes and speaks frequently about bankruptcy matters and financial issues.
Wanda Borges Esq.,
Borges & Associates, LLC
Wanda Borges, Esq. is the principal member of Borges & Associates, LLC, a law firm based in Syosset, New York. For more than forty-five years, she has concentrated her practice on commercial litigation and creditors’ rights in bankruptcy matters, representing corporate clients and creditors’ committees throughout the United States in Chapter 11 proceedings, out-of-court settlements, commercial transactions, and preference litigation; and serves as compliance counsel to corporations and associations. She is a member and Past President of the CLLA and Past Chair of its Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Sections. Wanda is a member of several bar associations, including the ABA, the ABI, and the NYS Academy of Trial Lawyers. She serves on the Board of Directors of the IACC. Wanda is an internationally recognized lecturer and author for attorneys and trade credit grantors on various legal topics, including Bankruptcy Issues, the UCC, ECOA, FCRA, antitrust law, and current legal issues such as credit card surcharge issues, social media, cybersecurity and ethics, and artificial intelligence. Wanda is a published author and has received awards for excellence, dedication to her profession, and leadership from several organizations.
Amy Cook
CCE
Amy recently retired from being a Regional Credit Manager for McNaughton McKay Electric Company. She worked as a credit/AR professional since 1999. She has a BA from Spring Arbor University in Management and Organizational Development. Additionally, Amy has served as a board member for NACM Connect.
Emily Garrett
Director, Commercial Analytics Consulting and Ascend, Experian
Emily leads Experian’s commercial consulting and Ascend teams helping financial institutions navigate change, strengthen lending strategies, and drive growth. With expertise in analytics and small business lending, she advises lenders on risk management, portfolio performance, and customer acquisition. Emily is recognized for turning complex challenges into practical strategies that help organizations achieve stronger business outcomes in a rapidly evolving market.
Emilee Long
CBA, Credit Assistant, UFP Industries, Inc.
Emilee Long is a Credit Assistant at UFP Industries, where she has worked for the past five years supporting credit and financial operations. She holds bachelor’s degrees in Business Economics and Operations Management from Grand Valley State University and a CBA designation. In her role, Emilee is passionate about building a strong relationship between the sales and credit department and contributing to effective credit management practices. Outside of work, she enjoys camping, reading, and spending time with family and friends. Emilee and her husband, Sam, have a two-year-old daughter who keeps them busy and entertained. She is excited to share her experiences and insights with fellow credit professionals at this year’s conference.
Bruce S. Nathan
Partner, Lowenstein Sandler LLP
With nearly 45 years of experience in the bankruptcy and insolvency space, Bruce Nathan is a recognized leader in trade creditor rights and the representation of trade creditors in bankruptcy and other legal matters. He has represented trade and other unsecured creditors, unsecured creditors’ committees, secured creditors, and other interested parties in many of the larger Chapter 11 cases that have been filed. Bruce also handles letters of credit, guarantees, security, consignment, bailment, tolling, precious metals leases, and other agreements with financially distressed counterparties, as well as other credit-related legal issues for institutional clients. Bruce’s experience spans a broad range of industries, including agriculture, food and beverage, paper, publishing, media, floor covering, furniture, chemicals, manufacturing, and precious metals.
Michael Papandrea
Partner, Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Michael Papandrea provides counsel to debtors, creditors’ committees, individual creditors, liquidating trustees, and other interested parties with respect to corporate bankruptcy and creditors’ rights matters, including bankruptcy-related litigation. Mike concentrates his practice on bankruptcy and insolvency matters, with an emphasis on creditors’ rights and advocacy for trade creditors. He represents creditors in significant Chapter 11 cases throughout the country. Mike is a thought leader on credit risk mitigation strategies and regularly writes and speaks on issues affecting trade creditors. His work has been recognized by multiple organizations, including his selection to the American Bankruptcy Institute’s prestigious “40 Under 40.”
Samantha Seegert
CBA, CCRA, Credit Manager, McNaughton McKay Electric Company
Samantha Seegert, CBA, CCRA, is Credit Manager at McNaughton McKay Electric Company with more than 15 years of experience in the credit profession. Her unique career path began on a production line and later in healthcare before earning a Bachelor of Business Administration from Cleary University and discovering her passion for credit management.
Recently elected to the NACM Board of Directors, Samantha is committed to supporting the credit industry through mentorship, lifelong learning, and community involvement. Outside of work, she and her husband of 23 years have raised three children, and she credits his unwavering support as a key part of her personal and professional success.
Brian Shappell
CBF, Director of Content Strategy and Marketing, Emagia
Brian Shappell, CBF, is Director of Content Strategy and Marketing for Emagia, a leading developer of AI-Native autonomous finance solutions for all facets of Order-To-Cash operations. During his stint at Emagia, Brian helped launch the AI For Finance Podcast, which he hosts as well as Emagia’s monthly newsletter, a series of blogs exploring top use cases for AI in back-office finance, and new products including the Gia Inbox Agent and Gia AlphaCash.
Prior to his Emagia stint, Brian worked as lead researcher, content strategist, and marketer for a firm that monitored and analyzed stocks of high growth companies, typically driven by AI, tech, or the blockchain.
Previously, Brian worked for NACM-National for more than seven years, leading its publications division (Business Credit Magazine, eNews) and lobbying/advocacy division (federal bankruptcy reform). Brian graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and in his spare time helps run a volunteer children’s cancer charity called The Craig Willinger Fund.
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