Mark your calendars for the premier metalcasting industry Leadership Summit. Enjoy networking with a friendly group of nearly 150 leaders from across the metalcasting supply chain and hear from world-class speakers discussing leadership, economic, workforce, technical and political issues that go to the heart of leading your business.
All this at one of the nation’s premier, 5-star resorts! Registration will open in Spring 2024.
For information about sponsorship opportunities at the event, please contact Kim Farrugia at kfarrugia@afsinc.org or click here.
1 Lake Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO 80906
To reserve a room at the AFS rate, use the link below or call The Broadmoor directly at 719-577-5775 and use reference code AFS2024. Reserve your room by August 26th to receive the best rates.
Todd Conklin spent 25 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a Senior Advisor for Organizational and Safety Culture. Los Alamos National Laboratory is one of the world’s foremost research and development laboratories; Dr. Conklin has been working on the Human Performance program for the last 15 years of his 25-year career. It is in this fortunate position where he enjoys the best of both the academic world and the world of safety in practice.
Conklin holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the University of New Mexico. He speaks all over the world to executives, groups and work teams who are interested in better understanding the relationship between the workers in the field and the organization’s systems, processes, and programs. He has brought these systems to major corporations around the world. Conklin practices these ideas not only in his own workplace, but also in the event investigations at other workplaces around the world. Conklin’s best selling book, Pre-Accident Investigations: An introduction to Organizational Safety is a best selling book on safety. Conklin has several other books and a huge podcast following for his twice-weekly podcast of the same name. Conklin defines safety at his workplace like this: “Safety is the ability for workers to be able to do work in a varying and unpredictable world.”
Amy O. Cooke is the retired Chief Executive Officer of the John Locke Foundation and Publisher of Carolina Journal and founder of the public policy consulting firm East x West Strategies.
As Locke’s CEO, Amy led the organization through the COVID crisis and merger with the Civitas Institute that transformed Locke from a think tank into a battle tank. Now in its fourth decade, the award-winning Locke is the most influential driving force for public policy that ensures all North Carolinians have the freedom and opportunity to thrive.
Prior to her move to North Carolina, Amy served as Executive Vice President of the Independence Institute (II), Colorado’s free-market think tank. She was also Director of the Energy and Environmental Policy Center at II, Locke’s sister think tank.
Dennis Unkovic is a senior partner with the law firm of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP. He frequently briefs business executives, trade associations, and government leaders on high profile issues, and negotiates complex commercial transactions, including international mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures as well as advising on inbound and outbound investment projects.
Michael is President & Managing Partner at LAK Group.With more than 25 years of global leadership experience, Michael is a seasoned Human Resources executive. He provides strategic leadership regarding all talent solutions and initiatives which enhance the performance of organizations, individuals, teams, and leaders.
Throughout his career, Michael served in several global thought and operational leadership roles. As part of his responsibilities, he led a variety of Human Resources functions, including Talent Management, Leadership Development, Coaching, Culture Shaping, Organization Design & Development, Talent Acquisition, Succession Management, Learning & Development, Assessment Change Management, Strategic Planning, and Engagement Practices.
Gus Faucher is senior vice president and chief economist of The PNC Financial Services Group, serving as the principal spokesperson on all economic issues for PNC.
Faucher is frequently cited in international, national, and regional media outlets including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He serves on the board of directors of The Economic Club of Pittsburgh - the local chapter of National Association of Business Economics (NABE). He is also co-chair of the Financial Roundtable of NABE.
Faucher earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, with concentrations in labor economics and public economics. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Cornell University.
Stephanie Salmon provides advocacy representation for AFS in Washington, D.C. An experienced government relations professional, she has spearheaded AFS policy achievements on a variety of industry issues.
Dave Gilson is commercial executive with experience across national and international responsibilities, markets, and accounts. He has expert qualifications in identifying and capturing market opportunities to accelerate organic growth, increase revenues, and improve profit contributions. He also has capabilities in identifying acquisition end market opportunities.
Reg Zeller has held executive roles from product management to acquisitions in four different Fortune 500 companies. In 2017 he acquired Ermak, and is now CEO and Founder of CaneKast.
Matt Fetter has been with Metal Technologies Inc. since it was formed in 1997, starting as Sales Manager and then Vice President of Sales and Product Engineering. He was named Chief Operating Officer in 2010, followed by President in 2016. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in business from Indiana University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Toledo.
Susan Bear is responsible for accelerating and ensuring robust processes are available for Engineering, Quality Program Management, and Information Technology (IT) functions used by the Grede centers of operations and corporate teams. In addition, she provides strategy and vision for new engineering business development and is involved with customer-related concerns in the functions of Quality, Engineering, and Program Management.
Susan joined Grede in July 2018. Prior to that, she spent 14 years at Stabilus GmbH, where she served most recently as Director of Engineering and Program Management. She also held roles in Application Engineering, Program Management, and Sales Management. Susan began her career as a Design Engineer in the manual clutch division at ZF Sachs.
Kiley Eck Hayon started her career at Eck Industries in 2002 as a quality project manager, progressing with increasing responsibilities to become Vice President of HR & Finance in 2010, and then President in 2016. Hayon earned a BA in computer information systems and an MBA from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Hayon is a member of the AFS Board of Directors.
Liz Ulman is the Director of Employee Communications & Initiatives for MacLean Power Systems. She is responsible for an array of people-related activities including compliance, diversity, internal communications, and much more.
Prior to this role she served as Vice President of Dotson Iron Castings for several years.
John Link is a seasoned professional with a wealth of experience in consulting and insurance. A proud graduate of the University of Iowa with a BBA (’90), John has dedicated 35 years to the business world, 25 of which were spent refining his skills in insurance with Cottingham & Butler Insurance. Currently based in Dubuque, Iowa, John is a trusted advisor for corporations ranging in size from $20 million to $12 billion in sales. The foundry team at Cottingham & Butler works with three dozen foundries, skillfully navigating the complexities of their insurance risks. When not immersed in the world of insurance, John balances his time with his wife, Lauren and their 7 children (ranges in age from 8 mos to 28 years old). In addition to balancing his family and career, John also is known to be seen occasionally on a golf course, attending an F1 race or planning a trip to Disney.
Dave Gilson, AFS First Vice President; Sales and Marketing Director for Sintercast
Speaker: Dr. Todd Conklin, Author, The 5 Principles of Human Performance
Speaker: Amy O. Cooke, past CEO, The John Locke Foundation; Publisher, The Carolina Journal; and past Trump presidential transition team member for EPA
Speaker: Dennis Unkovic, author, attorney, and partner in law firm of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott
Moderator: Dave Gilson
Panelist: Reg Zeller, KaneCast
Panelist: Matt Fetter, Metal Technologies
Panelist: Susan Bear, Chief Technology Officer, Grede Foundries
Panelist: TBA
Moderator: AFS President Angela Schmeisser, Director, St. Mary's Foundry
Panelist: Kiley Eck Hayon, President, Eck Industries
Panelist: Liz Ulman, Director of Employee Communications & Initiatives, MacLean Power Systems
Panelist: TBA
Master of Ceremonies: AFS President Angela Schmeisser, Director, St. Mary's Foundry
State of AFS Address: Doug Kurkul, CEO of AFS
Awards Presentation: Jean Bye, Board of Awards Chair
William J. Grede Award: TBA
Keating Founders Freedom Award: TBA
Moderators and Panelists: To Be Announced
Gus Faucher, Chief Economist & Vice President, PNC Financial
Speaker: Michael Grubich, MBA, President of LAK Group and Former Director of Talent Development with Kohler
Speaker: Stephanie Salmon, Washington Representative for AFS
Dave Gilson, AFS First Vice President; Sales & Marketing Director for Sintercast
John Lancaster, Plant Manager, General Motors
AFS presents a variety of technical and management conferences (in both in-person and virtual formats). The refund policy for AFS conferences is as follows: 1) Substitutions are accepted at no charge at any time up until the start of the conference; 2) Full refunds are offered if AFS is notified in writing of cancellation at least 30 days in advance of the conference. No refunds or credits are available for less than 30 days written notice.