As a credit manager, over the last 20 years, I have attended many different types of conferences and events to grow my network, education, and experience — and the best were always ones that were current with topics and had great networking opportunities. Now that I manage the Payment Professionals Community here at Levelset, I am proud to be able to bring that experience to life for credit pros in the construction industry.
On January 20, 2022, we held the first of 4 Construction Credit Summits at Topgolf in Houston, Texas. This summit provided over 125 accounting, finance, and credit professionals with the opportunity to spend the day learning – and the evening networking and sharing stories with their peers.
About the Construction Credit Summit
In 2022, Levelset is hosting four Construction Credit Summits to bring together credit and collection professionals in the construction industry for a day of learning and networking. These free summits are being held in four cities:
- Houston, Texas (January 20)
- Seattle, Washington (March 24)
- Sacramento, California (June 23)
- Tampa, Florida (September 22)
Each event features a day of education, with sessions led by nationally recognized industry experts on state- and industry-specific topics, including:
- Mechanics lien law
- Tax legislation
- Cybersecurity & fraud
- Credit policies and procedures
- How to overcome being overwhelmed
- Dealing with employee turnover and labor shortages
- Credit card surcharges
The sessions: Lien Law, Cybersecurity, and Credit Policy
During the day industry expert Katy Baird with Andrews Myers led a session on the new Texas Lien Law Legislation that went into effect on January 1st, 2022 – and what construction businesses need to do to adapt to the changes.
Wanda Borges with Borges & Associates spoke on Cybersecurity and Fraud.
Here are some of Wanda’s key takeaways:
- Take a prevention-first approach to cybersecurity
- Conduct a network security audit to spot weak links
- Train your subs and suppliers on best practices to avoid a hack of financial information
- Update and patch software regularly
- Train all employees on phishing attacks and how to avoid them
- Back up your data regularly
Allan Francis, Manager of Credit Operations with Levelset held a roundtable on credit policies and procedures.
In addition to the educational sessions, several partners led an expert panel that turned out to be a highlight of the event for many attendees The panelists discussed industry trends and changes that they have seen since the rise of the pandemic, including new software changes, procedural and labor shortage issues, and what they have done to adjust to the changes.
The panel included Donna Daniels with DAL, Inc. Kathleen Quill with HighRadius, Elaine Nowak with Auditoria.AI and Erin Vandoorenmaalen with Creditsafe. They were joined by Gloria Macias from Action Gypsum Supply, Wanda Borges with Borges & Associates, and Allan Francis from Levelset.
Early on, attendees participated in breakout meetings and conversations with the partners from around the globe, pausing only for lunch and coffee breaks.
Partners & event sponsors
Attendees were engaged, excited and open to the opportunity to learn and connect.
Additionally, they enjoyed time talking with the partners that helped sponsor the event. They were able to learn what they had to offer to help them succeed, get paid faster and be heroes for their companies.
They learned about new software opportunities from Auditoria and HighRadius, they met with DAL, Inc. and discovered how they could collect on those delinquent accounts. They met with CreditSafe to see the different types of credit reports where available and the financial information they could utilize to approve and process their customers.
Levelset was also there to show our new risk reports including risk data and lien information, our Legal Guard program to help those that want to streamline their legal processes and expenses and our platform, showing them how easy it is to manage the dashboard and get through their notice and lien deadlines without stress.
Construction credit pros get together
In the evening, attendees enjoyed appetizers and cocktails as they made their way to the golf bays to compete in an Angry Birds competition to be awarded the “Construction Credit Summit 2022 Champion.”
Gloria Macias with Action Gypsum Supply won 1st place, with Scott Farwell with S&B Systems taking home 2nd place.
For some, this was the first time getting back in person since the pandemic hit. Many took this opportunity to re-connect and network late into the evening.
Getting Payment Professionals Community members together was a blast. Meeting them in person, catching up with ones I’ve known for years and getting to know new people to talk more about who they are and their goals for the future, really helps as I gather resources and more to continue giving credit professionals a place to gather and learn from each other.
What’s next?
On March 24th, 2022, the 2nd of 4 summits will take place in Seattle, Washington at the Cedarbrook Lodge.
This is an event you won’t want to miss as not only will we have industry experts teach sessions on Washington State Lien Law and Cybersecurity and Fraud, but we will also have nationally recognized guest speakers David George Brooke “That Gratitude Guy” and Thea Dudley, author of “The Credit Overlord’s Guide to Credit & Collections” Not only will they present the keynote speech and teach a session, but they will also do a free book signing sharing their writings with all in attendance.
Resources & Downloads from the Houston Summit
Download resources from the Houston Construction Credit Summit here.
