Construction Industry Conference

Anthony R. Stagliano, CPA, CCIFP
Director of Constructruction Industry Services
CBIZ MHM, LLC

Tony is a CPA, and Shareholder in, Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. (MHM) an independent CPA firm and a Director in CBIZ MHM, LLC (CBIZ) - Plymouth Meeting office. Tony is their National Managing Director of A/E/C Industry Services with over thirty five years of experience working exclusively with construction industry clients.

A graduate of Villanova University Tony is frequently asked to write and speak on construction industry topics both locally and nationally. He’s a member of the Board of Advisors and writes articles for the Construction Accounting and Taxation publication.

Tony has chaired CFMA’s Education Committee and Accounting and Reporting Committees. He is a past CFMA national Secretary and has been on their Executive Committee several times. Tony is a national recipient of CFMA’s Debra Hahn Memorial Award as well as the Danny B. Parrish Outstanding Leadership Award. He was honored by the Philadelphia Chapter of CFMA as their first Associate Member of the Year.

Tony is an active member of several other construction trade associations including the General Building Contractors association (GBCA) of Philadelphia, the Contractors Association of Eastern PA (CAEP), the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Eastern PA, the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors (APC), the Subcontractors Association of Delaware Valley (SADV) and the Suburban Contractors Association (SCA).

Tony is a Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional (CCIFP) and he co-chairs the CCIFP Examination Development Committee. He also co-authored the all day CCIFP Overview study course.

Tony is a member of the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs (PICPA) and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).

Anirban Basu
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Sage Policy Group, Inc.
575 South Charles Street Suite 505
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-522-7243
email: abasu@sagepolicy.com

Career Brief

Anirban Basu is Chairman & CEO of Sage Policy Group, Inc., an economic and policy consulting firm headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Pennsylvania and Cambodia.  The firm provides strategic analytical services to energy suppliers, law firms, medical systems, government agencies, and real estate developers among others. 

In 2014, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan appointed him Chair of the Maryland Economic Development Commission.  He also serves as chairman of the Baltimore County Economic Advisory Committee.  He is also the Chief Economist to Associated Builders and Contractors and Chief Economic Advisor to the Construction Financial Management Association.  He serves similar functions for Visit Baltimore, the Maryland Association of Realtors, and Marcum, LLC.  

He lectures at Johns Hopkins University in Global Strategy and has also taught international economics, urban economics, micro- and macroeconomics at Hopkins. His radio show can be heard weekdays on 88.1FM, WYPR, Baltimore.  

In both 2007 and 2016, the Daily Record newspaper selected Mr. Basu as one of Maryland’s 50 most influential people. The Baltimore Business Journal named him one of the region’s 20 most powerful business leaders in 2010.

Mr. Basu has been on many boards over time, including First Mariner Bank, the Baltimore City Public School System, Port Discovery, the Baltimore School for the Arts, and Union Memorial Hospital.  He is currently on the boards of St. Mary’s College, the University System of Maryland Foundation, the Center for Emerging Media, the Lyric Opera House and the Archdiocese of Baltimore School System.

Mr. Basu earned his B.S. in Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1990.  He earned his Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and his Master’s in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park.  His Juris Doctor was earned at the University of Maryland School of Law

Shawn R. Farrell, Esq.
Partner
Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman

SHAWN R. FARRELL is a Partner in the Construction, Labor & Employment
and Insurance Groups at Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC, as well
as a Shareholder and member of the Board of Directors. He provides his clients
with a high level of professionalism to a variety of complex civil litigation
matters involving construction, employment issues and insurance. His clients
include construction companies, high-tech, hedge-funds and other public
corporations.

CONSTRUCTION LAW
Shawn handles all phases of construction law, from negotiating and drafting
construction contracts to litigating cases. He has litigated numerous complex
construction matters in federal court, state court, mediation and arbitration. He
shares his expertise with numerous clients and trade organizations on topics
such as mechanics' liens, surety law, proving and pricing construction claims,
OSHA violations and alternative dispute resolution in the construction industry.

Anthony L. Byler, Esq.
Partner
Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman

ANTHONY L. BYLER is a Partner at Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman
PC and a member of the Construction Group.

Prior to joining Cohen Seglias, Tony was the Managing Partner of Byler &
Blaker LLC. As a trial lawyer, Mr. Byler focuses his practice on representing
public and private owners, contractors, subcontractors and material men. He
has handled major construction disputes, for both plaintiffs and defendants,
involving educational facilities, hotels, bridges, high-rise residential buildings,
prisons, waste water treatment plants, parking garages, docks, assisted living
facilities and shopping centers.

Tony has tried numerous construction cases both in court and in arbitration
involving payment disputes, delay and disruption claims, payment and
performance bonds, prompt payment statutes, mechanics' liens, fiduciary
duties, fraud, errors and omissions.

A frequent author and speaker on construction industry topics, Tony has written
for Construction Today Magazine and has given numerous construction law
seminars for the National Electrical Contractors Association, the General
Building Contractors Association, the National Demolition Association and
Widener University.

Christina M. Reger, Esq.
Shareholder
Bazelon, Less & Feldman, P.C.

Christina helps small and mid-sized businesses avoid litigation from employees and applicants.  Employment laws are changing every day; employment litigation is up 400%; the Internet can inform employees about every right they have; and social media can broadcast every perceived wrong they have experienced.  In this environment, employers need to be alert, educated and prepared.  Large corporations have taken the bull by the horns, conducted audits, revised their policies, educated their staff and are ready at the helm.  They are no longer the target.

Small and mid-sized businesses are the new targets.  The construction industry is particularly exposed.  Not only are construction companies focused on building and timely job completion, their employees are often scattered at various sites and do not typically receive the employment training provided in the corporate world.  Also, company owners often have little time to keep up with the barrage of laws, regulations, cases and policies issued by courts and state and local governments and agencies. 

With over ten years of litigation experience, Christina has developed a practice in educating small and mid-sized businesses on the trends and pitfalls in today’s employment market, working with them to audit and analyze existing policies and procedures and then provide them with cost-effective solutions and necessary employment law training to ensure current and ongoing compliance.  In addition, with an attorney-architect on staff, Christina’s firm specializes in construction litigation, handling contracting and litigation for some of the largest developers in the Philadelphia region.

Timothy R. Chitester, PE

Senior Vice President                   

Timothy R. Chitester is a Registered Professional Engineer with over 35 years of experience in the engineering, design and construction industry.  His wide breadth of experience includes the resolution of construction disputes, construction claims, property loss and business interruption claims, as well as project design, engineering and project management.

Mr. Chitester has been directly involved in the design, scheduling, construction, and retrofit of more than 50 industrial, process, fossil fuel, hydroelectric, biofuel, and nuclear plants.  He has specific experience and knowledge in scheduling and implementing industrial related projects, including mine operations, pipelines, distributed generation, cogeneration, combined cycle and simple cycle systems, as well as district energy projects. He has been responsible for the technical development, engineering and design, hiring and management of subcontractors, and operation of projects in 12 countries. Mr. Chitester has also completed, as the EPC contractor, more than 10 lump sum turn-key power and energy projects, also known as demand side management performance contracts. Mr. Chitester has completed feasibility studies including scoping audits and investment grade audits of more than 20 developmental projects.

Mr. Chitester is recognized as an expert on construction claims and has testified in federal court, federal mediation, state court, AAA arbitration and international arbitration relating to matters of construction management, contractor and engineer standard of care, trade use of contracts, cost, schedule, and productivity with resultant delay and disruption

Mark A. Eich, CPA, CISA

Mark, a Certified Public Accountant, earned the Certified Information System Auditor (CISA) designation from the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) in 1995. He is a frequent speaker on information security topics at national conferences and has delivered over 100 presentations on multiple topics. He has served on the Data Integrity Task Force for the AICPA.