June 2025 – Credit Congress Recap

In June we were pleased to hear from members of ICEL who had recently returned from Credit Congress in Cleveland, OH. Shane Inglesby, CCE led a panel discussion that included Daralyn Smith, CCE, and Amee Miner, CBA. Each participant was asked to share experiences and lessons learned at Credit Congress. Amee and Daralyn both talked about how much they enjoyed their experience in Cleveland and classes they attended. For Amee, this was the first time at Credit Congress, so everything was new and exciting. She commented on how she learned to pace herself to prevent being overwhelmed. She talked about how it was sometimes hard to choose which educational session to attend to get the most out of the conference. Her lesson learned for first-time attendees? Take business cards. Daralyn has attended Credit Congress a few times and also some Regional Conferences. Her company encourages continuing education and supports conferences such as this for the benefit of their employees. Shane added some valuable insights as this was, likely, his last Credit Congress as a credit manager; he is set to retire next year. Credit Congress 2026 will be held in St. Louis, MO June 7-10, 2026. For the best rates, early bird registration is typically held in November-December. Call for speaking proposals closes in October. D’Ann Johnson, CCE and seasoned Credit Congress speaker, encouraged her colleagues to consider putting together a speaking topic for next year’s conference and practice by presenting it to us at ICEL.

July 2025 – UDOT Update

An interesting encore ICEL topic from a few years ago, the UDOT Update was a highly rated, highly anticipated ICEL meeting. Team members from the Utah Department of Transportation including Lisa Wilson, PE, Deputy Director of Engineering and Operations, and Ben Huot, PE, Deputy Director of Planning and Investment, spoke to the ICEL attendees. Lisa and Ben explained how the planning for new road projects is divided out and prioritized over years. They discussed how the budget is planned and approved year over year. Attendees asked questions about the projects that seem to be affecting them. Ben and Lisa seemed to be used to answering such questions with ease. They knew the timelines for current and future projects; they had come prepared with information on major road projects across most of Utah over the next 5 years.

Huge thanks to the ICEL members who work so hard on their committees to provide great speaker and topics month after month.