5th Annual Business & Industry Conference

Connie Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC is the Founder and Chief Futurist of Wild Innovation, a strategic foresight and leadership development firm that has helped more than 150 companies and 30,000 individuals determine their desired futures.

Before launching Wild Innovation full-time, Dr. Connie served as the Executive Director and Chief Futurist for the Rural Futures Institute (RFI) at the University of Nebraska.   While at RFI, she hosted the Rural Futures podcast, started an inclusive leadership fellows program, and established key partnerships with small businesses as well as tech firms like Microsoft and Apple. 

Dr. Connie is a Certified Professional Coach, Strengths Coach, and Futurist with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Human Sciences and Leadership Studies, a Master of Science degree in Entomology, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources. In addition to helping people live and lead their desired futures, Dr. Connie loves firewalking, sledding, swimming with sharks, and experiencing new adventures with her family.

Robert Kardell

Robert L. Kardell (Bob) is an attorney whose practice focuses on cyber-breach incident response, legal and technology-based risk management solutions, technology and cyber-defense policy and protections, intrusion remediation, and fraud prevention and investigation. Bob has more than 22 years of experience working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a Special Agent and Supervisory Special Agent, as well as a Program Coordinator for Public Corruption, Complex Financial Crime, Healthcare Fraud, and Domestic Terrorism.

Bob has been a certified computer forensics examiner and a certified accounting forensics investigator. He has testified numerous times as a fact witness in criminal trials and before grand juries, and drafted expert reports for both accounting and computer investigations. In his career, Bob worked on cyber-crime investigations as well as public corruption, white collar, terrorism, and financial criminal and civil investigations.

Bob has been a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the Heartland ACFE for 16 years. During that time, he has served on the board and as a member of the editorial advisory committee for the ACFE's "Fraud Magazine". He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of the Nebraska Society of CPAs; Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP); GIAC Security Essentials Certification (GSEC); General Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF); Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE); a certified Paraben computer forensics examiner; and formerly an AccessData Certified Examiner (ACE).

Mario Sabates

Mario Sabates is an International Tax Associate at RSM US LLP providing tax compliance and consulting services to multinational clients on the tax implications of their international operations. Additionally, he is a member of RSM's Blockchain and Digital Asset team, which provides industry-leading guidance on cryptocurrency taxation, structuring, valuation, accounting practices, regulation, custody, operational risks, vendor selection, and anti-money laundering. Lastly, he holds a Tax LLM from Boston University, a JD/MBA from Florida International University in Miami, FL, and is a member of The Florida Bar.

Brian Klintworth

Brian M. Klintworth, CPA, MT is a partner at HBE LLP in Lincoln.  He has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with an emphasis in accounting and finance.  In addition, he has a Master of Taxation from the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law.  Brian's practice in public accounting is primarily focused on taxation, with an emphasis in specialized tax consulting, M&A transactions, estate/succession planning, tax research, and other tax-related items.  He has experience in preparing all types of tax returns, including individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates/trusts, and more. 

Josie Schafer

Josie Schafer, joined the University of Nebraska at Omaha as the Director of the Center for Public Affairs Research in 2018.
 Schafer joined the Center for Public Affairs Research because of its strong history and positioning as the go-to source for expert data and analysis to inform state and local policy and public and non-profit management in Nebraska. 
Recent projects lead by Schafer include the Entrepreneurship in Nebraska report, data and analysis for the UNO Workforce Development Taskforce, the Nebraska Community Foundation Youth Survey, policy analyses for the Planning Committee of the Nebraska State Legislature and serves as principal investigator of the Nebraska Rural Transit Project for UNO.

Steph Ledbetter

Steph is the Vice President of Consulting at Zelle Human Resource Solutions. She spends the majority of her time working with clients on developing initiatives to improve culture and engagement. Steph has helped clients implement new human resources processes to improve innovation, engagement, profit and loss and process improvement. Steph is a graduate of Gonzaga University where she earned her master's degree in organizational leadership.

Bryan Slone

Bryan E. Slone became president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry in May 2018. 

A Nebraska native, Bryan has lived in several Nebraska communities throughout the state.

As an attorney and accountant, Bryan brings more than three decades of policy and business experience to the State Chamber.  Prior to his arrival at the Chamber, he was a tax attorney with Koley Jessen in Omaha, where he advised business clients on legal matters related to taxation, administrative law, international law, mergers and acquisitions, and government affairs.  

Before Koley Jessen, he was the Nebraska office managing partner for Deloitte, one of the nation's largest professional services firms.  

In the 1990s, Bryan worked in Berlin, Germany, as a tax attorney and co-founding partner for the Wilmer Cutler & Pickering law office located there.  

In the 1980s, Bryan spent much time in Washington, D.C., where he was legal advisor to the IRS commissioner and served as a House Ways and Means Committee staff member under former U.S. Rep. Hal Daub of Nebraska.  In this capacity, he helped shape the 1986 federal tax law.

Bryan was also a candidate for Nebraska governor in 2014.

He holds a law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law, and a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  

Bryan and his wife Leslie have two adult children, Steve and Lauryn.

The State Chamber has proudly served as the voice of Nebraska's business community since 1912.  With approximately 1,200 members statewide, the Chamber's mission is to protect all aspects of the free enterprise system, while making Nebraska an even better place to do business.