In a continuing sweep to become "one army, one uniform"—and thereby strengthen their collective political muscle and nationwide recognition—ACEC member organizations throughout the country continue to adopt the national name.

Oklahoma is now the 44th member organization of ACEC to change its name—from the Consulting Engineers Council of Oklahoma, to the American Council of Engineering Companies of Oklahoma (ACEC/Oklahoma).

Charles Darr, president of ACEC/Oklahoma

And New York—the birthplace almost 100 years ago of what eventually became the American Council of Engineering Companies—is now the 45th ACEC member organization to announce it has adopted the national name.

Charles Darr, president of ACEC/Oklahoma said: "Oklahoma, which has a long history of membership and contributions to the development of ACEC, has changed its name to achieve maximum, collective strength for consulting engineers in Oklahoma and throughout the nation. Our common identity is essential to our success."

It was a unanimous vote of its directors on June 8, that changed the name of the New York Association of Consulting Engineers (NYACE) to the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC/New York).

Michael Della Rocca, president of ACEC/New York

Michael Della Rocca, president of ACEC/New York, said: "When the consulting engineering industry acts and speaks with one voice, we strengthen our message and its impact. Almost a century ago, the first consulting engineers organization in the country was started in New York and named to appeal to a national audience — the Association of Architectural Engineers. Several years ago, the two distinct New York consulting engineering organizations representing New York City and the rest of the state were merged to reflect our unity of purpose on a statewide basis.

"Today, in order to once again consolidate our strength through adoption of a national name, while at the same time maintaining our local New York identity, we are proud to be known as ACEC New York."

Eric Flicker, ACEC Chairman said: "Having Oklahoma join the ACEC unified name campaign is important for us all. And now with New York—our founding state—also joining, we are very close to achieving the full advantage of common branding at both the national and state levels."

ACEC’s 1999-2000 Chairman, Leo Peters of Massachusetts, who launched initial research and effort for the national name change, said: "It has gone must faster than I had originally envisioned. The appeal of a good idea became irresistible."

Flicker, Raymond Meet With Rep. Boehner To Advocate AHP Benefits For ACEC Members

Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), chairman of the Education & the Workforce Committee.

Flicker and Raymond met with Rep. Boehner to reaffirm the bill’s importance to ACEC member firms, and to offer continued support in getting the bill through Congress.

Titled: "The Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2003," the proposed legislation would give businesses better access to affordable healthcare, and trim the ranks of the nation’s uninsured by allowing businesses to pool together through trade associations to purchase health insurance from a provider, or self-insure in the same manner as that of large employers and labor unions.

"The advantage to ACEC member firms is lower cost due to a national set of standards rather than different standards for individual states that have to be followed," said Derrell Johnson, president of ACEC’s Life/Health Trust. "Complying with a single, national standard would not only be less costly, but we also would be on the same footing as large firms and labor unions in regards to the ability to offer coverage."

ACEC currently offers its members the benefits of an Association Heath Plan, but individual state regulations at times hamper its effectiveness. In Maryland, for example, coverage is not offered to ACEC member firms that have less than 50 employees. The bill would create uniform regulations for all states and allow firms of all sizes to be covered.

Rep. Boehner said: "With healthcare costs continuing to rise sharply across the country, more and more employers and workers are sharing the burden of increased premiums. Importantly, the bill addresses both the access and cost issues at the heart of the healthcare reform debate, giving uninsured working families new hope for a solution that can give them access to quality healthcare."

ACEC members are encouraged to contact their Representatives and urge them to support H.R. 660. Click here for a draft letter to send to your member of Congress.

Both House And Senate Clear AIR-21 Reauthorization Bills With ACEC Streamlining Language

Rep. John Mica (R-Fla), Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee.

By a landslide vote of 418-8, the House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a $59 billion bill (H.R. 2115) to reauthorize the activities of the Federal Aviation Administration over the next four years. The bill, titled "Flight 100 — Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act," increases annual funding for airport infrastructure from the current level of $3.4 billion to $4.0 billion by F.Y. 2007.

The measure also includes comprehensive provisions written by ACEC that will improve the environmental permitting process for airport capacity projects.

On Thursday, the Senate passed its version of the AIR-21 reauthorization bill (S. 824), a three-year, $43.5 billion measure that increases funding for airport infrastructure from the current level of $3.4 billion to $3.6 billion in F.Y. 2006. It also contains ACEC-developed environmental streamlining provisions to expedite airport capacity projects.

"The bill increases the funding to airports to help build the capacity we need for the future economic growth. It also streamlines the environment review process for urgent airport capacity projects without weakening any of the underlying environmental statutes," said Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, Rep. John Mica (R-Fla).

With bills passed in both chambers, chances of passing an AIR-21 reauthorization package this year are brighter. ACEC will push for maximum funding and continued inclusion of environmental streamlining provisions in the final version of the bill.

For a summary of both AIR-21 reauthorization bills click here.

Procurement Advocacy Committee Promotes QBS, Outsourcing To House Members

From left: Diane Snyder, Executive Director of ACEC/New Mexico, Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Tim Psomas, ACEC Procurement Advocacy Committee Chairman, at a luncheon meeting at the Capital Hill Club.

"The Procurement Advocacy Committee is dedicated to improving the environment in which ACEC member companies operate," said Diane Snyder, committee member and executive director of ACEC/New Mexico.

During a lunch with Congressman Steve Pearce (R-NM), committee members voiced concern over repeated attempts to attach anti-outsourcing amendments to various appropriations and authorization bills. Discussion also focused on the industry’s support for environmental streamlining, a measure that Pearce, who serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, also supports.

The committee also met with representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Water Resource Division to discuss ACEC’s continued concerns regarding unfair competition. Over the past several years, ACEC members have reported many instances in which USGS competes for work at the state and local level with private engineering companies. ACEC is committed to resolving this conflict, despite the USGS belief that cases of competition are isolated. All ACEC members are strongly encouraged to report cases of competition from USGS to Camille Fleenor at cfleenor@acec.org.

"Best Practices" Webinar on Marketing/Business Development Available June 18 As part of ACEC’s "Best Practices" online series, "Developing Continuity of Work through Marketing/Business Development 101" will be presented June 18. The instructor for this interactive workshop, Ron Worth, CEO of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), will teach the intricacies of bringing in new clients by utilizing new, innovative marketing skills. The webinar will also address changing technology and e-commerce issues, what other firms are doing in marketing, the latest web sites and software available to maximize productivity, and improving a company’s bottom line. The "Best Practices" online series is part of ACEC’s Institute for Business Management (the premier educational resource on business management for the design industry.) This 90-minute webinar starts at 1:30 pm EDT. Click here for registration and details.

Click here to review past editions of the Last Word.