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Volume XXIII,
Number 22
June 28, 2002
1015 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-347-7474
Fax
202-898-0068
www.acec.org
E-mail acec@acec.org
Ellen
Mullally, Editor
Francis George, Production Manager
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Business
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FAA Official To Headline July Market Forecast Series Event
Kate Lang, director of the Office of Airport Planning and Programming at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will be the featured speaker at the next Market Forecast Series event on July 11 to brief members on new projects and security requirements at the agency. Join us at ACEC headquarters or dial in and participate via teleconference and the Internet. To register, contact Anna Johnson (ajohnson@acec.org, 202-347-7474).
Fall Conference- Business Strategies
ACEC's 2002 Fall Conference will be held Oct. 23-26 at the breathtaking Westin Rio Mar Beach Resort in Puerto Rico. Learn strategies for "Surviving the Employee Challenge," and get the latest intelligence on "IT Threats and Opportunities." Sessions are also planned on "Engineering Services in the Post 9/11 Economy" and "Bolstering America's Infrastructure."ACEC attendees are being offered the following discounted room rates: Mountain View - $175 single/double; Ocean View - $200 single/double; and Ocean Front - $215 single/double. Contact the Westin for reservations at 1-800-4-RIO-MAR (474-6627) and reference "ACEC" to receive the discounted rates.
Registration details will be mailed next month. For more information, call ACEC's Meetings and Conventions Department at 202-347-7474.
EEA 2003 Is Just Around The Corner
The Call for Entries brochure for the 2003 Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) competition is being mailed with the July/August issue of Engineering Inc. The deadline for submitting materials is Jan. 10, 2003, and the EEA Gala Evening is scheduled for March 18, 2003, in Washington, D.C. For additional copies of the Call for Entries brochure or for more information on the EEA competition, contact Daisy Nappier (202-347-7474, dnappier@acec.org).A Useful Recruiting Tool
Is your firm looking for qualified candidates to fill a job? AECWorkforce.com, an Internet recruitment service exclusive to the design and construction industry, can help. ACEC members receive 10 percent off the membership fee. Go to AECWorkforce.com before Aug. 1 to find out how you can be automatically entered tin a drawing to receive a FREE Kenneth Cole briefcase.Shape Your Firm's Future With OPR!
Organizational Peer Review (OPR) provides a confidential review of your firm's processes and procedures. Administered by trained professional engineers with at least 15 years of design experience, OPR can help you shape your firm's future.More than 1,100 design firms have used ACEC's Peer Review Program to improve firm and client communications. "I would strongly recommend the ACEC Peer Review Program to all member firms," said David Fuller of Topsham, Maine-based Wright-Pierce. "This was our second Peer Review, and we benefited significantly." For details on the Peer Review Program, contact Emily Guerrero (peerreview@acec.org, 202-682-4324).
Wake Up Call — ACEC Narrowly Defeats Kennedy Anti-Outsourcing AmendmentACEC and its industry allies pulled out a narrow 50-49 victory Wednesday in defeating an anti-outsourcing amendment to the Senate's F.Y. 2003 Defense Authorization Bill. Had it passed, the bottom lines of member firms doing business with the Department of Defense-a federal client that purchases over $2 billion a year in engineering services-would have been jeopardized.The amendment, introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), was very similar to one introduced in the House last month by Reps. Tom Allen (D-Maine) and Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) that was also defeated through ACEC's efforts. "The close margin of this vote should be a wake-up call to us all on the growing threat to our livelihoods and the corresponding importance of our national advocacy efforts and our PAC," said ACEC President Dave Raymond. See Follow-Up Action below for members to take additional steps. Leading figures in support of ACEC's efforts were Sens. John Warner (R-Va.) and Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.), as well as Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), John Breaux (D-La.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.). ACEC advocated a Yea vote on the Warner motion to "table" (or kill) the Kennedy Amendment. A Nay vote was in opposition to ACEC's position.
FOLLOW-UP ACTION
ACEC Rallies Behind Baucus Proposal To Increase Highway FundingACEC is supporting a bill introduced this week by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) that would boost highway spending by more than $2.5 billion per year without raising the gas tax.The Maximum Economic Growth for America through the Highway Trust Fund (MEGA TRUST) Act (S. 2678) would credit the Trust Fund with the interest on its balance and the revenue lost due a lower taxation rate for ethanol. The bill would also extend the Highway Trust Fund and basic highway user taxes. While there is currently no corresponding legislation in the House, passage of this bill is an important first step in boosting transportation funding. Click HERE for a sample letter to help secure co-sponsors for the MEGA TRUST Act, or contact T.J. Schulz (202-347-7474 or tschulz@acec.org) for more information. Kentucky Brings ACEC To 70 Percent Of Full National Name Unity
Kentucky is the 36th MO to adopt the new ACEC name. That means 70 percent of the Council's MOs have made the change to the new "national brand."
Randall Russell, president of ACEC/Kentucky said: "Kentucky is pleased to join the rest of the ACEC member organizations in subscribing to a national name brand that will help strengthen the clout of both the states and national organization in pursuing important legislative objectives."
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