Benefits of Contracting Out to Private Sector

A long-awaited report analyzing the benefits of utilizing the private sector to deliver public infrastructure will be released shortly after Labor Day. The research underlying the report was conducted by the California-based Reason Foundation, a public policy research institute. The report is expected to present both trend data and economic analyses of the benefit of outsourcing commercial services to the private sector. It will examine how government can benefit from using private firms and why cost comparisons are not the best evaluative tool for public-private competition. The authors reviewed existing data and critically examined the use of private-sector consultants to deliver highways, water infrastructure, and other public facilities.

Engineering Executives Prep for Gore or Bush

What will a new federal administration mean to the A/E industry? What fiscal and regulatory changes are predicted? Executives attending ACEC's Senior Executives Institute (SEI) will be among the best-educated business leaders on November 7, 2000, when the nation casts its vote. With their first sessions scheduled in Washington, DC, less than a month prior to the election, SEI Class V executives will receive detailed insight into the social, technical, economic, environmental, and public policy trends shaping the marketplace and business climate for engineering firms and their clients. SEI executives will hear from inside-the-Capital-beltway experts who are frequently quoted in the media, such as Robert D. Reischauer, President of the Urban Institute; the Honorable Sidney L. Jones, former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Treasury; and Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution. With meetings orchestrated by the Brookings Institution, senior Washington officials will highlight opportunities and constraints of a Bush or Gore Administration, which should be incorporated in firms' visions and strategic plans. For more information on ACEC's comprehensive leadership development program, contact Maria Galvan or click here. Register now, as there are only five seats remaining in the October 14-19, 2000, class.

Streamlining and Overhead Regulations

ACEC's Transportation Committee will meet August 21-22 in Denver, CO, to craft the engineering industry's response to two recently proposed regulations. The Committee will focus on a proposed Federal Highway Administration/Federal Transit Administration (FHwA/FTA) regulation issued May 25, 2000, that seeks to implement the environmental streamlining mandates called for in Section 1309 of TEA-21 (the Transportation Equity Act). TEA-21 called on the federal government to ensure that . transportation planning and environmental considerations be better coordinated.. The Committee was actively involved in the development of the regulations but will review the proposal to be sure that ACEC's key issues have been addressed. Public comment on this regulation is due September 23, 2000. The Committee also will review FHwA. s regulations (Administration of Engineering and Design Related Services Contracts) commonly known as Section 307 and dealing with overhead caps. These regulations, printed in the July 18 Federal Register, have a public comment deadline of September 18. See the proposed streamlining regulations and associated public comments at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=fr25my00-40 . See the proposed overhead regulations and associated public comments at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=00-17774-filed.pdf . For more information, contact John Carney at ACEC.

ACEC/MO Joint Seminar

ACEC and CEC/Missouri are jointly sponsoring a seminar (Transforming Great Ideas Into Profitable Realities) in Kansas City, MO, and in St. Louis, MO, on September 22 and 29, 2000, respectively. The topic of great ideas is of interest to all companies because it all stems from great marketing. Seminar leader Michelle Fitzpatrick, CPSM, has 19 years of top-level experience in A/E/C marketing. Prior to founding her consulting firm, Marketivity, Inc., Fitzpatrick was Vice President, Corporate Development and Marketing, at an ENR -rated top-100 firm. She excels at bringing together technical staff, marketers and principals to develop and implement marketing programs that produce results and improve the bottom line. Fitzpatrick's efforts have led to unprecedented growth, significant market expansion, and hundreds of new client relationships for the firms with whom she has worked. In this seminar, she demonstrates how your ideas can be transformed into profitability. For more information on location, times, and registration, contact Dawn Hill at CEC/MO (573-634-4080), dhill@primelink.com or Nancy Mosely at ACEC.

ACEC's Membership Directory On-line

More than 16,000 users access ACEC's On-line Membership Directory each month at www.acec.org. "As a longtime ... user of the printed directory, I depended on it for everything," says Tom Jester of Edwards & Kelcey, Inc., Chicago, IL. "I recently started to use the ACEC On-line Directory and I don. t need 'the big book' anymore." Firms listed in the On-line Directory may be found by searching on a variety of variables, including a firm's state, engineering disciplines, name, to cite just a few. Among other advantages of ACEC's On-line Directory is its weekly update frequency, and the Internet accessibility increases firms' visibility and exposure. If you do not have access to the Internet, the ACEC 2000-01 Membership Directory will be available in a printed version upon request only. Fax your request for a printed directory (202-842-2436) or e-mail Sterlicia Rodney at ACEC no later than September 15.

Taming Internet Security Risks

When talking about the incidents that befell them, victims of computer hacker attacks often use the same discourse and manners as the victims of violent crimes and natural disasters. Fear, shock, anger, disbelief, and helplessness are common themes that all too often repeat across the globe at an increasing frequency. If you have a website, have you established systems to protect it? The first line of defense is security awareness. The second is technological know-how. The American Management Association book, The Complete Guide to Internet Security, by Mark S. Merkow and James Breithaupt, addresses vulnerabilities, common hacker tools, insider attacks, commercial security software, and more. This is one threat none of us can ignore. The Complete Guide to Internet Security, 356pp, 2000. #L-2928, $59.95, $6 s/h. Order by fax (202-789-7220) or e-mail publications@acec.org with Visa, Master-card, American Express, expiration date, contact name, street address, tel., e-mail.

Nominating Committee Seeks Candidatess

ACEC's Nominating Committee, chaired by Donald R. Trim, met recently to begin the search for a 2001-2002 slate of officers. "It is both personally and professionally rewarding to be a national officer, and I encourage interested members to consider this opportunity to serve the profession," said Trim. Member Organizations should submit nominations for President-elect and Vice President positions by September 15, 2000, to ACEC national headquarters: 1015 15th St., NW, Suite 802, Washington, DC 20005.

Editor: Francis George (fgeorge@acec.org)

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