Month In Review
Vol. XXV, Number 35
November 2, 2004
1015 15th Street, NW
8th Floor
Washington, DC 20005-2605
202-347-7474
Fax 202-898-0068
www.acec.org
E-mail acec@acec.org
Alan D. Crockett, Director, PR
Ann Brandstadter,
Editor/Designer |
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ACEC Means
Business
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Two New Design Guides Coming Soon
Two new ACEC publications, Design/Contract- Build and Design-Build Operate, will be available in mid-November.
Pre-order today by visiting ACEC’s online bookstore at www.acec.org/publications.
Special pre-order prices: Members $69/non-members $89.
After production prices: Members $89/non-members $109. |
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Nov. Market Forecast Series To Discuss U.S. Trade
Barbara Bradford of the US Trade & Development Agency, will highlight the November Market Forecast Series, at noon, November 18 at Maggiano’s Restaurant, Tyson’s Corner, Virginia.
The event will be jointly hosted by ACEC National and ACEC/Metropolitan Washington.
Visit www.acec.org/education for more information and to register.
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November Education Calendar
November 5-6
CEO Retreat, Pointe South Mountain Resort, Phoenix, AZ
Network with professionals who face the same challenges as you, and gain insight on maintaining your firm as a profitable leader in its industry.
Visit www.acec.org/education for more information and to register.
Online Seminars
November 10
Controlling Project Costs, Howard Birnberg, Association for Project Managers
November 17
Winning the Talent Wars,
Joyce Gioia, The Herman Group
Members $199/Non-members $249
All online seminars are on Wednesdays from 1:30pm to 3:00pm EDT.
For more information, please contact the Institute for Business Management at 202-347-7474 or Education@acec.org. |
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Experience The Power Of Peer Review
ACEC is offering a Halloween special on Peer Reviews. Register your firm for an Organizational Peer Review before Nov. 5 and have your registration fee waived—a $250 value!
To register, contact Kevin Wilson at kwilson@acec.org. |
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President Signs 9% A/E Tax Deduction;
ACEC Credited With “Impressive Victory”
On October 22, President George W. Bush signed into law a major tax cut for the engineering industry as part of the American Jobs Creation Act (H.R. 4520).
The Act provides a new, nine percent tax deduction for manufacturing companies and A/E firms for income derived from projects in the US. It will be phased in over six years.
The tax benefit was orginally intended only for manufacturing firms, but ACEC mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign to include A/E firms.
ACEC and its business allies also were successful in assuring that the new tax deductions apply to both large corporations and small businesses (such as partnerships, S-corporations and LLCs).
“This provision represents millions of dollars of direct benefit to ACEC members,” said ACEC Chairman Bill Howard. “This is what ACEC is all about. It is why we pay dues. It is why we support the PAC. This is indeed an impressive victory.”
Go to www.acec.org/advocacy/index.cfm for further information. |
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Engineering Inc. Wins Top National Award For Photographic Excellence
ACEC's bi-monthly magazine Engineering Inc., has been named winner of a 2004 Ozzie Award for best use of photography among similar-sized business magazines nationwide.
Presented by Folio Magazine, the Ozzie Awards is an annual competition open to all magazines for excellence in design.
More than 1,400 consumer, trade, specialty and general interest magazines were considered for top honors in this year’s competition. Competitors included such well-known magazines as Coastal Living and Popular Science. |
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Daggett Slated For ’06-’07 ACEC Chair Position;
Three Vice Chairs Nominated
Jeff Daggett |
Jeff Daggett, ACEC’s longest serving treasurer (2001 to 2004) and senior vice president of W&H Pacific of Bothell, Washington, has been nominated for ACEC Chairman for 2006-2007.
Nominated for 2005-07 Vice Chairmen are: Woody G. Germany, President of WGM Group, Inc. (Montana); Timothy Psomas, Chairman of the Board of PSOMAS (California); and Gerald Stump, Senior Associate of Wilbur Smith Associates (Tennessee).
Chairman of the Nominating Committee, Dan DeYoung, said, “We had exceptionally qualified candidates, covering a cross-section of ACEC membership, and who showed foresight and dedication to the Council’s activities.”
Ballots will be sent to national directors for voting by January 12, followed by an official announcement January 14. |
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ACEC’s 2004 Fall Conference In Portland:
“Best Conference I Have Ever Attended”
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| Republican William Bennett (left) and Democrat Howard Dean (right) squared off in a highly-contested Presidential election debate at the Fall Conference in Portland. |
“This was the best conference I have ever attended and I’ve been to a zillion conferences,” said Brien Gidlow, of Richard P. Arber Associates, Inc., in Denver.
“This has been a great experience,” said Gary Graham, of Schaumburg & Polk Inc., of Beaumont, Texas. “The concurrent sessions were well done with knowledgeable presenters and topics that are important to our companies.”
Those were the reactions from just two of the more than 750 attendees at the ACEC Fall Conference in Portland, Maine.
For Conference highlights, see the November/December issue of Engineering Inc. |
Portland Sets New ACEC/PAC Record;
States Working to Meet Year End Goals
Support for ACEC/PAC set a new record during the Portland Conference as ACEC members donated over $60,000 to support the industry’s agenda in Congress.
ACEC/PAC received support from Executive Committee members Steve Criscenzo of MACTEC, Tom Burke of Turner, Collie and Braden, and Doug Watson of Wade Trim, who raised significant contributions from colleagues in their firms.
Georgia’s National Director, Don Allen of Jordan, Jones and Goulding, was recognized for his fundraising leadership in the state, and ACEC Transportation Committee Chairman Jerry Stump of Wilbur Smith delivered checks totaling $6,000 from Tennessee members.
ACEC of Nebraska was honored in Portland as the first state to meet its 2004 fundraising goal. Since the Conference, Alaska also met its 2004 goal, while several states, including Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, West Virginia and Wyoming are coming close.
Further information is available by contacting ACEC/PAC Director Jenny Sheffield at jsheffield@acec.org. |
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ACEC/PAC Supports Brownback, Rogers
ACEC/PAC co-hosted a number of fundraising events in October with ACEC state organizations on behalf of key House and Senate candidates.
Sen. Sam Brownback
(R-KS) |
ACEC of Kentucky teamed with ACEC/PAC in hosting a successful fundraiser to support the re-election efforts of Congressman Hal Rogers, one of the so-called “cardinals” of the House Appropriations Committee by virtue of his chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security.
ACEC of Kansas also co-hosted a reception with ACEC/PAC in honor of Senator Sam Brownback, who has taken a leadership role in Congress in preserving the ability of engineering firms to use cash accounting.
“Political involvement through ACEC/PAC is the essential ingredient,” said ACEC/Kansas Executive Director Scott Heidner: "If we want to win in Congress, we’ve got to elect the right people, it’s that simple.” |
Copyright © 2004 by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). All rights reserved. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced, stored in any form of retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, photographic, or other means without the prior written permission of ACEC.
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