Former ACEC Chairman Steve Goddard (left), ACEC/Indiana Executive Director Stephanie Morse and ACEC/Indiana PAC Trustee Phil Beer dial for end-of-year PAC dollars.

ACEC of Indiana became the latest state organization to achieve its fundraising objectives for 2004.

The Hoosier State joins Nebraska, Alaska, Kentucky, and Tennessee as the state organizations that have crossed the finish line on their fundraising goals for the year.

"The impact of the issues before Congress right now, including TEA-21 reauthorization, tax changes, tort reforms, and others are huge for our industry," said ACEC/Indiana PAC Trustee Phil Beer of USI Consultants, Inc. "If we want to score wins in the new Congress that will make our firms more profitable, we all need to support ACEC/PAC."

Beer, together with ACEC/Indiana Executive Director Stephanie Morse and former ACEC Chairman Steve Goddard, made a last minute push with phone calls to Indiana members asking for donations. The effort worked, propelling Indiana well past its 2004 goal. "Peer-to-peer contact works," said Goddard. "States still have time to meet their 2004 fundraising goals, and using this approach will put them over the top."

Several states, including Connecticut, Michigan, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are close to reaching their goals. ACEC/PAC trustees and state leaders continue their efforts to meet assigned goals by the end of the month. For an updated chart showing individual state progress, click here.

On December 3, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published an advanced notice of proposed rule making, announcing its intention to revisit the issue of establishing new size standards for small businesses. The agency initially launched this effort earlier in the year, but its proposed new standard ran into strong opposition from ACEC and other organizations and was withdrawn.

Federal agencies use SBA standards to determine the eligibility of firms for small business programs and federal set-aside contracts. SBA's announcement launches the latest round of changes that it seeks to make to simplify the definition of small businesses within several industries.

Earlier this year, SBA published a proposed rule that would have converted the current engineering firm size standard of $4 million in gross receipts or less, to a new standard of 50 employees or less. This proposal went further by retaining a cap of $7 million in annual gross receipts. ACEC objected to the proposed standard, arguing that two separate size tests (employees and gross receipts) was not necessary and would be burdensome for engineering firms. The Council also cited flaws in SBA's proposed employee count, which would consider full and part-time employees and interns equally. In light of these concerns, SBA withdrew the proposed standard and committed to work with the Council in formulating a new proposal.

In its recent advanced notice of proposed rule making, SBA seeks comments from the public on several issues that were raised during its previous rule making attempt. SBA will review comments it receives from the public and plans to hold a series of stakeholder meetings prior to deciding the next course of action.

ACEC has established a task force of small, medium and large firm principals to address the size standard issue. The task force will respond to SBA's advanced notice and continue to assist SBA as they move toward a new proposed rule. To view SBA's advanced notice of proposed rule making, click here.