Record Attendance At 2005 Leadership Orientations At the 2005 Leadership Orientation at ACEC headquarters from the left: ACEC Chairman Ed Mulcahy, ACEC/Tennessee Executive Director Candy Toler, ACEC/Tennessee President-elect William Johnson and ACEC President Dave Raymond. Sixty-five ACEC State Member Organization leaders from throughout the nation took part in the 2005 Leadership Orientations held at ACEC headquarters in Washington. The one-and-one-half day briefings conducted over the last three weeks, featured detailed presentations by ACEC department heads. Specific benefits and services available to member firms through the ACEC national organization were highlighted. "Very good presentation and content," said Lawrence Woodbury, ACEC/North Dakota president-elect. "It filled in a significant information gap on ACEC goals and objectives. It will help me significantly with my state MO responsibilities." "It was a very comprehensive presentation," said ACEC/Nebraska President Mike Gorman. "A great overview of everything ACEC National does." "A very good overview of ACEC's resources," said ACEC/Washington President Kathy Robertson. "It also was a great opportunity to meet other MOs and officers—it puts real faces to the resources." "This really helped," said ACEC/North Carolina President-elect Richard Wells. "It should be required of all new MO presidents."

Leadership Orientation—Attendee Roster
ACEC Chairman Edward J. Mulcahy ACEC President David A. Raymond ACEC/Alabama President-Elect Forest Wilson ACEC/Arizona President Kenneth Feyen ACEC/Arkansas President-Elect Jeffrey D. Geurian CELSOC National Director Bartlett W. Patton Jeff Burgess ACEC/Colorado President-Elect Stuart D. Monical ACEC/Georgia President Bruce A. Moulds President-Elect Richard K. Little Executive Director Thomas C. Leslie ACEC/Hawaii President-Elect Barry Jim On National Director Roy K. Yamashiro Executive Director Ginny Wright ACEC/Idaho National Director Sam Matthews ACEC/Illinois President-Elect Peter Mesha National Director Thomas L. Jester ACEC/Indiana President Gregory L. Henneke National Director Martin A. Wessler Secretary John E. Kupke ACEC/Iowa President Patrick D. Eikenberry President-Elect John C. Bender Executive Director David H. Scott ACEC/Kansas President-Elect Mike Olson National Director Kevin Honomichl ACEC/Kentucky President-Elect Paul M. West National Director Randall W. Russell Executive Director George Binder ACEC/Louisiana President-Elect James P. Ledet ACEC/Maryland President Daniel T. Cheng Vice President Harvey M. Floyd National Director Kunal Gangopadhyay Executive Director Jim Otradovec, III		ACEC/Massachusetts President Beth Larkin National Director Robert R. Vokes Robin S. Greenleaf ACEC/Metropolitan Washington President Debrethann R. Cagley Orsak Executive Director James H. Johnson ACEC/Michigan President-Elect James Escamilla Executive Director Ron Brenke ACEC/Missouri National Director Scott M. Smith ACEC/Montana President David Zahller ACEC/Nebraska President Michael N. Gorman President-Elect Kyle A. Anderson Past President Loren M. Steenson Executive Director Kristin Crawford ACEC/New Hampshire President Francis O'Callaghan President-Elect Chris Mulleavey ACEC/New Jersey President John G. Finn ACEC/New Mexico Executive Director Diane Snyder ACEC/New York President Charles J. Franzese President-Elect Bradley J. Fisher ACEC/North Carolina President-Elect Richard C. Wells Executive Director Kathryn Sawyer ACEC/North Dakota President-Elect Lawrence Woodbury ACEC/Nevada President Larry V. Carroll ACEC/Pennsylvania President-Elect Mark J. Magalotti ACEC/Tennessee President-Elect William H. Johnson Executive Director Candy Toler Texas CEC Chairman Don Durden ACEC/Utah Executive Director Michael Smith ACEC/Virginia President-Elect Michael W. Matthews ACEC/Washington President Kathleen Robertson

White House Requests $17 Billion For Gulf Coast Infrastructure President Bush has asked Congress to allocate $17 billion in previously approved funds towards the replacement of critical infrastructure and facilities damaged from recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. In addition to damaged levees and roadways, the funds will be used to rebuild two Veterans Administration hospitals and numerous military facilities. The President's request does not include new funds, but seeks to allocate funds from the $60 billion in aid already approved by Congress. The request also includes $2.3 billion in "rescissions" that would cancel excess funds in other federal accounts unrelated to the hurricane relief effort. Included in this request is a proposed $166 million in unspent funds in the Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund (SRF) program, which goes to fund wastewater projects at the state level. ACEC and its industry allies have urged Congress to preserve funding for the SRF account, arguing that cuts will have a detrimental effect on critical water projects, public health and the economy. Congress is in the process of reviewing the President's request, and is expected to act before the end of the month.

Brooks Act Compliance Reinforced In Recent Federal Regulation Ruling The Federal Acquisition Regulation Council (FAR) has declared in a final rule that all architectural and engineering services contracts must comply with the procedures of the Brooks Architect-Engineers Act of 1972. This final rule implements Section 1427(b) of the Services Acquisition Reform Act of 2003 which was enacted to re-emphasize that all A/E procurements must be procured under FAR Part 36. Also, the rule reiterates that orders may not be placed under General Services Administration multiple award schedule (MAS) contracts or government-wide task and delivery order contracts (GWAC) unless the contracts are awarded using FAR Part 36. The final rule was adopted on September 20, 2005. The Brooks Act was named for the former Congressman Jack Brooks, author of the 1972 law that established QBS as the procurement process by which architects and engineers are selected for design contracts with the federal government. Under the Brooks Act, A/E contracts are negotiated and awarded on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualifications, as opposed to the lowest bid. Even though federal agencies are required to use Qualifications-Based-Selection under the Brooks Act, federal contracting officers have been known in recent years to order A/E services off of the Federal Supply Schedule. This final rule reinforces that all federal agencies need to comply with qualifications based selection under FAR Part 26. Click here to obtain a copy of the rule.