ACEC - The Last Word February 10, 2006

Vol. XXVII, Number 6
February 10, 2006
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

ACEC Means
Business

IT Titles Available At ACEC Bookstore
Click here and shop the ACEC Bookstore for several publications on information technology and all other industry subjects.
Information Technology Project Management, 2nd Edition
Jack T. Marchewka
$84.95
This innovative book focuses on how to create measurable organizational value (MOV). Use MOV to create a solid foundation for making decisions throughout the project's lifecycle as well as for integrating project management and IT concepts, tools, and techniques.
Click here to order.
Information Technology: Strategic Decision-Making for Managers
Henry C. Lucas, Jr. $70.95
Information Tech-
nology: Strategic Decision-Making for Managers focuses on the key know-
ledge and skills needed for managing technology and obtaining the maximum benefits from investing in IT.
Click here to order.
The Executive's Guide to Information Technology
John Baschab & Jon Piot $90
The Executive's Guide to Informa-
tion Technology is
a sophisticated and comprehensive guide to running a cost-effective, efficient, and business delivery-focused corporate information technology unit.
The book provides specific policies, approaches, and tools for each critical IT management function from application management to vendor management.
Click here to order.

New 9% A/E Tax Deduction Seminar
The New 9% A/E Tax Deduction: How Engineering Firms Can Implement and Benefit from This New Tax Law
March 14
1:30–3:30pm ET, Online
Recent changes to federal tax regulations prompted by ACEC may have a significant and positive impact on your firm's taxable income.
In this online session, tax experts from the renowned financial consulting firm Ernst & Young explain how to get the most from these modifications.
The session will:

Explain the basic operation of 199 and the interpretative guidance relative to the Engineering Industry;
Offer practical insights on how to calculate the qualified production activities deduction and more.

Members $199/non-members $249
Click here to register or for more information.

Upcoming Online Seminars
February 15
Branding: Standing out from the Crowd
Raphael Shammaa, Tactical Branding
Branding expert Raphael Shammaa will present what branding a firm is all about, how to influence the way in which prospective clients perceive you, and how to differentiate yourself from the competition.
Click here to register.
February 21
Improved Server Management for Design Projects in Design Firms
Chris Pinckney, CIO, PSOMAS and Alan Saldich, Vice President, Riverbed Technology
This innovative session will look at new approaches to solving firm IT issues, including application acceleration, eliminating redundant WAN traffic, (reducing bandwidth utilization by 60%-90%), while increasing the speed of applications up to 100 times.
Click here to register.
February 22
Negotiating Profitable Fees
Steven J Isaacs PE, The Coxe Group
This useful session will focus on the time and energy required for good negotiation preparation, and a variety of techniques to achieve successful results.
Click here to register.

President's 2007 Budget Opens Year-long Spending Debate

President Bush

President Bush's F.Y. 2007 budget submission to Congress includes some expected funding increases, including increased transportation funding to reflect the recently passed highway bill.

The budget includes significant cuts as well, setting the stage for a tough Congressional season as lawmakers evaluate priorities for the coming year.

"This is really the first step in a long process," said ACEC President Dave Raymond. "Now that the President has offered his budget proposal, Congress has a major role to play in the final spending decisions, and ACEC will be working closely with House and Senate leaders to advance key industry priorities."

Increase in Transportation
The President's request includes $65.6 billion in transportation spending, a slight increase over current spending.

This is the first budget submission since Congress passed the new highway and transit program in 2005 (SAFETEA LU).

The President's budget adheres to SAFETEA LU's highway spending level of $39 billion, and provides $8.8 billion in transit funding, an increase respectively of $3.5 billion and $343 million over the 2006 level.

Aviation, Wastewater Down
Funding for the Federal Aviation Administration decreases due to a forecasted drop in Aviation Trust Fund revenue, as well as a diversion of funding from airport infrastructure to the operations account. Funding for airport improvements is reduced from $3.55 billion to $2.7 billion, although Congress is likely restore most or all of the funding for this popular program.

The Administration proposes to maintain Brownfields clean-up funding at $89 million. The Superfund program would receive a slight increase from the $1.23 billion allocated this year to $1.26 billion in F.Y. '07.

While funding for drinking water projects remains essentially level at $842 million, the budget proposes to reduce funding for wastewater projects to $688 million from the current $887 million.

The budget for energy-related research increases from $3.6 billion to $4.1 billion, but funding for the Department of Energy's Environmental Cleanup program falls to $5.8 billion from the current $6.6 billion.

ACEC is already engaged with industry allies to lobby Congress to ensure that key environmental programs are adequately funded.

More Katrina Funding Expected, Foreign Assistance Increased
The President's budget provides $5.8 billion for the Corps of Engineers' Civil Works program, a decrease from the current year, although the 2006 budget was boosted significantly in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and Congress is expected to approve additional "supplemental" spending for Gulf Coast work this year.

The Millennium Challenge Account, the Administration's new foreign assistance initiative designed to provide targeted aid to poor countries that are committed to democratic government and free market economies, received a significant increase in funding from $1.8 billion in '06 to $3 billion.

For more detailed information on the President's 2007 budget proposal, click here.

New Legislative Summit Expands Annual Convention's Government Advocacy Efforts

Former House Speaker
Newt Gingrich
ACEC's traditional advocacy program at the Annual Convention has been expanded into a three-day "Legislative Summit" featuring key political speakers, agency visits and advanced issue education.
Attendees at the upcoming Annual Convention—April 30-May 3 in Washington D.C.—will benefit from the Summit's expanded advocacy activity including multi-day Capitol Hill visits, and a variety of federal agency officials providing unique insights into business opportunities in the coming year.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will discuss new directions in American politics during the Opening General Session, Monday May 1, while former chairmen of the Democratic and Republican National Committees, Terry McAuliffe and Ed Gillespie, will debate the current state of U.S. politics during the May 1 Keynote Luncheon.
Another Convention highlight will be the 40th Annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala on Tuesday May 2. Known industry-wide as the "Academy Awards" of engineering, the annual black-tie affair will recognize 163 major engineering achievements from across the nation.
The Convention also features a wide variety of business education sessions and outstanding social events.
Make your reservations today! Click here to view Convention registration information. Register online by March 31 and receive an additional 5 percent off the registration fee.
(This discount applies only to online member and non-member registrants and cannot be combined with any other discounts.)

ACEC's Online Bookstore Offers More Than Industry Publications
ACEC's online bookstore is more than a source of the latest books on effective engineering business management.
The bookstore is also the best place to acquire special gifts with unique engineering themes.

Tool-shaped engineering chocolates
Browse the latest merchandise offerings and choose from an expanded gift list that includes: creative tool-shaped engineering shaped chocolates (perfect for Valentine's Day or anytime); a humorously artistic crumpled blueprint paperweight; stylish umbrellas prominently featuring the ACEC logo, or a wide collection of engineering-theme dress ties for the engineer who wants his appearance to match the excellence of his work.

Assorted engineering ties
Timothy Mills of TAMS Consultants in Williamsburg, VA., used the ACEC Online Bookstore to purchase holiday gifts for his staff and their children including three blueprint paperweights, three Rubber Duckys, a T-shirt and a Toddler Tee.
"I searched the Internet for 'engineering gifts' and surprisingly the ACEC Website came up," Mills said. "Giving these gifts turned out great!"

Crumpled blueprint paperweight
Linda Mastaglio, of TWI Publishing in Van, Texas said:. "Offering Valentine's gifts (cool ones at that!) through the ACEC bookstore is nothing short of brilliant. It's just one more example of how ACEC continues to stay ahead of the industry in every way. I'm going to forward the message to my clients and encourage them to take advantage of your gift options."
To browse gift merchandise available at the ACEC Online Bookstore click here. Further information is available by contacting Mary Jaffe at mjaffe@acec.org.

World Bank Official Meets With ACEC International Committee

Gregs Thomopulos, left, chairman of ACEC's International Committee confers with Will Center, World Bank advisor and director of Business Liaison, and Janice Mazur, senior procurement consultant with Development Finance International, Inc., during a meeting at ACEC headquarters this week to discuss international projects and other funding issues related to international engineering. Other committee participants included: Susana Florian, Parsons Brinckerhoff; J. Ellis Turner, CDM; Elke Muzikar, Malcom Pirnie; S.G. Papadopoulos, PKP Engineers; Tom McNulty, Metcalf & Eddy; Dave De Lizza, Pennoni Associates; Carol Bell, Power Engineers; and Sergio Pecori, Hanson Professional Services.

Copyright © 2006 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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