Vol. XXVII, Number 23
June 16, 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


Find Your Match On The ACEC Job Board

Summary of Most Recently Posted Resumes:

Civil Engineers—123
M/E Engineers—96
Project Management Engineers—44
Construction Services—26
Geotechnical Engineers—19

Last Five "Help Wanted" Open Positions:

Structural Engineer
Harrisburg, PA
MEP Engineer
Dallas, TX
Senior Mechanical Engineer
Seattle, WA
Civil Project Manager
Las Vegas, NV
Mechanical Engineer
Madison, WI

View These and Others at:
www.acec.org/jobbank

Summer Savings At The ACEC Job Board

Use the summer months to bolster your staff for the fall.

Advertise upcoming job openings between now and Labor Day and save 10 percent on ACEC's Job Board—just key SUMMER in the box that requests a promotional code on the Job Board.

Visit www.acec.org/jobbank to advertise job openings and post resumes. To save an additional 25 percent or place a banner ad, contact Patrick Brookover, pbrookover@acec.org or call 202-682-4341.

Financial Management At ACEC Bookstore

Good financial management is vital to the success of any business. Several titles available at the ACEC Bookstore can help explain the basics of good financial management and beyond.

Click here to see all titles on financial management.

The Essentials of Finance and Accounting for NonFinancial Managers
Edward Fields
            $19.95

This indispensable book demystifies the role that accounting and finance play in a corporation, and demonstrates how the right financial decisions are vital to attaining company goals.

Click here to order.

Smart Financial Management
William Sihler, Richard Crawford & Henry Davis
            $29.95

Long on practical guidance while refreshingly short on math, this guide helps owners and managers of small businesses solve everyday financial dilemmas and avoid potential problems.

Click here to order.

Member Discount Program Of The Month: Enterprise Fleet Services

Enterprise Fleet Services is a full-service management company for businesses with fleets between 15-125 vehicles.

With more than 45 fully-staffed offices nationwide, Enterprise supplies most makes and models of cars, light- and medium-duty trucks, and service vehicles to businesses across the United States.

For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.enterprise.com/fleets or call toll free 1-877-23-FLEET.

 
House Clears ACEC-Supported Spending Bills For Transportation, Iraq And Gulf Coast

Congress took action on important spending bills this week that will fund a number of programs critical to ACEC members, including additional spending for Iraq and Gulf Coast reconstruction that President Bush addressed at the recent Annual Convention.

The House cleared the F.Y. '07 Transportation-Treasury Appropriations bill, which funds highway, aviation and transit programs in 2007. The measure provides $39.1 billion for highways, a $3.5 billion increase over the 2006 level, which is also consistent with the funding level authorized in SAFETEA LU.

Notably, the House-passed bill restores the funding cut to the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) proposed in the Administration's F.Y. '07 budget request. For F.Y. 2007, the House bill provides $3.7 billion for the AIP. The bill provides a total of $15.2 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration—a $2.4 billion increase in the President's request.

In related news, the House and Senate cleared an Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill to provide critical funds for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as funding for the ongoing reconstruction activities along the Gulf Coast.

Nearly $20 billion is provided in the bill for hurricane relief. Of that amount, $3.7 billion is dedicated for Army Corps of Engineers levee repair work and other related flood control projects. Another $30.4 million was included in the bill to address similar flood control issues in Sacramento, CA.

The bill, which appropriates $94.5 billion for emergency programs, was signed by the President late Thursday.

New ACEC Business Publications Catalog In Your Mailbox

By now, ACEC members have received the new 2006 Business Practice Publications Catalog which was mailed with the May/June issue of Engineering Inc.

The handy new catalog features the entire lineup of business management publications and merchandise available at the ACEC Bookstore.

In an attractive and easy-to-read format, members can choose from 14 distinct business practice categories, or use the quick author/title index to sort through more than 180 publications and specially-selected engineering gift merchandise.

New items are added to the Bookstore weekly, so be sure to check the ACEC website www.acec.org regularly for the latest titles and special discounts.

Click here to place orders online; by telephone, 202-347-7474; by fax, 202-789-7220; or by mail send to: Publications Department; 1015 15th Street, NW; Washington, DC 20005.

ACEC Targeting Anti-Contractor Language in House Spending Bills

ACEC seeks to kill new language in spending bills that would limit or prohibit government agencies from employing private contractors.

The recently-passed House Energy and Water Development bill (H.R. 5427) includes a provision that prohibits the Army Corps of Engineers from implementing "an A-76 study or similar privatization process for Corps personnel employed to operate or maintain locks and dams."

This language comes on the heels of H.R. 5204, introduced earlier this spring, that declares all operations and maintenance work on locks and dams to be "inherently governmental," thus potentially barring the use of contractors to assist in these types of efforts.

ACEC is lobbying against both anti-contracting efforts. In addition, ACEC is working with coalition partners such as the Fair Competition Coalition, a broad, national alliance of companies and associations that support competition for commercial activities engaged in by the federal government.

Mary Atkinson, vice president of CDM Federal Programs Corp., noted that "we must be vigilant in fighting the continued efforts of Congress to deny contracting opportunities for our member companies and the private sector. These efforts go against established regulations that foster competition and allow the government to receive better, lower cost services."

On the Senate side, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) has introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill which seeks to renew support for so-called "blacklisting" rules. The amendment would bar contractors from federal work based on the mere allegation that the firm violated federal tax, labor and employment, environmental, antitrust and consumer protection laws.

Dorgan's amendment is word-for-word the same as his "Honest Leadership and Accountability in Contracting Act of 2006," which he introduced earlier this year but was defeated when ACEC and its industry allies lobbied against it.

"We intend to put a stake through the heart of the new bill as well," said ACEC President Dave Raymond.

June Online Seminars

June 20: Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid in Project Management, David Gallimore, Ventura Project Group

Click here to register.

June 21: Client Expectations of Perfection, Jack Beemer, PE, David Evans and Associates, Inc.

Click here to register.

June 28: Service-Centered Selling, Mel Lester, The Business Edge

Click here to register.


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.


Click here to review past editions of the Last Word.

Click here to subscribe to the Last Word.