Vol. XXVII, Number 43
November 9, 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

Members Get 15 Percent Off Payroll Processing With New Paychex Agreement

ACEC is pleased to announce a new, bottom line benefit for member companies through an agreement with Paychex, a leading provider of payroll preparation services to hundreds of thousands of firms nationwide.

Under the agreement, ACEC member firms can receive a 15 percent discount on payroll processing and selected human resource services set-up fees. ACEC member firms already using Paychex can also receive the new discount benefit.

Paychex assumes full responsibility for the accuracy and timeliness of all client payroll tax deposits and returns, and services including new-hire reporting and flexible employee payment options.

Call Paychex today at 800-PAYCHEX (800-729-2439) for details and a no-obligation cost analysis. Mention code 5850.

This new money-saving opportunity for ACEC members is the latest in a long list of business advantages that come with your membership.

Click here to review the list of member benefits—you'll be glad you did.

Early Bird Deadline Approaching For Adaptive Leadership Strategies Forum

December 6-8, Miami

Friday, November 17 is the cutoff date for early registration prices for Adaptive Leadership Strategies: A Forum for A/E/C Professionals being held December 6-8 in Miami, co-sponsored by ACEC, AIA and Turner University.

This unique event is constructed to help CEOs, principals, senior managers, and company officers take on everyday challenges and anticipate change. This is the industry's only leadership forum to showcase the wisdom, vision and ideas of leading A/E/C futurists.

Facilitators of this forum will be:

Paul S. Chinowsky, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado
James I. Mitnick, Senior Vice President, Turner Construction Company
James P. Cramer, Chairman, The Greenway Group
Jack Tanis, Director, Applied Research and A & D Alliances, Steelcase Inc.

Attendees will gain important insights on a far-ranging list of topics from "hot" industry trends to the economic and social issues you confront, to a look at one-, three-, and ten-year business cycles.

Click here for additional information and to register.

Nov. Online Seminar Examines Successful Project Planning

November 14

Successful Project Planning for Engineering Consulting Firms—a special three-hour online course to be offered from 1-4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 14—looks at how to ensure a successful project planning process, and what benefits it brings to all involved. Gary Bates of Roenker Bates Group, will examine project planning in every aspect.

Participants will earn approximately 3 PDHs.

Click here for more information and to register.

NAVFAC To Reveal '07 Fiscal Plans At Next Market Forecast Event

November 16, ACEC Headquarters and Online

The ACEC Institute for Business Management presents Joseph E. Gott, assistant chief engineer for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), at the next Market Forecast Series event, Thursday, November 16, at ACEC headquarters in Washington, D.C. Gott will share the latest information on NAVFAC's plans for fiscal year 2007.

The on-site event will begin with a luncheon at noon. For those not in the D.C. area who are interested in NAVFAC activities, the event will be presented online as an interactive seminar from 12:30–1:30 p.m.

For additional information and to register, click here, or call La'Creshea Makonnen at
202-682-4338.

Nearly 600 Searchable Jobs Posted

More Than 3,000 Searchable Resumes Available to Advertising Employers

Last Five "Help Wanted" Open Positions:

Water Resources Project Manager
Sarasota, FL
Civil Engineer
Westerville, OH
Civil Engineer
Naples, FL
Civil Engineer
Milwaukee, WI
Geotechnical Engineer
Redmond, WA

Summary of Most Recently Posted Resumes:

Geotechnical Engineers—341
Civil Engineers—1,673
Water/Wastewater Engineers
578
Management—104
Transportation Engineers—468

View These and Other Resumes and Jobs on ACEC's Job Board
www.acec.org/jobbank

Create An Effective, Positive Workplace With ACEC Bookstore Publications

Better Than Perfect
Dale Dauten

$19.99

Dale Dauten explores how the best bosses, employees and vendors think, learn and communicate optimally.

Click here to order.

Be the Boss Your Employees Deserve
Ken Loyd

$15.99

This groundbreak-
ing book takes you through the entire process of building a work environment that is exactly what your employees want and deserve.

Click here to order.

Click on a title or image above to learn more about each publication. Visit the ACEC Bookstore at http://store.acec.org to see our full catalog.

 
Power Shift In Congress Creates Opportunities, Challenges For ACEC


Likely new Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
A surge of Election Day wins is expected to put both House and Senate Democrats in the majority in the next Congress.

While ACEC's business agenda will remain unchanged in the new Congress, the shift in power may offer the Council new opportunities to secure more federal funds for infrastructure, while also posing challenges in the areas of health care, taxes, and other business issues.

"ACEC has always worked well with House and Senate members on both sides of the aisle," said ACEC President Dave Raymond. "Many of the issues that we advocate, notably greater investment in highways, airports, water systems, and energy infrastructure, lend themselves to bipartisan support, so we will look for opportunities to work with the new majority."

Raymond added that a number of strong industry allies lost their re-election bids on Tuesday, including Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Senator Jim Talent (R-MO). Overall, however, 86 percent of the candidates supported by the Council through ACEC/PAC prevailed on Election Day.

The final margin in the House will give Democrats over 230 seats, versus approximately 200 seats for Republicans. Last Word will include a complete listing of final vote tallies in next week's edition.

The election of a number of moderate, pro-business Democrats may lead the likely new Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), to move her party to the political center. The very tight margin in the Senate will also require both parties to work cooperatively in the coming two years, and may serve to temper concerns in the business community over an aggressive anti-business agenda.

"I expect the new Democrat majority will focus on moving the appropriations bills in a timely manner, and look for bipartisan initiatives, such as the reauthorization of the airports construction program (Vision 100), that will attract broad support," said Raymond.

House Democrat leaders are also expected to do more outreach to the business community to build a broader base of support.

Photos/Film Clips Sought For New Membership Video

ACEC is developing a video for use by Member Organizations and ACEC in membership recruitment and general PR, and is seeking a few "terrific action shots" of member firms' projects in process, or member firms' employees at work.

Our videographer has asked for very high resolution still photos or video clips. Do you have an interesting photo or video?

Please let us know and send it along as quickly as possible, but no later than November 17, to Alan Crockett, acrockett@acec.org, or mail it to: Alan Crockett, Director, Public Relations and Media, ACEC, 1015 15th Street, NW, 8th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005. Phone is 202-682-4301.

Your submission should be accompanied by a short note telling us that you own the photo/film being submitted and that you give ACEC permission to use it in our membership recruitment and PR projects. Thank you.

AASHTO/ACEC Report On Improving The Quality Of Environmental Documents Available

ACEC and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) are working together to promote a joint publication, produced as part of a cooperative effort with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which provides guidance to enhance the environmental review process. To secure a copy of the publication, click here.

The objective of improving and streamlining the environmental review process has long been a priority of ACEC. The Council, working with industry allies, was successful in securing provisions in last year's SAFETEA-LU legislation that will expedite environmental reviews while ensuring that needed infrastructure projects can go forward.

Produced by an ACEC/AASHTO/FHWA working group, the report focuses on three areas in need of upgrading: quality and clarity of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents, the legal sufficiency of NEPA documents and the training and education related to NEPA and environmental documentation.

The report makes a number of specific suggestions for strengthening the content and format of NEPA-required documents, including the use of a new "blueprint" that organizes required information more effectively. In addition, the report provides valuable information on common documentation trouble areas, as well as checklists and methods for addressing these issues.

ACEC Unveils New Digital Engineering Inc.

Engineering Inc., ACEC's award-winning magazine, is now being distributed in an electronic format, as well as by print. Watch for it in your email in-box next week.

The new digital Engineering Inc. format will enable ACEC to reach many more readers.

All employees of ACEC member firms are eligible to receive the magazine as a benefit of membership. Those who normally receive the printed issue of Engineering Inc. will continue to do so.

Readers of the new digital magazine will find easy navigation throughout the publication, including the latest innovative media technology such as page turning, hyperlinks, email links, word and topic searches.

For further information about receiving the new digital Engineering Inc., contact Andrea Keeney, staff editor, at 202-682-4347 or akeeney@acec.org.

ACEC Members Discuss Hazardous Waste Issues With EPA


Mary Atkinson, chair of the EPA Action Group
Members of the Environment & Energy Committee's EPA Action Group met this week with key EPA hazardous waste officials to discuss a variety of current contractor issues and other hot topics. Topics included Superfund audits, EPA Inspector General reviews, EPA's Hurricane Katrina efforts, implementation of the government-wide smart card requirements, value engineering, and other issues related to EPA's management of its hazardous waste programs.

The chair of the EPA Action Group, Mary Atkinson of CDM, commented that the meeting "provided valuable insight on EPA's hazardous waste program and offered members an opportunity to discuss important contracting issues first-hand with EPA officials."

EPA officials also commented favorably on the benefits of meeting with engineering firms as EPA strives to improve the efficiency of its programs and contracting processes.

One key item of discussion centered on EPA's reaffirmation of value engineering. EPA is developing databases that will catalog critical project information, such as lessons learned and the availability of equipment used in past projects. This information will better enable EPA to apply value engineering principles to future and ongoing projects.

ACEC meets regularly with EPA officials to discuss hazardous waste and other issues of concern to the industry. For information on the EPA Action Group and future meetings, contact David Kunz, ACEC's director of environmental & energy programs at dkunz@acec.org.

New EJCDC Contracts Essential For Key Engineering Projects

EJCDC has released 10 revised and updated contracts.

Six of the contracts address environmental remediation agreements. These documents will most typically be used after there has been a preliminary investigation of the site and the owner has determined that remedial action is necessary or likely to be required:

  • Owner/Environmental Remediator, Fixed Price R-520
  • Environmental Remediator/Subcontractor, Fixed Price R-521
  • Owner/Environmental Remediator, Cost Plus R-525
  • Environmental Remediator/Subcontractor, Cost Plus R-526
  • Owner/Environmental Remediator, General Conditions R-700
  • Environmental Remediator/Subcontractor, General Conditions R-750

Two of the new and revised EJCDC contracts respond to the needs of geotechnical engineers. Although geotechnical engineering is a very specialized aspect of engineering and most firms do not have the in-house expertise to do this type of work, some owners request their engineers handle this for them as a part of their services:

  • Owner/Geotechnical Engineer Agreement E- 530
  • Engineer/Geotechnical Engineer Agreement E-564

Lastly, two EJCDC documents focus on agreements between the engineer and architect and the engineer and consultant:

  • Engineer/Architect Agreement E-568—intended for use when an engineer employs an architect as an independent professional associate to provide services during design and construction.
  • Engineer/Consultant Agreement E-570—the engineer may employ such consultants as is deemed necessary because of lack of in-house expertise or time demands.

All EJCDC documents will be discounted by 10 percent between now and December 31, 2006. Click here to place an EJCDC contract order.


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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