Quick Fire Survey Results Which of the following most describes how your firm has been affected by the engineer shortage? (Results from October 16) Inability to find seasoned/experienced professionals: 29.7% Staff overburdened by heavy workload: 27.5% Inability to fill longstanding open staff position(s): 26.4% Outsourcing more work to foreign consultants: 16.4%

Over 775 Searchable Jobs Posted Over 12,700 Searchable Resumes Posted Over 1,900 Registered Employers Last Five "Help Wanted" Open Positions: Environmental Project Manager—Irvine, CA Network Administrator—Syracuse, NY Electrical Project Engineer—Various locations Drainage Engineer—Orlando, FL Consulting Engineers & Geologists—Eureka, CA A Sampling of Posted Resumes: Geotechnical Engineers—1,006 Water Resources/Wastewater Engineers—1,629 Transportation—1,396 Civil Engineers—2,282 Structural Engineers—1,629 Environmental Engineers—1,452 View These and Other Resumes and Jobs on ACEC's Job Board www.acec.org/jobbank

October Job Board Discount Ends Soon Post your open position on the ACEC Job Board before the end of October and receive 10 percent savings on any posting package you choose. Just enter the promo code OCT10 at the checkout. Mass market job boards may not have the right candidates. More and more, employers are looking to niche job boards to cover all their recruiting bases. By adding a niche job board, such as the ACEC Job Board, you get direct access to a focused group of qualified engineering talent specific to your needs. With over 775 posted A/E/C industry jobs and more than 13,000 candidate resumes, the ACEC Job Board's advanced search feature produces effective, specific results for both job seekers and employers. For more information, please contact Nina Goldman at 202-682-4325 or write ngoldman@acec.org.

Signed Titanic Books Still Available At ACEC Bookstore Fall Conference attendees purchased more than 150 copies of Titanic immediately after its author—legendary explorer Robert Ballard—delivered a stirring presentation. Limited copies of Titanic, signed by Ballard are still available for purchase at the ACEC Bookstore. Click here to order.

Spooky Halloween Titles At The ACEC Bookstore Drop Dead Brilliant: Dazzle in the Workplace with Confidence and Panache! Lesley Everett Click here to order.

New Ideas from Dead CEOs: Lasting Ideas from the Corner Office Todd G. Buchholz Click here to order.

Construction Nightmares: Jobs from Hell and How to Avoid Them, 3rd Edition Arthur F. O'Leary & James Acret Click here to order.

EJCDC Contract Sale Begins Saturday Beginning November 1, 2008 and ending December 31, 2008, all EJCDC contract documents purchased through the ACEC Bookstore are 10 percent off the regular price! Contracts are available immediately as downloadable Microsoft Word documents—no waiting for your purchase to arrive. Documents can also be purchased and sent to you on CD for an extra $6 ground shipping charge. Contact the publications department at 202-682-4327 to order EJCDC contracts on CD. This discount will be applied automatically during checkout. This offer does not apply to previously-placed EJCDC orders or other contract documents for sale at the ACEC Bookstore. All purchases of EJCDC Contract Documents are final sales only—no refunds or exchanges. Click here to see the full catalog of EJCDC Contracts.

Upcoming Online Seminars November 4—Where Does the Money Go? What Happens Between the Top Line and the Bottom Line by Robert vanArsdall, XL Design Professional 5—Organizing a Legacy Firm by Ray Kogan and Cara Bobchek, Kogan and Company 6—Developing a Cleantech Business Strategy by Scott Boutwell, C-Level Strategies LLC 11—Increase Your Win Rate with Powerful, Persuasive, Proposals by Clare G. Ross, The Clare Ross Organization 12—Using PowerPoint Effectively by David Stone, Stone & Company 13—USACE Levee Inventory and Certification Program, Market Forecast Series Seminar, by Tammy L. Conforti, Headquarters, USACE 18—Now That I Have Them, How do I Keep Them? by Greg Churchman, Churchman Consulting 19—Limiting Liability and Managing Risks Through Contract Provisions: Ceilings, Floors and Trap Doors, by Neal J. Sweeney, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP 20—Professional Ethics: A Preventive Maintenance Approach, by Christopher Bauer, Bauer Ethics Seminars December 2—Effective Project Planning , by Gary Bates, Roenker, Bates Group (extended three-hour session) 3—Showcasing Your Expertise: How to Attract Clients Using Stories and Examples , by Lynne Waymon, Make Your Contacts Count 9—Tapping into the Power of the Press , by Jerry Guerra, The JAGG Group 10—Future Leaders Focus: A Study of the Needs and Priorities of Young Design Professionals , by Barbara Irwin, HR Advisors, and Cara Bobchek, Management Consultants Click here for an up-to-date listing of topics you won’t want to miss, and bookmark our Calendar of Fall '08 ACEC Online Seminars to visit often.

Fall Conference In Montreal: Très Magnifique! Fall Conference guests enjoy an acrobatic cirque performance at the historic Le Windsor Ballroom during Local Color Night. More than 800 members and guests enjoyed captivating speakers, essential business sessions and a thrilling French Canadian experience at the recently concluded Fall Conference in Montreal. A labor dispute forced the Conference to be moved from the Fairmont to the Le Sheraton Centre only weeks before the Conference, but attendees found a seamless transition. "To be able to come up with a new location on such short notice is nothing short of amazing," said Dennis Stidinger, president/CEO of The EADS Group, in Altoona, Pa. ACEC/Wisconsin Executive Director Carol Godiksen (left) gets help adjusting her cirque mask from ACEC/Massachusetts Executive Director Abbie Goodman during Local Color Night. Major speakers included legendary explorer Robert Ballard, educator David Billington, FOX News political analyst Morton Kondracke, and and PBSJ Corp. CEO John Zumwalt. Guests also enjoyed an acrobatic circus performance as part of Local Color Night festivities. "Ballard was one of the best speakers I have ever heard," said Stephen Browde of H.W. Lochner, Inc. in Raleigh, N.C. Other Conference Highlights: Princeton University Professor David P. Billington, received the 2008 ACEC Distinguished Award of Merit—the Council's highest award bestowed upon an individual. (See story below) Fall Conference fundraising propelled ACEC/PAC over the $1 million mark for the 2007-2008 election cycle. (See story below) ACEC's new Land Development Coalition and new Education Forum held successful inaugural meetings. (See story below) Fellows inducted into the 2008 College of Fellows included: Everett Cowan of Gresham, Smith and Partners, Nashville, Tenn.; Ara Arman of G.E.C., Inc., Baton Rouge, La.; Woody Germany of WGM Group, Inc., Missoula, Mont.; Rajan Sheth of Mead & Hunt, Madison, Wis.; Paul Tarvin of STS Consultants, Milwaukee, Wis.; Franklin Wilson of McKinney & Company, Ashland, Va.; Michael Hanlon of Weston & Sampson Engineers, Peabody, Mass.; and Gilbert Gerdman of MSA Professional Services, Inc. Baraboo, Wis. 2008 Community Service Awards were presented to John Coombe of Hanson Professional Services, Inc. in Springfield, Ill. and Rick Baldocchi of AVCON, Inc. in Orlando, Fla. The 2008 ACEC Past Chairmen's Award went to David Oates, president and CEO of Oates Associates in Collinsville, Ill. CASE presented its 2008 Past Chairman's Award to ACEC Senior Director of Contracts and Risk Management Edward Bajer. Fall Conference Fundraising Puts ACEC/PAC Over $1 Million Kyle Anderson (center) of Felsburg, Holt & Ullevig accepts $5,000 ACEC/PAC Sweepstakes check for winner Elliot Sulsky, also from the Centennial, Colo.-based firm. Presenting the check are ACEC Chairman John Hennessy (left) and ACEC/PAC Director Elizabeth Coit. A successful fundraising effort at the Fall Conference propelled ACEC/PAC over the $1 million mark for the 2007-2008 election cycle, securing its place among the top construction industry PACs in the nation. Larry Fairchild of Clough, Harbour & Associates, in Albany, N.Y. won the $10,000 Grand Prize in the ACEC/PAC Sweepstakes. Elliot Sulsky of Felsburg, Holt & Ullevig in Centennial, Colo., claimed the $5,000 second prize. Tim Anderson of Karins and Associates in Delaware, and Brian Lawlor of Symmes Maini & McKee Associates, Inc. in Massachusetts, won the $2,000 third and $1,000 fourth prizes, respectively. Getting set to take on the 9th green at the Islesmere Golf Club during the ACEC/PAC Golf Tournament are from left to right: Randy Bowling, Bowling Mamola; Chris Poland, Degenkolb Engineers; Patty Mamola, Bowling Mamola; and Stacy Bartoletti, Degenkolb Engineers. The ACEC/PAC golf tournament was held at the historic Islesmere Country Club, site of numerous Canadian Amateur and PGA events. The winning team included Michael Smith of Nussbaumer & Clarke in Buffalo, N.Y., Tom Ahneman of Ahneman Kirby in Port Chester, N.Y., and Greg Knopp of ACEC in Washington, D.C. Smith was also victorious in the closest to the pin and long drive competitions. Ahneman, who also serves as 2008 ACEC/PAC Co-Chairman with Jerry Stump of Wilbur Smith Associates in Tennessee, was full of praise for those who came out to support ACEC/PAC in Montreal. "It was a great Conference for ACEC/PAC. We raised money, honored those who have worked hard and still had time to play some golf—all to help grow ACEC/PAC and protect our industry's interests in Congress," said Ahneman. Ballard Fascinates Conference Audience With Tales Of Undersea Explorations Robert Ballard talks to Fall Conference attendees about his journeys to the bottom of the world's oceans. Robert Ballard had a rapt audience as he provided insights into his stellar undersea exploration career—including a little-known fact that his history-making discovery of the Titanic was actually a cover for a top-secret military mission. He talked at length about oceanic mysteries still waiting to be revealed. "Fifty percent of the United States lies under the sea," he said. "Yet, we have better maps of Mars than we do of our own ocean floor." To illustrate, Ballard told of one of his first undersea explorations, when he and his team expected to find cracks in the ocean floor emitting steam from the earth's super-hot core. "A lot of science is looking for one thing and then finding something far more important," he said. "Instead of cracks, we found 40-foot-tall chimneys rich with all types of key minerals. And we found life that should not have been down there." In addition to exploration, he emphasized his other passion—exposing youth to the excitement of engineering and science. Through his Jason Project, which uses advanced communication technologies to allow school children to participate remotely in undersea exploration, Ballard has helped to inspire more than 500,000 young people with the excitement of engineering and science. "The battle for the engineer is over by the eighth grade," he said. "If through this program, I can get their jaw to drop, I have won us a new engineer." Princeton Professor Billington Receives ACEC 2008 Distinguished Award of Merit Princeton University Professor David P. Billington (center) receives the ACEC Distinguished Award of Merit from ACEC Chairman John Hennessy (left) and ACEC President Dave Raymond. ACEC presented its highest honor, the Distinguished Award of Merit, to David P. Billington, one of the world's foremost engineering educators, at the 2008 ACEC Fall Conference in Montreal. A professor at Princeton University's School of Engineering and Applied Science since 1961, Billington was named by Engineering News Record as "one of the top five educators in the construction industry over the past 125 years." In his classes and many books, Billington speaks of "the grand tradition of modern engineering, and the transformation of American society by engineering." In accepting the award, he emphasized the need to recruit more young people into the engineering field. "Engineering as a profession needs to generate a sense of excitement," he said. "Academia and the professionals need to help each other, to work closer together to disseminate that level of excitement." PBSJ Corp. Chairman Recounts $37 Million Embezzlement Crisis John Zumwalt, chairman and CEO of The PBSJ Corporation. John Zumwalt, Chairman and CEO of The PBSJ Corporation, closed the 2008 ACEC Fall Conference with a stirring cautionary tale of embezzlement and misplaced trust. Miami-based PBSJ Corp., which is the parent company of PBS&J, pursued rapid growth from the early 1990s through 2005, quadrupling in size to become a $3.7 billion firm operating across the country. In 2005, a question about a discrepancy in a single account revealed a massive internal fraud perpetrated by the firm's chief financial officer. Over the preceding 13 years, the CFO and two accomplices in the firm's accounting department had embezzled $37 million. From the outset of the subsequent investigation, Zumwalt committed the firm to complete transparency and guided it through a torturous but successful path. Despite these crises, the firm did not lose a single client, kept most of its employees, and has since regained its financial health and reputation. The CFO is serving nine years in prison and his two accomplices were sentenced to six years each. They must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. PBSJ Corp. has also recovered some $16 million from the embezzlement. "This can happen to anyone," Zumwalt warned. "It happens to a lot of companies and they don't even know it." He offered some simple advice to firms: "Trust but verify." "John has provided a unique service for our industries by sharing his experiences," said ACEC President Dave Raymond. ACEC Land Development Coalition Launched More than 40 members attended the inaugural meeting of ACEC's new Land Development Coalition designed to improve the business climate for engineering firms active in land development. The Land Development Coalition is the sixth coalition within ACEC, joining the Council of American Structural Engineers (CASE), Council of Professional Surveyors (COPS), Council of American Mechanical and Electrical Engineers (CAMEE), the Small Firms Council, and the Design Professionals Coalition. "We recognized that many firms have significant practice areas that are focused in an area broadly defined as land development," said Coalition Chairman Blake Murillo. "We felt that a focused discussion on the needs of the firms providing land development services would provide a much-needed perspective." First Education Forum Meeting ACEC convened the first meeting of a new Education Forum during the Fall Conference, responding to the growing importance of training and development as a specialized function within firms. Participants included leaders and experts in training and development representing leading A/E/C firms. Discussion focused on: the role of continuing education in employee retention; achieving positive return on training investment; and cost effective methods of continuing education. The new Forum will convene two meetings during 2009, with details and agenda to be determined. In addition, members of the Education Forum will network and communicate between meetings with a dedicated Listserv, continuing the conversations and sharing ideas year-round.

BIM Course Highlights Lessons Learned; Register Now For Best Rate Building Information Modeling (BIM): The Promise and the Reality for A/E/C Firms December 4-5, New Orleans The highly regarded faculty presenting ACEC's popular BIM: The Promise and the Reality for A/E/C Firms, represents diverse perspectives and firsthand experience in adoption of this exciting new multi-dimensional project planning concept. Scheduled for December 4-5, New Orleans, this detailed overview course is ideal for firms considering or already on the way to BIM utilization. Faculty for this course will: Examine BIM as a concept Demonstrate how it is being put into practice by the collaborative professional teams involved Show how firms can best prepare for a BIM future Present real-life BIM case studies of engineering firm experiences Explore BIM technology and interoperability Describe BIM transition plans and IT budgeting Outline risk management and legal issues associated with BIM For details and to register, click here. Need PDHs? Online Seminars Examine Preserving Revenue, Firm Organization, Cleantech Strategies ACEC's online seminars offer a constantly changing mix of timely topics and new approaches to the business basics presented in tightly packed 1-1/2 hour sessions. With one registration fee payable per Internet connection, a roomful of staff can participate at no additional cost—and everyone earns the PDHs. Register in advance, and you'll receive an e-mail reminder to log-on. Scheduled for next week: Where Does the Money Go? What Happens Between the Top Line and the Bottom Line November 4, 1:30-3 p.m. The gap between money made and money kept can be a large one. In this timely online seminar, Robert vanArsdall, XL Design Professional, takes a look at "where the money goes." He will describe important tools for identifying how and where money disappears inside the firm. He'll focus on price differentiation by client, the elements of activity-based costing and its implications on overhead, and identifying the places where potential profit is being lost and how to stop it. For details and to register, click here. Organizing a Legacy Firm November 5, 1:30-3 p.m. Your organizational structure determines how you win work, the expertise you bring to clients, your efficiency and profitability, your employees' growth, and your contribution to your community. Ray Kogan and Cara Bobcheck, Kogan & Company, explore different organizational structures for firms and examine organizing for value, organizing your message and identity in the marketplace, and when and how to change a firm's organizational structure. For details and to register, click here. Developing a Cleantech Business Strategy November 6, 1:30-3 p.m. The terms "cleantech," and "sustainability" cover a wide range of technologies, processes, services, and market segments. Opportunities to leverage new technologies in pursuing new clients and higher-margin lines of business are substantial. Scott Boutwell, C-Level Strategies LLC, provides an important overview of specific market segments in sustainability, details on emerging trends in technology development and investment, and the key investors and influencers to watch. For details and to register, click here. The American Council of Engineering Companies 1015 15th St., NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20005-2605 Phone: 202-347-7474 - Fax: 202-898-0068 www.acec.org - E-mail:acec@acec.org Alan D. Crockett, Director, PR • Ann Brandstadter, Editor/Designer