For recent ACEC news, click below:
The ACEC Index compares the stock performance of ACEC’s publicly held Member Firms(—) with the NYSE Composite Index (—) and Total U.S. Construction Spending (—).
|
Energy
Clean Energy Industry Looks to Federal Incentives to Grow
The billions in federal stimulus dollars spent on expanding green energy industries have provided a lifeline for U.S. wind and solar companies, but renewable-energy executives are worried that the future will not be as promising... click here for more.
Buildings/Land
BIM Use Climbs 70 Percent in Two Years
Engineers working on the $1 billion expansion of the San Diego International Airport are using the latest Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology to give planners a 360-degree picture of the final product... click here for more.
GSA Raises Energy-Efficiency Standard for New Construction
All new federal building construction projects must now achieve LEED Gold certification according to the General Services Administration (GSA), which upped the requirement from the former level of Silver... click here for more.
Transportation
Missouri Highway Tests “Smog Eating Concrete”
A construction project on Highway 141 near St. Louis is improving the highway and raising the road above flood level... click here for more.
Investment Could Revive U.S. Global Rail Leadership
A report prepared by the Worldwatch Institute and the Apollo Alliance states that greater investment in the U.S. rail industry could reestablish America’s position as a leader in the world rail industry, and potentially create hundreds of thousands of jobs... click here for more.
Click here for more News Briefs.
|
|
Free Featured Job Upgrade for Multi-posting Packages
ACEC would like to thank Job Board customers by offering a FREE Featured Job Upgrade with any multiple-job posting package purchased in 2010. That’s a savings of $125, on top of the discount automatically earned when purchasing any multiple-job posting package. In addition, posting packages provide access to the resume database.
ACEC’s Job Board is the top online resource for recruiting quality candidates from a target audience of engineering industry professionals.
Save money and reach thousands of candidates. With over 600 posted A/E/C industry jobs and more than 28,000 candidate resumes, the ACEC Job Board’s advanced search features produce effective, specific results for both job seekers and employers.
For more information, contact Nina Goldman at 202-682-4325 or write ngoldman@acec.org.
|
|
Over 600 Searchable Jobs Posted
Over 28,000 Searchable Resumes Posted
Over 2,200 Registered Employers |
|
Last Five "Help Wanted" Open Positions:
Engineering/GPS Technician—Sayre, PA
Environmental Consultant—Bloomington, MN
Sr. Geotechnical Engineer—Irving, TX
Senior Project Manager-Construction Management—Bothell, WA
Environmental Professional—Bloomington, MN
A Sampling of Posted Resumes:
Geotechnical Engineers—1,253
Water Resources/Wastewater Engineers—1,780
Transportation—1,531
Civil Engineers—2,435
Structural Engineers—1,658
Environmental Engineers—1,617
View These and Other Resumes and Jobs
on ACEC's Job Board
www.acec.org/jobbank |
|
|
Sale on Industry-Specific Contract Documents
Save 10 percent off the regular price of all EJCDC documents through December 31, 2010. The discount has already been applied throughout the website—no coupon or code needed.
EJCDC Contract Documents are prepared by experienced engineering design and construction professionals, owners, contractors, professional liability and risk management experts, and legal counsel.
EJCDC Contract Documents offer many benefits:
- Created and peer-reviewed by experienced industry experts
- Reduced conflicts and litigation
- Balanced and fair provisions
- User-friendly and easily customizable (provided in MS Word)
The Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC) is a joint venture of ACEC, the National Society of Professional Engineers/Professional Engineers in Private Practice (NSPE/PEPP), the American Society of Civil Engineers — Construction Institute (ASCE-CI), and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).
EJCDC has existed since 1975 to develop and update fair and objective standard documents that represent the latest and best thinking in contractual relations between all parties involved in engineering design and construction projects. EJCDC represents a major portion of the professional groups engaged in the practice of providing engineering and construction services for the constructed project.
Click here to browse all EJCDC Documents available through the ACEC Bookstore.
|
|
Value Pricing; Economic Outlook in Online Seminars
ACEC online seminars provide critical business information for Member Firms navigating current market challenges and seeking new business opportunities.
Here’s a look at upcoming topics:
November
9—Value Pricing for A/E Firms by David Stone, Stone and Company
Establishing a competitive price that contributes to profitability.
10—Bachelors + Masters or Equivalent: Background and Impact on A/E Firms by Craig Musselman, CMA Engineers and William Stout, Gannett Fleming, Inc.
An inside look at the rationale, application and implications of Model Law changes.
11—Retirement Plans—Which Plan is the Best Fit for Your Firm? By Robert Kuna, Wachovia Securities
Fourth in CASE fall seminar series.
16—Systematic Client Feedback: How to Get It, Use It, and Benefit From It, by Mike Phillips, DesignFacilitator
Ten usable criteria for monitoring your firm’s ongoing performance.
17—Short-Term Economic Outlook—Will Financial Reform Help Your Business? By Greg Ip, editor, The Economist
An examination of the current state of the economy, and the outlook for growth and implications of the recent financial reform bill.
18—High Speed Rail: Outlook, Opportunities and Obstacles, by Donald M. Itzkoff, Executive Counsel, Public Policy and Government Relations for North America, GE Transportation; Jeffrey Boothe, Holland & Knight; and David J. Carol, Parsons Brinckerhoff
December
7—What is the Right Value for Your Firm? by David Cohen, Matheson Financial Advisors
Firm internal/external sale in your future? Start building more shareholder value now.
14—If You Haven’t Planned It, You Can’t Control It by Gary Bates, Roenker Bates Group
The alternative to ‘managing by crisis.’
|
|
Download AASHTO Audit Guide Online Seminars
ACEC's popular series of online seminars detailing the new AASHTO Uniform Audit and Accounting Guide are now available for purchase and download on-demand through the ACEC Bookstore.
To order, click on the seminar title of interest:
|
|
|
| ACEC Sees Challenges, Opportunities in Republican Election Wave
The Republican takeover in the House of Representatives, together with major gains in the Senate, will create significant new opportunities—and challenges—for ACEC’s legislative agenda.
A more business-friendly Congress in 2011 will curtail resurgent labor that opposed contracting out and called for increased regulation. At the same time, the new emphasis on deficit reduction will test the Council’s efforts to pass long-stalled infrastructure funding initiatives, such as a new six-year surface transportation program.
“Our success hinges on our continued ability to work with both parties in a highly charged political atmosphere,” said ACEC President Dave Raymond.
|
| ACEC/PAC Backed Many Newcomers in House and Senate
Senator-elect Mark Kirk (R-IL), one of the new members supported by ACEC. |
Many of the new faces coming to Congress enjoyed early support from ACEC/PAC, giving the Council a key advantage heading into the new year.
Senator-elect Mark Kirk (R-IL), who moves from the House to the Senate, had strong support from ACEC/Illinois members. Senator-elect Roy Blunt (R-MO) also makes the transition from the House to the Senate, and has enjoyed longstanding support from ACEC.
The large class of newly elected House members backed by ACEC includes Cory Gardner (R-CO), who served as the House Minority leader in the State House of Representatives.
Representative-elect John Carney (D-DE) also received ACEC support, and is among a handful of Democrats who won open seats. Newly elected Representative Daniel Webster (R-FL) is an engineer and was strongly backed by ACEC members in the Sunshine State. |
| ACEC Well-Poised as New House Committee Chairmen Take Gavels
Several key Democrat committee chairmen lost their seats, but ACEC has strong relationships with the anticipated new chairmen.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) was an unexpected casualty on election night, as were House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) and Armed Services Committee Chair Ike Skelton (D-MO).
Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) (left), who is in line to be the new House Budget Committee chairman, receives an ACEC/PAC check from John Boldt of Clark Dietz in Kenosha. |
John Mica (R-FL) is expected to take over as chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, while Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) and Paul Ryan (R-WI) are poised to take the gavels of the Armed Services and Budget Committees.
ACEC enjoys a strong relationship with all three, as well as with the three congressmen most likely to succeed Oberstar as the senior Democrat on the Transportation Committee: Nick Rahall (D-WV), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), and Jerry Costello (D-IL). |
| Texas Win in Major Infrastructure Referendum Aided by Minuteman Fund
In an important victory for infrastructure funding, Houston voters approved Proposition 1, a ballot initiative that would create a dedicated fund for street and drainage improvements and implement a pay-as-you-go system rather than use municipal bonds. This measure is expected to generate $9 billion for infrastructure over the next 20 years.
“We raised more than $1.4 million in support of this effort,” said Ed Friedrichs, senior principal at Walter P Moore in Houston. “We were able to bring a lot of people together on this because it was so important to our community.”
“The contribution of the ACEC Minuteman Fund was pivotal in this effort,” added Steve Stagner, executive director of the state organization. |
| ACEC/Colorado Wins Fight to Protect State Infrastructure Funding
ACEC/Colorado, aided by a grant from The Minuteman Fund, helped defeat three ballot initiatives that would have gutted the Colorado state budget.
The initiatives would have reduced vehicle fees and income taxes, eliminated other taxes, required voter approval of property tax increases, and prohibited the state government from borrowing funds.
“These ballot initiatives were unprecedented in Colorado in the extent to which they sought to reduce revenues that would directly impact on infrastructure funding,” said ACEC/Colorado Executive Director Marilen Reimer. “We thank the Minuteman Fund for aiding in this critical effort to protect state infrastructure funding and the public good.”
|
| ACEC Business Insurance Trust Offers New Member Benefit
The ACEC Business Insurance Trust (BIT) has introduced a new benefit program in which ACEC firms insured through the BIT can request assistance of up to $500 on each of their auto and property insurance deductibles—up to a maximum of $1,000 per year—depending on the availability of funds.
The program is retroactive to January 1, 2010 for requests received by December 1, 2010.
For more information on this new ACEC member benefit, click here. To visit the BIT website, click here. |
|
Still Time to Register, Gain Expert Witness Skills, Benefits
November 11-12, Orlando, FL
Litigation is a fact-of-life in the A/E industry. Firms need professionals who are knowledgeable in courtroom procedures to effectively serve the firm (or clients) as an expert witness.
Applying Expertise as an Engineering Expert Witness, ACEC’s one-of-a-kind course, is being offered November 11-12, in Orlando.
Topics include deposition behavior, permissible out-of-court statements, ethics, pre-courtroom testimony preparation, courtroom demeanor, how to maintain credibility, the differences between a fact witness and an expert witness, and agreement and compensation for taking on an outside assignment.
Still time to register. Click here for details.
|
|
Value Pricing: Making Your Firm Competitive, Accurate, Profitable
November 9, 1:30-3 p.m.
In an age of intense competition, the most difficult and critically important task that a design firm principal or project manager takes on is setting a price for services that is competitive, accurate, and profitable. Superb qualifications, unbeatable customer service, and top-notch project delivery just get you to the table these days; establishing a competitive price that contributes to profitability is the paramount challenge.
In the online seminar Value Pricing for A/E Firms, David Stone, Stone and Company, will present a focused review of the necessary skills and “profit arithmetic” basics of setting fees with logic.
Stone will detail the different business models for services and describe the strategies to ensure that perception matches services delivered—at fees that are justified wherever they fit on the curve.
Click here for details and to register.
|
|
Industry Insiders Update High Speed Rail Market Opportunities, Obstacles
November 18, 1:30-3 p.m.
With the planning and development of high-speed rail passenger service becoming a key market for engineering firms, High Speed Rail: Outlook, Opportunities and Obstacles will outline what projects will look like and where future funding is likely to be directed.
Presenters include Donald Itzkoff, executive counsel, public policy and government relations for North America, GE Transportation; Jeff Boothe, Holland & Knight and nationally recognized advocate on transportation issues; and David Carol, vice president and market leader for high speed rail, Parsons Brinckerhoff.
The panel will review recent guidance from Federal Railway Administration on project development and delivery, and outline potential obstacles to high speed rail development in the near- and long-term.
Click here for details and to register.
|
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
Gerry Donohue, Editor/Designer |
|
|
