Barbour, who served as governor of Mississippi until this year, is one of the leading voices in the Republican Party. Rendell, who was governor of Pennsylvania until 2010, is a prominent Democrat and long-time champion for infrastructure investment.

The Convention also features addresses by top industry CEOs; Capitol Hill visits; legislative updates; federal market opportunities; CEO, CFO and CIO roundtables; bottom-line focused educational sessions; the Engineering Excellence Awards Gala; and a "teaming fair" for large and small firms to pursue partnering opportunities.

For more information and to register, click here.

To view the 2011 fundraising performance of individual states, click on the map below.


"One hundred percent of the money raised will fund ACEC/PAC contributions to pro-business U.S. House and Senate candidates, and it comes at a critical time in the political calendar—congressional primaries begin in just 7 weeks," said ACEC/PAC National Chairman Chris Borton of Borton-Lawson in Wilkes Barre, Pa.

For more on ACEC/PAC, contact Gregory Knopp, ACEC executive director of political affairs (gknopp@acec.org) or Elizabeth Coit, ACEC/PAC director (ecoit@acec.org) at 202-347-7474.

Gregs Thomopulos, chairman/CEO of Stanley Consultants, Inc. in Muscatine, Iowa, will become the new chairman-elect, as Ted Williams, EVP, Landmark Engineering in New Castle, Del., succeeds Terry Neimeyer, chairman/CEO, KCI Technologies in Sparks Glencoe, Md., as chairman.

Newly-elected vice chairs are: Ralph Christie, Jr., chairman/president/CEO, Merrick & Company in Aurora, Colo.; Michael Matthews, president/CEO, H&A Architects and Engineers in Glen Allen, Va.; William Stout, III, chairman/CEO, Gannett Fleming in Camp Hill, Pa.; and Peter Strub, eastern regional vice president, TranSystems Corp. in Greenville, S.C. ACEC/Alabama Executive Director Renee Casillas will serve as the NAECE representative.

The new officers join Williams, Blake Murillo, Scott Perkins, Richard Wells, and Dave Raymond on the 2012-2013 Executive Committee.

Alabama's COM law would require a plaintiff intending to sue a design professional for professional negligence to first have a third-party design professional determine that the claim has merit.

California will be filing an amicus brief in the appeal of Carter & Burgess v. City of Victorville, in which—for the first time in California history—a jury found that an engineering firm was in breach of a "fiduciary duty" to its client. The verdict, if upheld, could dramatically expand the scope of engineer liability in the state.

To learn more about The Minuteman Fund, click here.

To access the envision™ sustainability rating system, click here.

ISI was founded in 2011 by ACEC, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Public Works Association.

Adopting Building Information Modeling (BIM) often requires substantial capital, training, and workflow disruption, but are firms getting a real return on investment?

In BIM and the Engineer, David Odeh, principal, Odeh Engineers, Inc., uses real-world project outcomes to explore this question. The webinar provides a serious examination and frank discussion of the business realities of this new tool.

Odeh also examines the planning and project communication tools that contribute to the successful adoption of BIM.

Click here for details and to register.

In this timely webinar, 2011 Year in Review: Legal Issues for Engineers, James Lee of the law firm Lee & McShane, highlights recent legal decisions of importance to engineers and updates often-recurring legal issues.

The webinar addresses the engineer's obligations involving site safety, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the standard of care. Discussion will also focus on typical business concerns such as corporate organization, copyright protection, and contract negotiation.

Click here to register.

In Know What Drives Your Clients—Make Your Firm Invaluable, Rich Friedman, Friedman & Partners, will explore four types of client research tools: client/prospect perception studies, continuous client monitoring, project satisfaction surveys/interviews, and reference validation.

Friedman will answer key questions relevant to effective research practices including: When should firms employ each of the four research tools? How can firms leverage the data yielded in real time to address problems and seize opportunities? How can firms use the data to modify their positioning and business development strategies, as well as their project delivery process?

Click here to register.

Wage and hour issues—including who is entitled to receive overtime premium pay, as well as definitions of mandatory meal and rest periods—have become the basis for a growing number of lawsuits nationwide, including large class action and representative lawsuits.

In an invaluable new webinar, Wage and Hour Issues in Today's A/E Industry, Eli Gould, MBV Law, will explain in detail the current exempt and non-exempt designations for employees, cover the various exemptions that may be available to A/E employers, explore some of the exempt/non-exempt issues prevalent in the A/E industry, discuss ways to lessen your firm's risk in the event of a lawsuit, and address specific questions on wage and hour issues.

Click here to register.

You've heard it many times before—landing a new client costs 10, 25, even 100 times more than keeping an old one. So keeping your clients happy in a long-term relationship is just good business—higher profits, lower overheads, less stress and the peace of mind of a continuing supply of profitable work.

In Keeping Clients for Life, David Stone, Stone and Company, examines why clients leave and provides tried-and-true techniques for stengthening your client service practices and keeping your client relationships strong.

For details and to register, click here.

ACEC presents U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 2012 Programmatic Outlook, a timely webinar on the latest status of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) marketplace.

Bruce Ware of the USACE Engineering and Construction Division will provide an update on changes in how A/E services are procured and the impact of fluctuating appropriations, new legislation, and changing regulations.

Click here for details and to register.