ACEC President’s Monthly Update–April, 2020

ACEC News

April 16, 2020

ACEC President’s Monthly Update–April, 2020

Dear Colleagues:

I hope you are all holding up and taking advantage of ACEC’s resources to keep your firms operating and your staff members safe.  Make sure to check our Coronavirus Resource Center for up-to-the-minute information.

The federal government and many state governors have begun to talk about when and how the American economy will re-open even though, like us, many of you have remained open through the entire period.  Nevertheless, many of our nation’s businesses have been shuttered or put on “pause” for the duration and we need for them to come back to jumpstart a declining economy.  But we all need to make sure that this is done safely and with proper care for the health of our friends, families, and co-workers. 

I’m pleased to tell you that our industry will have a say in charting the course out of the pandemic and into recovery because ACEC has been invited to be a member of the President’s Great American Economic Revival Industry Group for construction, labor, and the workforce.

More than 2,600 members have participated in our four member surveys, telling us about the impact of COVID-19 on their firms. I am so impressed with how firms have focused on protecting their staff, with more than 90 percent of them turning to virtual work and social distancing. Click here to view the results from the fourth survey, conducted April 7-8. The first, second, and third survey results are also available.

We’re fortunate that our industry adapts well to remote work, but it still requires a commitment from leadership to take on the additional expense and workload to make sure employees can work effectively and safely.  Our friends at the US Chamber have done good work anticipating what businesses will have to consider as they prepare for the new normal in the office environment or job site.  Click here for that document.

We’ve also had a great response to our complimentary series of Rescue, Recover Rebuild online classes helping firms respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. All the classes are available on our website for free streaming, and we have several more classes scheduled in the next few weeks. If you have any ideas for online class subjects, please let me know.

Finally, make sure you save the date for next Saturday, April 25^th, 12:30-2:00 PM Eastern, when we will hold our Board of Directors meeting as a virtual event. We are inviting all ACEC members to participate in the meeting where we will welcome our new Chair and ExCom members. Click here and bookmark this link to join the meeting.
Stay safe, Linda
 

Advocacy
Due to the cancellation of our Annual Convention and Legislative Summit, we are moving our advocacy program to a virtual event.  In the coming days, we will launch a grassroots lobbying effort to promote a recovery agenda built around a robust and long-term infrastructure program and work with our state organizations to organize virtual meetings with key lawmakers.  Stay tuned for more. During the past month, our Advocacy team:
 

• Urged Senate leaders in a letter to retain key business tax relief measures, including a delay in tax filing, deferring payment of the business portion of payroll taxes, and other policies to help firms and keep employees on the payroll.
• Requested that the Administration issue clarifying guidance and recommend exemptions to any shelter-in-place or quarantine orders for “essential infrastructure.” Specifically, we asked for exemptions for individuals providing services or performing work necessary to the operation and maintenance of “essential infrastructure,” including, but not limited to, public works engineering and construction, airport operations, roads and highways, and public transportation. Also, we worked with several ACEC state organizations to make similar requests to their governors.
• Joined other engineering and construction industry groups on several Congressional letters:
  • Supported coronavirus and economic recovery measures for water supply and water treatment utilities.
  • Advocated for $10 billion in funding for airports in coronavirus response package
  • Called for the inclusion of long-term surface transportation funding as part of the COVID-19 response effort.
  • Urged Congress to extend equitable adjustments to federal contractors that were unable to access their job sites or whose performance was impacted as a result of COVID-19.
• Presented live webinars to the New Jersey, Utah, California, Pennsylvania, and New York state organizations on key elements of the CARES Act.

Even during a crisis, the gears of governing our country have continued to turn and our team continues to advocate for the engineering industry:
 

• Filed supportive comments and recommended modifications to the Administration’s proposed revisions to NEPA implementing regulations.
• Filed technical input on FHWA’s proposed changes to National Bridge Inspection Standards.
• Hosted fundraising events for Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) and Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA). 
• Participated in conference calls with ACEC Florida and California regarding their PAC fundraising activities for 2020 and sent the February PAC update report to the MO execs and PAC champions.

On March 3, ACEC Illinois President Kevin Artl testified before a hearing of the Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee. 

Communications & Marketing
ACEC’s communications department moved to a crisis response footing soon after the coronavirus fully impacted the nation.  We shifted to a remote work posture and began building out the necessary communications platforms to keep our members informed of the Council’s education and advocacy efforts.  During March, the department:
 

• Developed member communications to update members about the cancelation of our Annual Spring Convention and Legislative Summit and its reorganization into a virtual event.
• Launched the Coronavirus Resource Center on the ACEC website to serve as a clearinghouse for news and information about COVID-19.
• Increased publication of the Last Word blog newsletter and began weekly distribution of a President’s message.
• Promoted BRE’s free webinars, roundtables, and events.
• Provided media support to MOs.
• Placed an editorial from Linda Bauer Darr about the essential role of engineering in the COVID-19 crisis which appeared in Informed Infrastructure and other outlets.
• Produced a series of COVID-19 focused podcasts, including interviews with ACEC Board Chair Mitch Simpler, Black & Veatch, and ACEC’s policy team.  Leading into April, the ACEC podcast, Engineering Influence, broke the 10,000 download mark.

Membership and MO Services
We created the “Coronavirus Impact Forum” on the ACEC Communities page as a self-moderated forum where members can discuss responses to the coronavirus emergency. Open to all ACEC members, the forum is a great resource for sharing your experiences, asking questions, and offering solutions to other firm leaders.

The membership and MO services team conducted an MO survey to gather data for several objectives of the new strategic plan. We will be creating a benchmark document that allows NAECE to see how other MOs are operating, what programs they run, events, and more.

On March 11, Parsons’ Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Virginia Grebbien and Executive Vice President Tom Topolski visited the ACEC National offices to meet with Linda and Steve Hall.

Business Resources and Education
More than 2,000 members participated in our series of complimentary online classes addressing the business issues resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic. All those classes are available for free streaming on our website. Upcoming online classes include Tools for Living and Working in Uncertain Times and Small Business Provisions and other Assistance through the Paycheck Protection Act. Additional classes are still in development and updates to the schedule can be found on the ACEC Coronavirus Resource Center.

In addition, we:

• Released the Health Care & S+T Private Industry Brief, which explores the rise in outpatient facilities (and decline in hospitals), as well as which institutions and markets benefit most from venture capital and National Institutes of Health funding.
• Signed a new provider for the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP): Skyblade Fan Company. The program now has 181 approved providers.

Coalition best sellers during March included: CASE 962C – Guidelines for International Building Code-Mandated Special Inspections and Tests and Quality Assurance – 2018 IBC; CASE 962-D: A Guideline Addressing Coordination and Completeness of Structural Construction Documents 2013; and CASE Tool 3-2: Staffing and Revenue Projection Tool.
 

All comments to blog posts will be moderated by ACEC staff.