President's Monthly Update--May 2019

ACEC News / President’s Monthly Update

May 2, 2019

President’s Monthly Update–May 2019

Dear Colleagues –

It’s been a busy April at the Council – in advocacy, our lobbyists are laying the essential groundwork for FAST Act reauthorization, funding for the National Levee Safety Program, funding for the EPA Superfund, WIFIA expansion, and a revised definition of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS). We’re also working to raise the public profile of the Council, briefing senior staff at ENR magazine on our priorities; ACEC Chair-elect Mitch Simpler was featured in a New York Times article on an energy efficiency initiative; and Steve Hall, Senior Vice President for Advocacy and External Affairs, was quoted on the so-called “transparency” issue we are keeping tabs on. You can also view the work of our new Public Policy Agenda material prepared by our new Director, Strategic Communications, Jeff Urbanchuk – look for it here. And if you haven’t seen the “new look” of our homepage at the ACEC website, check it out here. We’re in the final stretch before ACEC’s Annual Convention and Legislative Summit in Washington, D.C. next week; there’s still time to register if you haven’t already done so. See you soon!

Linda

PRESIDENT’S MONTHLY UPDATE
May 1, 2019

General

ACEC/Alabama was awarded a Minuteman Fund grant to help defend newly-enacted state transportation infrastructure funding.

Congratulations to ACEC/Wisconsin, ACEC/Hawaii, and ACEC/Montana, all of whom made their 2019 ACEC/PAC fundraising goals this month.

At the 29th annual ASTRID awards, which celebrate the best in international design, “The Power of ACEC” membership video won a Gold Award, Engineering, Inc. took Silver, Bronze and Honors awards.

A few slots still remain for this year’s Leadership Orientation sessions scheduled for June 5-6 and June 25-26 at ACEC headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Conducted second webinar, “Building a Scalable Sales Process”, as part of the NAECE Executive Toolkit series; webinar is archived here.

Advocacy and External Affairs

ACEC President and CEO Linda Bauer Darr, ACEC Chairman Manish Kothari and ACEC staff briefed senior White House officials on ACEC’s priorities for an aggressive infrastructure agenda in 2019, including increased and sustainable funding for the Highway Trust Fund and other federal infrastructure programs, as well as a broad approach that encompasses surface transportation, aviation, water, energy, vertical projects and other needs.

Darr and Kothari interviewed USAID Administrator Mark Green for a future edition of Engineering Inc. magazine.

Helped facilitate member firm and MO participation in numerous forums, roundtables, listening sessions, and other infrastructure-focused in-district events with Members of Congress.

Supported the ACEC/Pennsylvania 2019 Spring Conference in Harrisburg with a session presentation on Federal legislative and regulatory drivers of energy and water resilience planning and investment.

Carried out federal advocacy briefings for members from ACEC/Ohio and ACEC/South Dakota, as well as senior executives with Volkert.

Secured positioning for ACEC in a New York Times article on a new energy efficiency initiative that featured ACEC Chair-elect Mitch Simpler.

ACEC senior staff briefed executives and editorial staff with ENR magazine in New York on ACEC advocacy and other issues.

Participated in a podcast and will be featured in an article on the importance of infrastructure investment as part of ACEC’s ongoing participation in the Chamber of Commerce ATM Coalition.

Assisted a McClatchy DC bureau reporter with background information and fact checking on a story showing weakening red-state opposition to user fee increases.

Filed comments in support of proposed FAA rules to expand authorized unmanned aircraft use over people on the ground and at night.

Briefed the bipartisan senior staff of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on ACEC priorities in the context of the reauthorization of the FAST Act.

Submitted comments on the proposed revised definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS).

Signed-on to a National Levee Safety Coalition letter to House appropriators in support of funding for the National Levee Safety Program.

Sent a letter to House appropriators in support of Army Corps WIFIA expansion and contracting out, stable funding of the DOE Environmental Management program, and continued operations of the DOE Loan Program Office.

Sent a letter to House appropriators in support of stable funding of the EPA Superfund program.

Organized and supported a meeting of members with the EPA Superfund program ahead of a technical conference held in Philadelphia on April 8.

Hosted industry meet-and-greet with new House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee members Reps. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL).

ACEC/PAC hosted events for Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Ron Kind (D-WI).

Business Resources

Launched a new homepage design for the ACEC website as part of a multi-prong initiative to refresh and enhance the association’s online presence.

ACEC’s popular Business of Design Consulting program hosted 35 rising firm leaders in Phoenix as they learned essential skills in performance management, strategic planning and growth, finance, ownership transition, contracts and risk management, and marketing.

With more than 30 participants, April’s most popular online class, The 2018 EJCDC Construction Series: Significant Changes, Key Clauses, & the Interrelationship Between Documents, helped member firms explore substantial changes in the EJCDC Construction Series documents and key clauses of the EJCDC C-700 Standard General Conditions of the Construction Contract.

Coalition best sellers for April included CASE’s An Agreement for Structural Peer Review Services and National Practice Guidelines for the Structural Engineer of Record (2018).

The Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP) added two new providers in April – the U.S. Green Building Council, New York Chapter and Helixsteel bringing the total number of approved providers to 172.