President’s Monthly Update–October, 2019

ACEC News / President’s Monthly Update

October 7, 2019

President’s Monthly Update–October, 2019

Dear Colleagues –

As many of you are aware, ACEC is the largest member of FIDIC, the international organization for consulting engineering associations in 120 countries. Chair Mitch Simpler led our delegation to the 2019 FIDIC International Infrastructure Conference held in Mexico City in September. This year’s conference was especially eventful as former ACEC Chair Bill Howard of CDM Smith ascended to the FIDIC presidency for the next two years. ACEC also garnered several significant awards, including “Best Member Association”, and Engineering Inc. was named the best association publication. Former President and CEO Dave Raymond received the Lifetime Achievement Award. One of the themes of this year’s conference was the importance of integrity in the fight against global corruption, and I led a panel discussion on “Integrity Challenges Associated with Technological Innovation” with several of my international colleagues. FIDIC is an extremely useful forum for us to promote ACEC’s perspectives on emerging issues such as this, and perennial ones such as QBS, in the international arena. Back at ACEC national headquarters, we are making final preparations for our own Fall Conference in Chicago, October 13-16. We’ve got a great program in store for our members; it’s not too late to register and I look forward to seeing you there!

Linda

PRESIDENT’S MONTHLY UPDATE
October 7, 2019

MO Services

• A record number of attendees tuned into the September 19th NAECE Executive Toolkit webinar by association consultant J.P. Moery, discussing “Sponsorship and Non-Dues Revenue Best Practices;” this and other webinars in this series are archived on the MO State Resource Page.
• The next webinar is on October 24th at 2:00pm EDT focused on “Sales Presentations and Closing Deals;” click here to request a calendar invite.

General

• ACEC/Washington was awarded a Minuteman Fund grant to fight a ballot initiative that would eliminate previously passed car registration fee increases for capital construction.

Advocacy and External Affairs

• ACEC was the recipient of three awards from the Inaugural Member Association Awards at the FIDIC Conference in Mexico City: Member Association of the Year, Best Publication or Website (Engineering Inc.) and Former ACEC President and CEO Dave Raymond received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Four projects received Merit Awards: Prickly Pear Creek Realignment (Pioneer Technical Services), Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge (HDR), New London Embassy (Arup), and Sarah Mildred Long Bridge (Hardesty & Hanover/FIGG Bridge Engineers); ACEC President and CEO Linda Bauer Darr moderated a panel discussion on integrity management and corruption in the built industry.
• Also at the FIDIC conference, ACEC staff conducted interviews with FIDIC Board Member Aisha Nadar on STEM education, Henrik Garver, the Executive Director of the Danish Association of Consulting Engineers on the European outlook on the economy, and Dr. Michele Kruger on diversity and inclusion.
• Planned and hosted a T&I Roundtable discussion in Chicago for Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) that featured participation with U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and a large group of business and labor organizations.
• Briefed SEI class members on current advocacy and political initiatives, and organized a Capitol Hill meeting for the class featuring briefings from Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Dwight Evans (D-PA), and Bruce Westerman (R-AR).
• ACEC staff provided a legislative update and moderated an MO panel discussion at the NY-NJ-PA Tri-State Fall Conference meeting in Atlantic City; also presented at emerging leaders programs in Michigan and Kansas.
• Signed a coalition letter urging Congress to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, a public/private risk sharing mechanism to help insure against losses resulting from a catastrophic terrorist attack; the law has made it possible for businesses to purchase terrorism risk coverage for more than 15 years.
• ACEC staff provided a legislative update to the ACEC Finance Forum in Denver, Colorado.
• Signed letter to House and Senate Conferees on construction procurement provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act.
• The Water, Energy, and Environment Committee program director made a presentation on committee advocacy and awareness activities to the Indiana ACEC Environmental Business and Funding Sources Conference.
• ACEC signed-on to a letter in support of the recently proposed rule on Section 401 of the Clean Water Act.
• Conducted a Podcast interview with our first Member of Congress – Rep. Rodney Davis, Ranking Member of the Highways Subcommittee and Mark Bryant, a political message specialist on the changing nature of online advocacy; ACEC podcasts featured 648 total downloads in September.
• Hosted fundraising events for Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA).
• ACEC staff met with Congressional candidates from Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, and Utah.

Business Resources

ACEC’s new Private Industry Briefs- Q2 Economic Outlook focused on five macroeconomic trends for 2019 including predictions from business economists on the timing of next potential recession, A/E services revenue data, and a look at which markets have shown growth, stability, or loss, as well as which states are showing economic momentum; subscribe here.

ACEC’s Human Resources, Finance, and Information Technology Forums met in Denver, Colorado, where more than 300 members participated in two days of peer-to-peer information sharing, problem-solving, and networking.

ACEC’s Senior Executives Institute (SEI) Class 25 began its inaugural session in Washington, DC, including visits to Capitol Hill and policy discussions at the Brookings Institution.

With more than 16 registered sites, September’s most popular online class, Mastering the SF-330- A Key Step in Winning Government Business, walked member firms through strategies for decision making prior to and during preparation for SF 330 submissions, including when and how to present your team and its qualifications and how to position your firm for success beyond submission.

Coalition best sellers for September included CAMEE’s Agreement between MEP Engineer and Consulting Design Professional and COPS’ Agreement Between Client and Consultant for Limited Professional Services 2019; released updated CASE Tool 5-1: The Guide to Structural Engineering.

October webinars will include: What Do Highly Profitable Engineering Firms Do That the Others Don’t?, Government Contract Cybersecurity – More than a DoD Issue, 9 Steps to Recession-Proof Your Firm, Organization-Wide Commitment to Talent Retention via Talent Engagement, Value of Claims Review – Lessons Learned Programs in the A/E Space, Effective Contractual Risk Mitigation, The PM’s Survival Guide to Managing Multiple Projects.

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