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ACEC News / President’s Monthly Update

November 5, 2019

President’s Monthly Update–November, 2019

Dear Colleagues –

 

It was great to see all of you at our Fall Conference in Chicago!  We had a record 956 attendees, who enjoyed a terrific line-up of speakers and educational sessions.  The Board of Directors approved ACEC’s new Strategic Plan, the culmination of a nearly yearlong effort by the Strategic Planning Committee chaired by Greg Kelly with input from over 1,000 stakeholders.  Details on the new Plan are available here.  We look forward to working closely with the MOs on the critical implementation phase, in which we will be developing specific plans and metrics for each of the objectives.  Also at the Fall Conference, the Nominating Committee met and put forward a slate of new candidates for Council leadership positions that has gone to the Board of Directors for approval. 

 

            Linda

 

PRESIDENT’S MONTHLY UPDATE
November 1, 2019

 

MO Services

Conducted an educational session for NAECE at the Fall Conference; 32 MO executives participated, sharing ideas and brainstorming new ways to grow membership, heighten member engagement, improve MO operations, and increase non-dues revenue.

Sponsored NAECE Executive Toolkit Webinar on Sales Presentations and Closing Deals; next webinar scheduled for November 13th at 2:00pm ET.  Topic will be Effective Utilization of Referrals and Testimonials – click here to register.

ACEC will host a training session for MO staff February 10-11, 2020 at the national headquarters in Washington DC – click here to register. Topics will include membership, PAC, Trusts, government affairs, leadership programs, coalitions, EEA, and non-dues revenue.

 

General

ACEC’s Nominating Committee put forward Robin Greenleaf (ACEC/Massachusetts) for Chair-elect commencing April, 2020 and Chair the following year; and Edmond Alizadeh (ACEC/Missouri), Michael Cooper (ACEC/Michigan), Matthew Hirst (ACEC/Utah), and Gary Raba (ACEC/Texas) for Vice Chairs commencing in April, 2020, all subject to Board approval.  Congratulations to all.

 

Advocacy and External Affairs

Joined multi-industry stakeholder letter asking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to schedule Floor time for a reauthorization of federal surface transportation programs this year and to encourage the relevant Senate committees to follow the EPW committee action and develop their respective components of a bill.

Urged the EPA to reconsider withholding or threatening to withhold federal highway funding from California or other states as sanctions for failure to comply with Clean Air Act requirements and instead cooperate with the state on transportation conformity and air quality improvement plans.

ACEC Vice President of Political Affairs Dave Bender moderated a discussion on transportation infrastructure with U.S. Representatives Rodney Davis (R-IL) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL).

Joined a coalition of business allies in asking Congress to prioritize STEM education, and especially programs to expand the capacity and diversity of the STEM workforce pipeline, in the Higher Education Act reauthorization.

Supported ACEC Superfund and Emerging Contaminants work group participation in the EPA Superfund Program Remedial Action Framework Partnering Workshop, held in October.

Signed multi-industry stakeholder letter thanking the Senate for increased FY20 funding to the National Levee Safety Program, tripling the amount of funding the program has received in previous years.

ACEC’s podcast downloads broke the 4,000 threshold with significant listener activity during and after the Fall Conference; Rep. Bruce Westerman – an engineer and the senior Republican on the Water Subcommittee in the House – joined ACEC for a podcast interview.

ACEC/PAC surpassed the $860,000 mark for the year through successful fundraising events at the 2019 Fall Conference, which included a Sweepstakes drawing, golf tournament, and the first ever Pinewood Rally. 

New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Arizona, New York, Delaware and Oregon achieved their respective ACEC/PAC fundraising goals in October, joining 10 other MO’s for 2019.

ACEC/PAC hosted fundraising events for Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) and Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) at the ACEC Townhouse; staff met with Members of Congress (Neguse D-CO; Levin D-MI; Evans D-PA) and a Congressional Candidate (Beth Van Duyne R-TX).
 

Business Resources

ACEC’s newest Private Industry Brief focuses on the Commercial & Residential Real Estate Market with details on top clients, significant market trends, and relevant current legislation and policy.

The ACEC Fall Conference offered a broad array of popular and timely educational sessions covering a spectrum of industry topics, including a special health care-focused panel with representatives from University of Chicago Medicine, JLL, and member firm IMEG, taking a deep dive into transformative trends (such as the ‘retailing’ of health care) and how they are impacting facility design.

ACEC’s Pathways to Executive Leadership Class 4 kicked off with 24 attendees at the Fall Conference.  

The Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP) added one new provider – Paragon – for a total of 177.

Coalition best sellers for October included CASE’s Agreement for Structural Peer Review Services and LDC’s Bid Document Review.

With more than 40 participants, October’s most popular online class, 9 Steps to Recession-Proof Your Firm, helped member firms enhance their status as a proactive leader, provide greater job security for their employees, and create the stability and resilience their firm needs to weather the next economic storm.

November online classes will feature: 5-10 Years Pre-Retirement? What You Need to Do Now to Protect Your Legacy, Buy-Sell Agreements – Don’t Sell Your Firm Short, New Overtime Rule: What Your Firm Needs to Know, Radically Relevant: Reshape Your Message, Earn Their Attention, Gain More Trust and Clients, P3 Myths and Realities for Design Professionals, Leveraging the Seller-Doer to Future-Proof your Business Development Strategy, and FHWA “Safe Harbor” Indirect Cost Rate Policy: Benefits and Pitfalls for New and Small Firms.


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Date

November 5, 2019

Category

ACEC NEWS / PRESIDENT'S MONTHLY UPDATE

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