IN THIS ISSUE
** DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HOSTING TOWN MEETINGS
** MANDATORY CONTINUING EDUCATION PUBLIC HEARING SET FOR NOV.
29TH
** THANKS!!!!!!!!
** CECO ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE AWARDS REMINDER
** CHANGE OF MEMBER FIRM ADDRESSES
** CECO CONTRIBUTES TO CONSULTING ENGINEERING ASSOCIATION RELIEF
FUND
** WHAT YOUR CLIENTS DON'T KNOW MIGHT HURT YOU
** THE ACEC MINUTEMAN FUND WANTS YOU..........
** HOUSE SCRAPS PENTAGON JOB COMPETITION PROVISIONS - A BIG VICTORY
FOR ACEC
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HOSTING TOWN MEETINGS
Secretary of Transportation Herschal Crow, Transportation Commission Chairman Tom Love, and ODOT Director Gary Ridley are holding a series of town meetings across the state to discuss area highways and the current and future transportation needs of Oklahoma.
The meetings are focusing on the maintenance situation and needs of the counties within the region as well as informing Oklahomans of the desperate need for preventative roadway maintenance, construction updates, and specific areas of interest.
The meetings will also include a brief video followed by an open discussion of Oklahoma's transportation needs.
A few of the meetings have already been held. The remaining town meetings are as follows:
Oct. 3rd, 2:30pm, Santa Fe Train Depot, Ardmore
Oct. 4th, 10:00am, Great Plains Technology Center, Lawton
Oct. 11th, 2:00pm, Coles Garden, Oklahoma City
Oct. 12th, 2:00pm, Meridian Technology Center, Stillwater
Oct. 16th, 2:30pm. Kiamichi Technology Center, Atoka
Oct. 17th, 10:00am, Best Western Hotel, Poteau
Oct. 24th, 2:00pm, Ramada Inn, Shawnee
Oct. 26th, 10:00am, Ada Chamber of Commerce, Ada
Oct. 31st, 11:00am, Muskogee Civic Center, Muskogee
Oct. 31st, 3:00pm, City Hall, Tahlequah
Nov. 15th, Location TBA, Tulsa
Nov. 16th, 10:00am, Afton Technology Center, Afton
The meetings are open to all interested parties, and CECO members
are invited and encouraged to attend.
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MANDATORY CONTINUING EDUCATION PUBLIC HEARING SET FOR NOV. 29TH
As previously reported, the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors has started rulemaking procedures to implement Mandatory Continuing Education in Oklahoma.
To that end, the State Board will be holding a Public Hearing on the proposed rules on Thursday, November 29th, at 3:00pm. The public hearing will be held at the Oklahoma Engineering Center, 201 N.E. 27th St., Oklahoma City.
The proposed rules are posted on the State Board's website, http://www.okpels.org/. You can also receive a copy by calling the State Board at (405) 521-2874, or, CECO at (405) 525-7696.
All CECO members are encouraged to review the proposed rules, and to attend the Public Hearing on November 29th.
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THANKS!!!!!
Thanks to our member firms that have contributed to the State Board of Registration STUDENT OUTREACH PROGRAM fund. Several firms have contributed, and this is a "gentle" reminder to everyone else .
The CECO Board is asking that each firm contribute $50.00 to the fund, administered by OEF. If your firm hasn't yet contributed, please send your company check to: Oklahoma Engineering Foundation, 201 N.E. 27th Street, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105.
Professional registration is the life-blood of consulting engineering. Your assistance is greatly appreciated!
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CECO ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE AWARDS REMINDER
Just a reminder that the entry deadline for the CECO Engineering Excellence Awards is just over 5 weeks away. Entry information has been sent to all firms, and is also available on the CECO web site (http://www.cecok.org).
The timetable for the Oklahoma Program is:
** November 9, 2001 - Deadline for receipt of entries
** November 16, 2001 - Judging by a panel of judges selected from business, government, and education leaders in Oklahoma
** The five winning firms will be notified immediately following the judging to allow the firms to finalize their submissions to the ACEC competition.
The Awards will be: (1) Grand Oklahoma Conceptor and four (4) Oklahoma Honor Awards. The five (5) winning Entries are eligible to be submitted to the ACEC National EEA Program. Deadline for submission to ACEC is January 11, 2002. The ACEC Awards Presentation will be March 13, 2002 in Washington DC at which ALL ENTRIES will be displayed.
Please note that the detailed "Notebook" required for the ACEC Program is not required for the Oklahoma competition, but entrants are encouraged to prepare such a notebook anyway in preparation for submittal to ACEC.
If you have any questions, call CECO, 405/525-7696.
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CHANGE OF MEMBER FIRM ADDRESSES
GW2 Engineering, Inc., has moved to new offices. The firm is now located at 221 W. Wilshire, Suite A, Oklahoma City, OK, 73116. Tele: (405) 842-7027, Fax: (405) 842-7269.
Mansur-Daubert-Strella has now officially become Crafton, Tull and Associates, and their office has moved. The new address for Crafton, Tull and Associates is 2448 E. 81st Street, Suite 1700, Tulsa, 74137. Tele: (918) 584-0347, Fax: (918) 584-3783.
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CECO CONTRIBUTES TO CONSULTING ENGINEERING ASSOCIATION RELIEF FUND
Having experienced the April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, we Oklahomans may have a much better understanding of what our fellow citizens in New York and Washington have been going through since the events of September 11th. We were all impacted in many different ways in 1995, and many of those feelings and memories came flowing back on September 11th.
A couple of days ago, the impact of the events of September 11th came even closer to home when we learned from our sister organization, the New York Association of Consulting Engineers (NYACE), that one of their member firms was located in on the 94th floor of the World Trade Center. At latest report, the firm has one confirmed death with an additional 13 employees missing.
Following the Oklahoma City bombing, our counterpart organizations from around the country made contributions through CECO to many local relief organizations, most notably the Governor's and Mayor's Relief Fund for the children of those lost or injured in the bombing.
NYACE has set up a special fund from which 100% of the funds contributed will be equally distributed among the families of the employees of their member firm which were lost. NYACE member firms are being asked to contribute to the fund, and my counterpart at NYACE let all of the state ACEC organizations know about the fund in case states or firms wished to contribute also.
With the September 11th tragedy directly impacting a New York City consulting engineering firm, the CECO Board of Directors believes it proper for CECO to make a contribution to the fund on behalf of all CECO members. With that, we are sending a check to NYACE for $1,000.00.
While CECO is making the contribution on behalf of CECO members, you may wish to make an additional contribution to the NYACE fund on behalf of your individual firm. If so, make your check payable to:
New York Association of Consulting Engineers
6 Airline Drive
Albany, NY 12205
If you have any questions, please call CECO.
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WHAT YOUR CLIENTS DON'T KNOW MIGHT HURT YOU
So work isn't rolling in like it should for some design and construction firms. Now is the time for these firms to make sure their clients and potential clients know the full range of services they offer. A recent editorial by ZweigWhite Principal Mark Goodale in REVOLUTIONARY MARKETING, the newsletter of innovative marketing for design and construction firm leaders, outlines steps design and construction firms should take to make their clients and potential clients aware of their full capabilities.
* FIND OUT WHERE YOU STAND. First, be cognizant of what your clients know and don't know about your firm, and what their perceptions are. A good place to start is by asking established clients why they hired another firm before considering you for the job. You may be surprised to hear how many of them had no idea your firm could provide the services they need.
* TEAR DOWN INTERNAL BARRIERS. Your staff must be motivated to capitalize on cross-selling opportunities (it's a good idea to issue a one-page description of all the firm's services and corresponding price ranges to everyone in the firm). But if your incentive compensation plan is based on department performance or office performance rather than firm-wide performance, don't expect a lot of cross-selling activity throughout your firm.
* GET ON STAGE. Speak to your audience as much as possible. Mail a personal letter inviting clients and potential clients to call for free, half-hour consulting sessions. Offer to evaluate facilities or project sites and provide a complimentary (or inexpensive) summary analysis. Just do whatever you can to put yourself and other key staff in your firm in a position to win projects. And when you're already on a project with a client, don't be afraid to take advantage of legitimate opportunities to sell more work if you offer value, it shouldn't be a hard sell.
This release was excerpted from a Mark Goodale editorial in REVOLUTIONARY MARKETING (ISSN 1526-4483), Issue #028, originally published September 17, 2001. For a complete copy of the article, contact Mark Grady at 508-651-1559.
ZweigWhite is the leading source of management consulting, information, and education for the design and construction industry. The firm is based in Natick, MA, and has additional offices in Oakland, CA; Washington, DC; Overland Park, KS; and Atlanta, GA.
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THE ACEC MINUTEMAN FUND WANTS YOU TO HELP US FIGHT YOUR LEGISLATIVE AND LEGAL BATTLES
The Minuteman Fund (formerly known as the Legal/Legislative Fund) is the primary financial weapon of ACEC for helping Member Organizations fight state legislative and legal battles that have national importance. Your firm's contribution to this Fund is crucial to ensuring a favorable business environment for your practice!
Recent M.O. victories supported by the Minuteman Fund include:
** Virginia: Protected QBS against the state's effort to bid out engineering services
** Florida: Preserved engineering requirements for the design of fire safety systems
** Nevada: Defended the statute of limitations to limit liability for engineering firms
** Illinois: Protected professional standards for engineering expert testimony
** California: Defeated the public employee union's efforts to prevent outsourcing of engineering services
** Arizona: Defeated an anti-growth ballot initiative that threatened to spill over to other states
** Washington State: Preserved the limitation of liability in professional service contracts
** Wisconsin: Defeated OSHA's attempt to impose construction safety liability on ACEC firms
Minuteman Fund requests are judged against the following criteria:
** The issue(s) must potentially affect a large segment of the
membership or otherwise have major precedent-setting implications.
** The M.O. must demonstrate its own financial and political
commitment to the effort.
** The M.O. may request support of up to one-quarter the amount
that the M.O itself has committed to the initiative (e.g, an M.O.
that commits $4,000 from its own resources may seek up to an additional
$1,000 in support from the Minuteman Fund).
The Minuteman Fund is funded through contributions from member firm, and both company and individual checks are accepted.
CECO encourages member firms to participate. For more information or to contribute, go to the ACEC Web Site, http://www.acec.org/programs/minutemanfund.pdf
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HOUSE SCRAPS PENTAGON JOB COMPETITION PROVISIONS - A BIG VICTORY FOR ACEC
The House removed a series of measures in the Defense authorization bill on Tuesday, September 25th that would have limited outsourcing and allowed Defense employees to compete for work that is traditionally reserved for contractors.
The House scrapped Hawaii Democrat Rep. Neil Abercrombie's "in-sourcing" provision, which sought to let federal employees compete for thousands of jobs currently held by Defense contractors. Lawmakers also removed strict caps on the number of federal jobs that Defense could include in new outsourcing studies, paving the way for Defense to start studying 13,000 jobs for potential outsourcing in fiscal 2002.
The Bush administration opposed both the "in-sourcing" measure and the cap on competitions, which it deemed "inconsistent" with the administration's competitive sourcing initiative.
The provisions were removed through a manager's amendment to the bill introduced by Reps. Bob Stump, R-Ariz., and Ike Skelton, D-Mo., the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee. Rep. Abercrombie agreed to support the amendment after the House Republican leadership threatened to scuttle the entire authorization bill over his "in-sourcing" provision, according to Mike Slackman, an Abercrombie spokesman.
"The bottom line for Mr. Abercrombie is he did not want to use this fight to sink the entire bill," said Slackman.
Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich., filed a motion to reinstate Abercrombie's provision late Tuesday. It failed by a 221-197 vote.
The House Rules Committee approved the manager's amendment Monday night. Democrats on the committee worked to keep Abercrombie's provision in the bill, according to Rep. Martin Frost, D-Texas, ranking minority member on the Committee. "I'm disappointed the manager's amendment strips out Rep. Abercrombie's [provision]," Frost said on the House floor. "I hope we can revisit the issue at a later date."
The manager's amendment includes two new curbs on the Pentagon's competitive sourcing program. The first limits Defense to beginning only half of all new outsourcing studies planned for fiscal 2002 before May 1, or before a General Accounting Office panel studying outsourcing issues delivers its final report.
The second mandates that private firms must submit a bid that is at least 10 percent lower than the bid of an in-house team to win a public-private job competition. This would tweak federal contracting rules, which currently allow a private firm to win a job competition if it offers savings of $10 million, or 10 percent more savings than the in-house bid.
While Abercrombie wanted a complete overhaul of the Defense Department's outsourcing policy, he believes the smaller curbs send a signal to the department, according to Slackman. "It's less than what Congressman Abercrombie wanted, but it keeps the issue alive," said Slackman.
Slackman added that opposition from the House Republican leadership, and not the Bush administration, led Abercrombie to withdraw his provision. "[The Bush administration] is not what stopped him," said Slackman. "If anything, the pressure from the administration sort of confirmed his own view that he was doing the right thing."
The House action removes all but one item that the Bush administration had identified as a deterrent to its competitive sourcing program: Section 333, which would revive an Army study requiring contractors to submit information on the workforce to the Defense Department. The study was halted in June when Defense and the Office of Management and Budget concluded the study had violated federal rulemaking procedures.
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