PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

The New Year has kicked in with a lot of positive momentum from our successful activities in 2006 at both the committee and national organization levels.

Our committees continue to thrive in member firm participation and activity. We have had positive responses and collaboration with local agencies through our Transportation, Facilities, and Environmental Committees. New doors for opportunities to make an impact on the business and technical sides have opened with Londoun County and WSSC and we look forward to the upcoming reports from our committees.

As the year begins, so does the activity for promoting our legislative agenda. Buoyed by our successes in exceeding for the second year in a row our annual ACEC/PAC Goal, we are poised to actively support our National Organization’s Legislative Agenda. Thank you to the 45+ members who have supported with financial contributions our ACEC/PAC drive and met our $8900 goal. Working closely with Steve Hall, ACEC Vice President for Government Affairs, we held a successful luncheon in February to inform our members on current issues facing our industry. With the change in leadership in Congress we have a new opportunity to inform our legislators on where we stand on key issues such as transportation, aviation, water infrastructure, QBS, government contracting, taxes on services, and immigration reform, etc. Coming up in the Spring our voices will need to be heard again in the halls of Congress.

Finally, I want to congratulate our winners for this years Engineering Excellence Awards. Our five selected firms (The Louis Berger Group, KCE Structural, A. Morton Thomas, Michael Baker Jr., Inc and Dewberry) all demonstrated again the wealth of knowledge and innovation that lies within our community. We applaud our winners effort and wish them the best as they move on to higher honors.

I look forward to seeing all of you in upcoming activities or events and continuing our good efforts within ACEC/MW.

Philios Angelides
ACEC/MW President

Reception for Commissioner David Ekern!

Commissioner David Ekern

On Wednesday, February 7th a Reception honoring David S. Ekern, P.E., as the new Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner was held at the historic Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Virginia. This was an event co-sponsored by ACEC/MW and ACEC/VA and was a great success. With a turnout of over 100 people from many firms of the engineering and transportation community, it was a great chance to welcome the Commissioner and pledge to forge a solid new relationship.

ACEC/MW President, Philios Angelides with ACEC/VA Executive Director, Nancy Israel

New Member Breakfast
Our Annual New Member Breakfast was held at ACEC/MW offices on Tuesday, February 27th from 8:30am – 10:00am. If your firm has joined within the past year and you were unable to attend, please contact Mac Cannon for a brief summary of this event!

Joint Meeting with ACEC/MD Executive Committee
The Executive committees of ACEC/MW and ACEC/MD will meet on March 7th. This is an annual meeting between the two organizations that focuses on coordinating joint efforts to advance issues affecting our member firms in Maryland as well as clients of mutual interest headquartered in the state of Maryland.

Joint Meeting with ACEC/MD and Army Corps of Engineers
In the strengthening of our partnership with ACEC/MD we are holding a joint meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers on March 13th. Both ACEC/MW and ACEC/MD look forward to helping the Baltimore District achieve their goals through our firms.

LUNCHEONS

January Review
Metro Area Schools; Loudoun and Montgomery Counties

We had another great luncheon with a wealth of very timely information.

James Song from Montgomery County, MD and Kevin Lewis from Loudoun County, VA spoke about the current and upcoming cycle for development in the respective school systems. To see their Power Point presentations, please click here.

February Review
ACEC/MW EEA Awards and Legislative Update

Our most recent luncheon gave us the opportunity to recognize our Engineering Excellence Award winners of this past year. It also gave our membership the ability to hear first-hand about the ever changing landscape of the legislative arena from Steve Hall, VP of Government Affairs ~ ACEC National. To view his presentation, please click here.

Our Winners this year:

— DESIGN —

Grand Awards:

Louis Berger Group, Inc. “ Bangkok’s First Subway: M.R.T. Chaloem Ratchamongkhon”

KCE Structural Engineers – “Capital Gallery Expansion”

Merit Awards:

Michael Baker Jr., Inc. "Thule Dormitory, Greenland”

A. Morton Thomas & Associates, Inc.
“ Virginia Department of Transportation – Madison Heights Bypass, Route 29”

— NON-DESIGN —

Grand Award:

Dewberry – “Dewberry Enterprise: FEMA Engineering and DFIRM Mapping Environment”

Congratulations and we wish you well in the National Competition!!


Upcoming dates for March and April Luncheons

Upcoming March Luncheon - Colleges & Universities
Maggiano's Little Italy, Virginia
Details to follow!!

April 19, 2007 - DC Government & DC Agencies
Washington Plaza Hotel, Washington DC

SCHEDULED SEMINARS

**LEED Seminar – March 9th, 2007**
8201 Greensboro Drive
The Greensboro Room
McLean, Virginia
See below for more details on this seminar.

POTENTIAL FUTURE SEMINARS

- Design Build Seminar

- ACASS Seminar,
Bruce Ware (US Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District))

 COMMITTEE UPDATES

Environmental

• EPA
  ACEC/MW has the benefit of being the closest local chapter to the national office in downtown Washington, DC; because of this and the efforts of this committee, a new and promising relationship has been forged, bringing our environmental committee in closer contacts with Federal agencies like EPA.
• WSSC
  The Committee is working on solidifying a long-term relationship with the WSSC. As a result of the committee's meeting with WSSC in 2006, we have been asked to assist with a peer review of WSSC's new Design Manual. If you are interested in participating in this review as well as other activities, please contact the committee chair: Bill Kirby at bkirby@psaltd.com.

Facilities

• Loudoun County: In November 2006, the Facilities Committee met with the Leadership of the County's Procurement Department, as well as the County's Capital Development Programs Department. This was a very productive meeting, in that there was a healthy discussion on the role of the engineers in design procurement within the county. Issues such as; scope of work definitions, fee proposals and performance accountability were discussed. The county is considering removing the requirement for pricing from future RFP's and has requested that ACEC/MW provide a letter stating our position on the issue. In addition, the County will be reaching out to the Committee for assistance with new Technical Manuals and RFP language. This interaction will be an excellent opportunity for ACEC/MW to make significant impact on the business practices of a local government agency.
  
• GSA National Capital Region (NCR): The Facilities Committee at a November 2006 meeting continued its dialogue with GSA NCR's Procurement Division on A/E Contract Procurement issues. There is an on-going dialogue on the need to submit detailed Technical Proposals for individual tasks under the Multiple Award A/E Contracts. GSA has promised to relax those requirements as well as eliminate the requirement for pricing as part of the selection process. If you are interested in participating, please contact Jerry Kavadias at jkavadias@amtengineering.com Mac Cannon at hmcannon@acecmw.org.

Legislative

• The Legislative Committee continues to monitor legislative issues and actions in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia as well as at the national level.
• This year the Committee was able to rally National PAC support, bringing ACEC/MW well past our PAC goal for yet another year. The committee welcomes any new interest and would encourage you to join. If you are interested, please contact Bob Henchbarger at rhenchbarger@mbakercorp.com – or Mac Cannon at hmcannon@acecmw.org.

Membership

The Membership Committee continues to be active in attracting new members. We welcome Echelon Engineering; Facility Engineering Associates, Inc; and PDH Associates to our membership and look forward to their active participation. If you are interested in supporting and recruiting new members to the organization, please contact: Mac Cannon at hmcannon@acecmw.org

Program

The ACEC/MW Program Committee serves an important role in coordinating and planning various events throughout the year. Luncheons, seminars and the Annual Conference are all addressed by this important committee. If you are interested in participating in the committee or possibly have interest in the upcoming planning session for the June 21st Annual Conference, please contact Mac Cannon at hmcannon@acecmw.org.

Transportation

The Transportation Committee remains one of the most active among our membership, which is evident by the large 14 person turnout at the last committee meeting. The Committee is very active in discussing and monitoring the procurement practices in each local agency as they shift and change. There continues to be detailed discussion and interest with DDOT, VDOT, MDOT, and Federal programs. Other items covered are: NOVA Consultant Forum, Rail/VRE and Airports Authority Updates. If you are interested in participating, please contact Mac Cannon at hmcannon@acecmw.org.

GET YOUR NAME OUT IN FRONT
ACEC/MW Business Opportunities Networking Luncheon sponsorships have been very popular this past year as a great marketing outlet for our firms. Spring is almost upon us and we have plenty of sponsorship opportunities available. Start your spring off right by planning to sponsor one of our Networking Luncheons. Sponsoring firms will receive recognition on the registration form, registration table signage and inclusion in the popular pre-speaker slide show that has become a part of all Business Opportunities Networking Luncheons. Upcoming luncheon topics include Colleges & Universities; DC Government & DC Agencies; and Maryland & Virginia Local Governments. Sponsorship opportunities will be made available monthly on the registration forms. To pre-book a sponsorship, please contact ACEC/MW Executive Director Mac Cannon.

UPCOMING EVENTS

March 9, 2007
LEED Overview & Exam Preparation Seminar
8:00am - 12:00pm

Planning for or Procrastinating about taking the LEED Exam?   If you’ve been meaning to take the plunge and become a LEED Accredited Professional and would like some assistance in preparing for the test, this course is for you.  Iris Amdur, Principal of GreenShape LLC, a nationally recognized sustainability consulting firm based in Washington, DC, will present an overview of the LEED Green Building Rating System based on her experience working with dozens and dozens of LEED projects throughout the region. 

This course will focus on the LEED Accreditation exam and how to study for it, with a question and answer session to address your general and in-depth questions.  Participants are encouraged to download and review the LEED NC v2.2 Rating System from www.usgbc.org prior to the workshop and to come prepared for a lively session of “Stump the Sustainability Consultant.” 
To register, please click here to download the registration form.

March 29, 2007
Business Opportunities Networking Luncheon
Topic ~ Colleges & Universities
11:30am - 1:30pm
To register, please click here to download the registration form.

To register online, please click here.

Mark your calendars for the ACEC/MW Annual Conference
June 21, 2007
Washington Plaza Hotel, Washington , DC
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Attend the ACEC Annual Conference and Legislative Summit, May 6-9, 2007!!!
For more information please use the follow link:
http://www.acec.org/conferences/annual-07/index.cfm

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