coalitions

ACEC Coalitions Update

Engineering Influence sat down with Matt Murello and Kevin Peterson to get an update on ACEC Coalitions.
Transcript:
Host: Welcome to another edition of Engineering Influence, a Podcast by the American Council of Engineering companies. Today we are very happy to bring you an coalition update and to give us an update on what's happening in coalitions we welcome coalitions Chair, Kevin Peterson. He's president and CEO of P2S Incorporated out of long beach, California and coalition Chair-elect, Matt Murello, president of Louis S. Goodfriend and Associates. He's out of Chester, New Jersey. So welcome to you both and one of who, kind of start off with a update on advocacy and the coalitions, what's happening in advocacy.
Kevin: Thank you, Jeff. This is Kevin. And currently we're developing our 2020 coalition advocacy agenda in consultation with the ACEC advocacy and external affairs department. We're happy to report that our coalitions continue to be strong contributors to the ACEC PAC. Last year we were represented 55% of the total PAC dollars from our members, up a couple percentage points from the previous year.
Host: And that's really good news. The PAC is one of our strongest tools to advocate our position so that is good news. From the membership side of the coin, where are things looking at coalitions?
Matt: Thanks Jeff. This is Matt Murello. And so every year, one of our coalitions or sometimes too, we have a recruitment drive, which is steered by the the ExCom of that coalition. And this year we started a new drive for the geo professionals coalition in November, netted 16 new members. And we also implemented a recruitment drive for both CAMEE, COPS and Land Development, which got us six more community volunteers. So we're looking forward to continuing to increase our numbers. I believe we're up by another 2% this year. And continuing to spread the word of the value of coalitions.
Host: That's fantastic. That's, that's, that's key because membership into the coalitions, it's easier than people think. And we need to get the word out there for ACEC members that it doesn't take much to join. And recruitment efforts like that, recruitment drives are critically important to start getting more people involved. And one of the benefits one of the benefits once you are a member is education which is another big area that we're looking to work on. So what's happening with education sessions with coalitions and events?
Kevin: So let me, let me update you on what we did in the 2019 fall conference in Chicago and coalition sponsored seven education sessions. We had also had five member round tables during that conference. In terms of, in between conferences. At the end of this week we have our 2020 small firm coalition winter meeting, taking place in Dallas focusing on leadership at all levels. We expect that to be a very successful event and later this month we'll have our 2020 coalition winter member meeting that's going to be held February 27th and 28th in New Orleans. And it really will be exploring the future of design software technologies. And a lot of our coalitions are also doing ExCom meetings. At that meeting. So it should be a very successful event right after Mardi Gras.
Host: Ah, that's, that's a perfect time to be down there right after the party stops. When you can actually move around and registration, I understand us is now open for that winter meetings, is that correct?
Kevin: It is. And, and they can find the registration link on, on the ACEC website.Host: Fantastic. Publications are another area that we really focus in on. It's, it kinda builds off of the education piece. Have there been any updates on publications in the coalitions?
Matt: Yeah, there has. And you know, you hit the nail on the head when you talk about one of the distinct advantages to being a member of the coalitions and with all the coalitions being in one group a membership to any one of the coalitions allows you access to all of these documents. And if anyone from ACEC were to purchase them and were not a member of the coalitions, it would cost thousands of dollars. And the, the documents are constantly being updated since July 1st we have a seven new or seven documents, four that have been updated and three new ones. The new ones are come from our CASE and new Geoprofessionals Coalition on lessons learned as well as commentary of the ASCE design procedures and health and safety plan checklist. So this is a process that's always going. We usually have between five and 10 updated or new per year and we're continuing moving in that direction. We also have in November-December Engineering, Inc., we featured our coalition leaders talking about prospects in resiliency, changes in leadership and climate change. So we're, we're out there our leaders are out there and talking about industry trends.
Host: Yeah, that's a really good point Matt, because like you said, if you went off and you tried to source these publications on your own and you tried to buy them or, or just find them somewhere it would get expensive really quickly. And being a member of the coalitions gives you that amazing library of content that if you are a sole practitioner or a small firm and you're trying to get your leadership educated and you're trying to figure out, you know, different business strategies or contracts, you know, the coalitions just gives you a treasure trove of material that you can just get access to, which is just so beneficial.
Matt: Yeah. And Jeff, I mean, most of our most of our publications that come from the coalitions may be practice oriented. So you know, if they're for structural engineers or for the mechanical electrical group but a good chunk of them, I would say probably close to a quarter of them are business centered. So if you are, like you said, a small firm and you're looking for that HR document or you're looking for a basic on how to basic contracts and setting up a new office or some employee handbook issues, chances are somebody has already spent the time and capital in putting something that you might be able to at least make as a starting point as opposed to trying to reinvent the wheel. And it's, it's an invaluable resource for coalitions we find.
Host: And then I guess the last part is operations and how everything's being structured. Have there been any operational changes within the the coalition structure to note?
Kevin: One thing to note is when we started out coalitions years ago, some of those were councils to begin with. And we decided late last year that we wanted to have our, a consistent branding across our coalition. So the ones that had council in their name, we've, we've officially now renamed them to coalitions. So coalitions will appear everywhere in our branding and counsel is now being put to put the rest. We also last year recognized Mike Snyder from Dewberry as a recipient of our sixth annual Coalition Distinguished Service Award. That's something that we give out every year at the fall conference.
Host: All right. So that was kind of the top list of materials and things going on with coalitions. Is there anything else going on you guys want to add? A kind of free fire zone here about coalitions or, or anything you want to get across to our audience? Being our, our the leaders of our ACEC coalitions?
Kevin: This is Kevin and I, I would just recommend that anyone who's a member of ACC and especially new members who join, if they have any questions related to coalitions that they please reach out and they can find our contact information on the website. They can also contact Heather at ACEC headquarters. We're more than willing to share some of our personal experience in dealing with coalitions and how it's benefited our own organizations.
Host: Wonderful. Well, I want to thank you both for taking some time out of your day. And thanks again for giving us an update on ACEC Coalitions. It's all good news across the board and we're looking at growth and expanding our footprint of our coalitions in 2020. And thank you for being on the show and look forward to having you on again soon.

Matt Murello Discusses the Importance of ACEC Coalitions

ACEC's Chair-Elect of the Coalition Leaders Steering Committee discusses the importance of coalitions through ACEC membership.
 
Transcript:
Host: (00:03)And welcome to another edition of Engineering influence with ACEC. Very happy to have a repeat guest to the podcast. Matt Morello is the Chair-Elect of the Coalition Leaders Steering Committee. Matt Murello: (00:50)Thanks for having me, Jeff. Host: (00:51)Yes, thank you for coming in. I know you're a busy man. You have a lot of hats that you wear. Not only being president of your firm Lewis Goodfriend and Associates out of New Jersey. And Mayor as well. And then also of course Chair-Elect of the coalitions and then also taking on the tax and regulatory committee. So there's a lot going on. But today really focusing in on coalitions. You were just a couple of minutes ago in our large conference room talking to the staff together about the importance of coalitions. Um, take a moment and kind of describe what the coalitions at ACEC do, why are they important? And really what are you trying to get across coming in as the chairman of the coalitions committee. Matt Murello: (01:40)Thanks. Um, so the coalitions for people that aren't aware, are groups within ACEC, many of which are practice centered, uh, whether it's land development or professional surveyors, mechanical electrical engineers or structural engineers, that provide additional information and resources to those practice centered firms. The other of those two are based upon the, the size of the firms who have small firms in the DPC, the larger firms, the small firms counsel that I got involved with as chair in 2012. And the value of the coalitions is, as we were just explaining to staff of ACEC is to provide a pool of information and resources, whether it's peer to peer, I have a question about something I want to do or, or tried to do, or it's just the ability to have access to documents. Matt Murello: (02:35)Right now, the number of documents that any coalition member would have access to if they were to purchase them all would be over $5,000. And that's a, that's a significant investment to affirm. If a firm is starting or growing or merging or adding onto the ability to go and tap into those resources of, um, just the documents or being able to talk, um, in a peer to peer environment and say, look, I want to open a new business or I want to open a new office or I want to develop my next generation of leaders, or how valuable is my firm? Um, at some point somebody's already done it. And within the coalitions you're gonna find that person, probably one that's done it right and one that hasn't. The ability to tap into the information is going to make your firm better off in the end because you have the ability to say, okay, does this, is this method of growing my next generation of leaders? Matt Murello: (03:36)Is it going to work for me or is it not? When we all started to get together in 2011 and 2012 where the different chairs got together and said, okay, each one of our groups, instead of trying to be all things to all members concentrated on what did we do best? And at the Small Firm Council, we decided we were gonna try to be the best at helping you run your business. How can we make you more profitable, grow or maintain your client base, diverse your client your client base while the other coalitions we're making you better surveyors or better land development or better structural engineers or better mechanical electrical engineers, engineering firms. And when we did that, when we got together and said, okay, let's each one of us coalitions do the best we can at what we want to provide our members, that's when the membership of the coalitions in general started to grow rapidly. Matt Murello: (04:33)I've always believed that if we can get anybody who automatically joins ACEC for whatever reasons they do, if you want to be engaged and you want to get the most you can out of ACEC, the advocacy side and the coalition side, although they are completely opposite in terms of what you need to put into them, um, they're going to make your firm stronger, make you a better leader and help you grow your business and develop those next generation of leaders. Host: (05:00)And it's really a little barrier to entry. Matt Murello: (05:02)It really is. I mean, uh, obviously there's a, a significant monetary expense to join ACEC, but to join a coalition is only $250. And if you're a member of the insurance trust they reimburse you part of that. And then if you're a member of a coalition, you want to join another coalition, it's even less expensive. So the cost to join a coalition versus what you get out of it, if nothing else, just the documents themselves is an order of magnitude over what you pay. Host: (05:34)But like you said, it's that information sharing. It's that best practices. Having a center for excellence for firms to learn how best to, I guess grow or change their management structure or whatever they want to do to be more successful in their industry. Not so much professionally, but in their specialization. Even though there's information about that available it's more how can you grow your firm, get it ready to go into M&A if you want to do that or if it's going to be just, you know, a training the next generation coming up, that's really where you can learn. Matt Murello: (06:07)Yeah, you're right. And to be honest with you, Jeff I've been going to the Small Firm Counsel round tables for almost 20 years now. Um, and one of the questions I got asked by staff was, you know, what are the typical topics you discuss on at these approximately two and a half hours of sitting in a room. Um, and what you had mentioned with, uh, with mergers and acquisitions and growing leadership development and from valuation and benchmark performance metrics. Um, we talk about over and over and over again and we're always finding new ways to try to come up with what works best for my firm. I have a very small firm in New Jersey, in the New York City area. Uh, we've, uh, been between five people and 12 people in the 17 years I've owned the business. But the coalitions have always helped me when I want to figure out whether I'm doing well or not doing well. Matt Murello: (06:59)Is this a good time to open a new office? How do I quantify whether it's a good time and whether it's performing well or not. All of that information is readily accessible because people have done it. Um, and there's nothing easier than asking somebody who's done it and not done well at it. Okay. What do, what pitfalls do I avoid so that I can concentrate on being the best acoustical engineer I can offer in this area? Um, and at the same time, because I'm a small firm, I don't have a CFO and HR director. How do I get around or how do I deal with those topics? In my business, which will come up. Um, and what's the best way to deal with it. And I think that that pool of information, that pool of resources is something that's invaluable. Host: (07:40)And something else that was mentioned during your, during your talk was the fact that at the conferences that ACEC holds, it's an open door policy that if you're an ACEC member and you want to just test out a coalition or see if it's something that you're interested in, you can come in and sit in see if it's right for you. Matt Murello: (07:57)Right. The, the, the round tables that exist on the Sunday of the national meetings are where we get, um, it's an open door. Uh, people come in. And I've always found that if someone joins a one of the round tables and find some value in innovation if it's one topic we discussed that it makes their lives easier, um, that's a perspective member that we more often than not can get to join a coalition. Host: (08:21)So Matt, really, what's your elevator pitch for membership coming in and you have some, you know, you're talking to a bunch of new ACEC members and they don't know about coalitions, you know, what's, what's your, what's your pitch to them? Matt Murello: (08:34)I think any firm that decides to be involved with ACEC has already made the decision for the expense of joining and they've determined whatever their need is. If that firm really wants to be actively involved in the industry, have a say, or at least be in the know and to what's changing in our industry from a tax and regulatory standpoint, infrastructure, what bills are coming or not coming, ACEC is the place to be. If you're gonna make that jump into, be actively involved with the organization, losing out on the opportunity for a very small investment in a coalitions of $250 to be involved and get access to that pool of information to grow your business, to manage your business effectively, to grow the next generation of leaders and to become a better engineering firm and a principal is really something that you need to take. And taken into consideration. Otherwise it's an opportunity lost. Um, we all spend most of our time of being responsive as business owners. And if you have an opportunity to tap into information to make you a better leader, to make your firm stronger, more resilient in downturn times as you are in growth. I think it's a resource that everyone should take advantage of. Coalitions is the place to get that. Host: (09:50)Well, that's fantastic. And Matt, thank you for coming down to Washington. Thank you for speaking to our group and I know you have a busy schedule, so I'm not going to hold you up, but thank you so much again, check out our coalitions on www.acec.org Um, and uh, thanks again for coming on.Matt Murello: (10:06)Thanks Jeff. As always.