Engineering Influence from ACEC

Interviews with ExCom: Charles Gozdziewski

Engineering Influence sat down with ACEC Chair-Elect Charles Gozdziewski during ExCom orientation last week.  This is the first of our conversations with ACEC's new volunteer leadership during that training.  
 
Transcript:
Host:  Welcome to another episode of Engineering Influence, a podcast by the American Council of Engineering Companies. This week in Washington at ACEC headquarters, we're hosting Executive Committee orientation. It's a chance for existing and new members of ExCom to come in and get an overview of of what we do here in Washington from department to department from advocacy to membership to education and get an idea of the work that we're doing now and things that they should look out for in the months ahead in 2020.
Host: I'm very pleased today to welcome to the show Charles Gozdziewski with Hardesty and Hanover. He is here as part of that orientation today. Charlie, welcome back to the show.
Charlie G: Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be here in Washington, DC.
Host: 2020 - It's already starting with a lot of activity with our group down here. We kinda hit the ground running with, of course ExCom orientation. But then we're also off to the races from a policy perspective with NEPA, which is something Steve talked about before and really looking towards our own policy work with WRDA infrastructure and potentially appropriations for 2020. That's what we're looking forward to. But I want to get your perspective, of course in your position in volunteer leadership. ACEC as it stands right now, the opportunities that we have for the coming year and you know, some of the things that you watch out for.
Charlie G:  Well this is a very busy and challenging year and as people are aware in the organization, we have a major reset in place. And I'd like to talk a little bit about the internal aspects of 2020 and then the external. On the internal side. We had a chance to revisit our strategic plan, which has not been had any major revisions since 2002.
Charlie G: That's basically complete. We're now looking at the implementation phase of the strategic plan and that will be a big lift for ACEC staff and volunteer leadership as well as ExCom. So that'll take up a good part of our workload going forward. On the external side politics always plays a big role in our organization and as usual, the politics can go any way any day. But we are very well plugged in as you mentioned, we have a very strong advocacy group and there'll be engaged and active the rest of the year. We have a major election coming in 2020. That's going to be a big part of our program. But also, you know, we can't lose sight of the infrastructure bill that we're tracking and we need to be a a leader in that field.
Charlie G: We are the experts. We should be the voice of the infrastructure bill and we plan on doing that. We also have to keep in mind that our industry is changing very rapidly on a technology side and we need to stay on top of all these changes and how we do our business. ACEC again, one of the main focuses is the business of engineering and we have to remain relevant in a changing society that will be prominent going forward.
Host: How do you think our members can best utilize ACEC to do that?
Charlie G: All our survey data show that our membership rates advocacy and networking as the top two reasons they belong to the organization. The networking will be the Avenue to share ideas and information. If you're an engineer today working in an office by yourself or a company working by yourself, you're at an extreme disadvantage.
Charlie G: ACEC opens up those doors by sharing the knowledge, communicating all the regional events, the local events all the opportunities on our committees. This is the Avenue where people can learn and adjust their business practices.
Host:  And I think the ACEC coalitions is a great place for that to happen. Where you're not alone if you're a sole practitioner or if you're in part of a small firm or, or a regional firm. The coalitions give you the ability to punch above your weight class. It gives you the ability to talk to your peers across the country who may be facing the same challenges as you may be facing or are looking ahead and seeing things that maybe you haven't gotten to yet. And being able to do that information sharing is critical for a company that wants to increase their market share or to possibly enter into other markets that they might not be, you know, used to entering.
Host: And so that, that's, that's a great tool for ACEC members to take advantage of. And it's not expensive to get involved in the begin with. And number two, it's, it's just very successful for networking, which was, I like you said, it's one of the key benefits of ACEC membership.
Charlie G: The coalitions is another good example of the opportunities that ACEC offers all member firms. Of course every member firm is different in style and culture and size and geography and discipline where the coalitions, the biggest challenge is some of the firms need to spend some time and be committed to the coalitions to get the most out of them. And every feedback we get is that once they participate in the coalitions, everything is positive feedback and they learn more, go out coming out of it didn't go before they went in. So again, coalition is a good, good example of the value proposition ACEC offers all member firms.
Host: During the meeting earlier when we were talking about the advocacy program, we talked about the green new deal and we talked about some of the larger policy implications and your perspective coming from New York. I thought was very interesting because a lot of ways there are two States in the country that really lead the other States on, on adoption of more progressive policies - that's California and New York. Where do you see things going when it comes to those bigger issues of, of, you know, sustainability, climate change the green new deal and what New York is doing and how that might impact other States, especially as it interacts with our industry with engineering.
Charlie G: As you know, New York has experienced some severe weather related events that damaged a lot about infrastructure that has changed the way, not only the engineering community thinks, but also the way the elected officials think about their infrastructure.
Charlie G:  We are now very active on resilient programs in all of the government sectors. And also on the energy side, we, I feel we we're, one of the leaders is converting our energy products into more of a carbon free type of environment. And we think that we will be an example for the rest of the country is how to do that, especially on a large scale like New York City. Yeah.
Host: What do you think Congress should do this year that would really benefit the industry?
Charlie G: Well, again, on a national level and also on a statewide level I think everybody has a background of thinking that we need to incorporate resiliency and renewables into every aspect of the infrastructure. And that comes in many shapes and forms and sizes and styles. And I think it's starting to resonate.
Charlie G: It does resonate in a public and that ultimately resonates with the public and elected officials. So the engineers today are doing engineering, which was a lot different than 10 years ago. And it's with this kind of energy and resiliency and sustainability that is now part of every engineer's creativity and developing the infrastructure.
Host: Any parting thoughts on the year ahead or, or what you hope to see?
Charlie G:  I think that one of the challenges going forward is there is a lot of issues and we need to tackle them at the same time. Another big issue that's coming up as far as procurement goes and the prevalence of design build and other procurements of that nature it does have challenges to our industry and we have to really get a better understanding of how it's being used and where it's being used and how much is being used. And I think we are prepared to take on that challenge.
Host:  All good points. Yeah, just gearing up for a very active 20, 20 across the board. And we'll be leading that discussion. And thank you very much for being part of the of the show today and look forward to working with you on a, on a very successful year.
Charlie G:  Thank you, Jeff. Good luck for 2020. Thanks.
 
 

The Chairman's Corner - A Look Back at 2019 and What Lies Ahead for 2020

Engineering Influence welcomed ACEC Board Chair Mitch Simpler back to the show for his quarterly Chairman's Corner podcast.  In this episode, Mitch looks back on a successful year for ACEC and gives his thoughts on what 2020 could bring for ACEC and the engineering industry.  
Transcript:
Host: Welcome to Engineering Influence, a podcast by the American Council of Engineering Companies. We're very pleased today to welcome back to the show, our board chair, Mitch, Simpler for his quarterly chairman's corner podcast. And now that we're in the second week of a new year and a new decade, it's a good time to look back a bit on 2019 on what was a very busy and successful year for ACEC and maybe you know, a little bit of look forward to what the new year might bring. So Mitch, welcome back to the show.
Mitch Simpler: Well, thank you for having me back and Happy New Year to you and to all the listeners.
Host: Yes. Happy New Year.
Mitch Simpler: And you know, my wife gets very depressed at the end of the year and I tell her, I said, this is an opportunity. It's, it's, you've gotta look for it as these are opportunities and challenges not to be to be depressing, but to be enlightening and energizing. So here we are.Speaker 2: Happy new year. Yeah. And really when I came on in May of last year with ACEC, it was right at the conference in, in Washington and my introduction of course to ACEC but then also you, you assumed the role officially is as board chair a lot's happened since. What are your big takeaways from the year for the industry and from the association?
Mitch Simpler: Well, and so let's just talk about the year in general. It was, it's been a very unique year because as you know, we had a, a, a previous president, CEO had retired after 20 years. So as I came on board as the chair and when I was actually chair elect, we brought in a whole new management team for ACC national, which has been both the a blessing and a bit of a curse. The curse is that there was not a lot of intellectual an institutional knowledge that was carried forward. And that's actually part of the blessing. We did not have a lot of baggage, but the short version is having a new staff starting with Linda Bauer Darr - she brought in as a CEO, new president, but then we brought in a new CEO, CFO and, and new legislative representation a lot of, a lot of people that needed to get brought up to speed as to who we are and what we do.
Mitch Simpler: And then on top of that for reasons that I'll make clear later, I hope is the fact that we determined that we needed to upgrade and actually replace our strategic plan. So we've really had a lot of major challenges for the team, both the volunteer leadership, which was new. That would be me and Manish, the good news is we were able to adjust the bylaws that allow the previous chair to stay on executive committee to help smooth the transition out. And then having Charlie G on board who is now the chair-elect gave us a really clear set of guidance and guiding principle leaders that can help transition the organization into the future. But some, some real big challenges. And I think all had been met with enthusiasm and the team has done a terrific job to to move the needles across the board for ACEC, both on membership relationship building between the member offices and national opening up the national doors so that the states and the member firms really get a better understanding of who ACEC is, what our role is and what our responsibilities are and what we do for them.
Host: Yeah, I kind of felt that change coming in. Of course, I didn't have a lot of the institutional knowledge you know, coming in to ACEC, but I noticed that you had, that feeling of change was afoot and you had pieces being moved on the table, but really no sense of disruption. That energy, that enthusiasm was evident when I came on board. And of course, you know, Linda's been a real force in that moving this forward and kind of expanding our scope and looking bigger and trying to raise the profile of the industry. But I noticed that seemed to be kind of universal, you know - let's move this forward, and let's keep things going. So it's been an interesting ride that this level of enthusiasm hasn't waned at all. And has kind of opened new doors. Of course. You know, one of the perfect examples of that I think was the first time that we really as a large team went to a FIDIC conference of course this time in Mexico City where we had policy. Of course I came down to do podcasts. You, you were there and you were presented at the, at, at the conferences. Well as did Linda. And that was a new experience. You know, what did you think of that?
Mitch Simpler: I t was my first FIDIC conference for reasons that I don't recall. I was not able to make the previous, it is sort of, it's customary for the incoming chair as well as the chair to attend the FIDIC conferences. FIDIC for those listeners who aren't familiar with it. It is essentially the international version of ACEC and ACEC U.S. is one of 102 member countries that are members of FIDIC. So aside from the fact that it was my first FIDIC convention I have to tell you, it was truly exciting this year since the conference took place in Mexico City. It was my first time there. It was challenging because I don't speak Spanish and neither did many of the people there.
Mitch Simpler: Thank goodness is many of them speak English so that, that really made it well. But, but it's really an opportunity for ACEC to collaborate with over 102 other countries that all represent the FIDIC organization and it really you communicate on a truly global scale. And it was also important for us to be there this year because the new president of FIDIC is Bill Howard who is from CD Smith, CDM Smith, I guess it is who was sworn as a new president's two year term. So the now the leadership of FIDIC is an American. Now - Bill has served on their board for a number of years. People who remember Greg Thompolis - a former chair of ACEC national - also was president of FIDIC several years ago. So ACC has played and will continue to play a major role on the FIDIC front. But it was interesting as a member of ACEC to go down there and listen to the issues that they struggle with, many of which are the same issues that we struggle with at ACEC.
Mitch Simpler: They have the - and that's the issue of commoditization of engineering. Quality based selection. You know, how, how do you, how do you pick the right team for the right reasons. And so these are all the same missions that ACEC has FIDIC has, they have one additional challenge, which is, and we have sorta been blessed in the U S and we're kind of a bit of an a bubble but issues of corruption and, and intellectual property theft and all kinds of things that we have sort of dismissed over the years here. Because we have a much more open society. Those issues are still very prevalent at the international level. And FIDIC's challenge has been to try to open that up and and make the international market as clear and open a place for business as it is here in the U.S. And so they have their own challenges.
Mitch Simpler: The fact that we have significant American representation in FIDIC both at the leadership level as well as on the FIDIC's probably single biggest claim to fame is the fact that they have prepared a number of international contracts for design professionals. These contracts have become sort of the gold standard now. And many of the documents that we use as part of ACEC out of the EJDC have come out of a basis from the FIDIC format. So very interesting. Met some amazing people down there. We were able to as ACEC also I guess I'll say reopen or reinvigorate our eyes invigorates the communication between our counterparts here in North America as well as those in South America and particularly Central America and Mexico. There's a number of things that we think that we have more in common than in difference. They look to the U.S., FIDIC does as well as our South American counterparts. Look to the U.S. as true leaders from a technology design practice and best business practices. You know, where the, where the where the sort of the envy of most of the world and they are looking to us to help them raise their standards. And and we certainly made it very clear that we're open for business and would be willing and, and would love to help.
Host: I remember the enthusiasm of our Mexican counterparts and talking to us and, and reestablishing those ties and it was, it was, it, you know, very optimistic. We share so many common interests both economically and then also in the need for infrastructure investment. You can see how those markets can mutually benefit each other. And it's good for ACEC to be able to open that door back open for collaboration.
Mitch Simpler: Yeah. And it was, it was refreshing the, the fact that the Mexican counterpart for ACEC, that whole team came up to Chicago for our fall meeting and and continued the conversation. So this is, it's very encouraging and and I look forward to see how it how it develops.
Host: Absolutely. it was a valuable conference. And it was, it was especially interesting the subject that you presented on was technology. And how that's kind of changing the way that the industry is working and the way that the new cadre of engineers coming up through the ranks and in the university and, and the younger professionals are able to use technology to do things that were, you know, time consuming and inconceivable, you know, only, you know, a decade or so more go. And then how that technology is, is, you know, how it's being spread across the world. Because one of the things about FIDIC is that they include Western Europe, of course, North America Asia, but then also some developing areas of the world that don't have access to that same level of technology. And the point you made about corruption and the issues of IP and really just doing business in an above board way.
Host: You know, it's interesting to hear the stories from people in, you know, Europe and Asia. Then also hearing the perspectives from countries like Kenya and, and some others where, where they want to have the same access, but they just don't because their economies are still developing. They don't have the access to the same technologies, the same legal provisions that American firms have. And then the other side of the coin is American firms that might want to be doing business in those regions. What do they have to be cognizant of and aware of? And it was really interesting to have that exchange and being able to be part of that firsthand. So it was extremely good conference.
Mitch Simpler: Yeah, I agree. And, and, and for us to get a better perspective on the globe, the global business of what ACEC represents. And as you said, Europe has a definite approach and they are embracing technology, but there are a lot of countries which just simply cannot. And they turn to us as, as true technology leaders, what can we do to help them leverage whatever aptitudes they have to be better, better designers and better producers. And I think that using the FIDIC forum is a terrific way for that information exchange to take place. And it does and it was really just really exciting.
Host: Yeah, absolutely. And another big issue or topic of focus for us, of course, something that you alluded to a little bit earlier and has been kind of a a driving force throughout the year has been the development of that new strategic plan, which was adopted in Chicago officially. But that's, you know, the adoption is only the public part of it. There has been a lot of work behind the scenes that have been going on for a long time, which you have been deeply involved in. And it's going to set the stage for how ACEC moves forward and grows as an association and represents the dynamic and changing industry. You know, what, what's your and of course right now we're in the implementation phases of that plan which, which was still ongoing. What are your main thoughts about the plan itself? You know, how it came about and where we are really with, with, you know, the implementation phase right now?
Mitch Simpler: Yeah. Well, no, it's a good question and, and that certainly let me digress real quick. So here I take over as chair. We decide that we're going to have, we're going to have a new budget, a three year budget. We have a new team of our paid professional staff starting with Linda and, and then decide, why we're at it, why don't we do a new strategic plan? You've got nothing else to do on your plate. So what the heck - and I'm being a little facetious. It was a lot. It was a lot of moving parts but, but certainly the strategic plan adoption the new strategic plan adoption I think has been a real success story. Manish Kothari was chair of ACEC before me and when I served as chair elect, I also served on the planning cabinet.
Mitch Simpler: Manish challenged us on the planning cabinet to decide whether the current strategic plan needed to be updated or replaced. The planning cabinet unanimously recommended to replace the current plan as it was, the plan had really become more operational than it was strategic. And that's when the fun really began. We put together an incredible team of diverse leaders from a member firms both across the country and in different markets sectors, male and female. We had, we tried to get as diverse a group as we possibly get. The result from that process was that we developed a brand new strategic plan and that was, as you said, it was presented to the board of directors at the fall conference in Chicago. And the plan was unanimously adopted by the board. It was presented by one of the, one of our members as well as our, our strategic planning chairman, Mr. Greg Kelly.
Mitch Simpler: The plan has been branded as being both bold and audacious and as a refreshing change, I guess from the previous plans. But a real hurdle as you pointed out was the fact that we now need to roll this plan out with real operational and implementation worthy goals. And that's where the fun really began. So part of the process that we're involved in now and we were going to be presenting the next stage at the EXCOM meeting in January is to put together the both the implementation details as well as the performance metrics that we're going to be able to use to measure the success of our collective performance on execution of the plan. So that's really where we are. My hope is to be able to present certainly this a pretty fleshed out skeleton of the implementation plan to the full board at the spring meeting in DC.
Host: And being part of that, you know, the really the, the, I guess the think tank portion of it where we have all the, you know, a diverse kind of set of individuals and in groups within planning cabinet, then also internal staff talking about these goals and objectives. You know, it's, it's going to be interesting to see how it, how it all comes together because without going into detail, there are some themes and some ideas that are rising to the surface that are going to be, I think incorporated into the implementation and it's going to be some exciting, exciting things ahead. So yeah, it's been a very interesting time watching this evolve and develop from the plan, getting it approved. And now moving into this more, you know, more actionable stage of putting meat on the bones as far as, you know, those, those steps to actually get this in from paper into the reality of implementation.
Host: But it's critically important. I think that having this kind of a guiding strategic document really helps crystallize this idea that ACEC can really become the preeminent entity that's really in the popular thought space, both in public debate on the Hill, but then also talking to a larger audiences, the American people other industries about the importance of, of engineering. And this is the kind of document that allows ACEC to kind of get that accomplished. And it's going to be interesting to see how it, how it all develops. And yeah, spring's going to be very interesting to see what is going to be presented in Washington, DC.
Mitch Simpler: And I agree on everything you've just stated, but to me the, one of the key elements of the strategic plan and it's mentioned throughout is the role to become thought leaders and our role as, as the the harbinger of thought leadership in the engineering industry. And that's certainly one of our strategic goals across all of the, the various components of the plan. But it's becoming the true thought leadership developing thought leadership, executing thought leadership and being the resource for thought leadership in the engineering community. And we've been doing it and now we've tried to make it a little more, I'll use my term official that that's our strategic goal. And and it is, as you say, very, very exciting. It was a huge lift and I, and I will tell you between the volunteers and the staff, it has been an incredible process. And then my hats are off to all of you who participated because it is a it's a real challenge. To do it right it takes an incredible amount of time and patience and dedication and that has been measured across the board from everyone who's been involved. And I thank all each and every one of them for doing it - you included
Host: Well, thank you. And it's, I'll tell you the thought leadership piece is something that we're looking at and trying to figure out how best to package and create kind of a platform for thought leadership. But it all really comes down to the people listening to this podcast, our members. You know, we have the great benefit of having some extremely hefty talent out there people who are leading in their fields and are experts and our ability to communicate a thought leadership really bubbles up from the members that we have. So, you know, if there's anyone out there who has an idea or as a who or is, you know, hey, I've been thinking about this one issue that I really think we can talk about, or I can, I can talk about, reach out to us, because we'd love to get that in a place where people can see it.
Host: And our best position from ACEC is to be that amplifier of our, the voices of our membership. So anybody out there with an idea, something that they're an expert on, something that they want to talk about, let us know, because we'd like to help you with that. I'm gonna put in that little plug there because you know, we're, you know, in DC you know, we're, we're, we are staffers. We're, we're communicators. We're lobbyists, you know, association people we're not day to day engineers. And, and our talent is, is really with the States and with our membership. So don't be shy, contact us. So I, you know, really the big tent pole items for 2019 something that we haven't really had the opportunity to talk to you about before on the, on the show.
Host: But it was really interesting was your trip to Asia as part of a commerce delegation to Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam with Secretary Wilbur Ross, Commerce Secretary Ross to talk about American business and what can be done to bring open markets of course in Asia. And then also to create opportunities for U.S. Firms. You were part of that, you had meetings with presidents ambassadors and high level staff in those countries. What were your main takeaways? What were your thoughts on, on the success of that trip?
Mitch Simpler: Well, you know I'll kind of back it up a little bit. Much like the FIDIC meeting, the meeting in, in the trade mission to Southeast Asia was very exciting and incredibly challenging. First, the members of the trade mission in addition to Wilbur Ross and his team from the commerce department was the import export bank, the overseas private investment corporation, otherwise known as OPIC, the U.S. Agency for International Development, otherwise known as USAID, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, USTDA and the Department of State. Those are the government's side of the trade mission. And on the private side we had firms that represent gas companies, Boeing, Citibank, Lockheed Martin, but more specifically ACEC and Manish Kothari and I - Manish being the previous chair of ACEC, my immediate predecessor and I were the only two professionals representing professional design firms on the and the trade delegation. And it was really a unique opportunity for us and the fact that we were representing 7,000 member firms and that that little detail was not lost on anyone on the mission that we actually had more a team behind us.
Mitch Simpler: In addition to the 700,000 members that represent the firms ACEC was really very, very well positioned and we were, as you pointed out, we were able to meet with key ministry level members as well as the presidents and premiers from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand. Our simple message was that we all, the members of ACEC are open for business with each and every one of these countries. Provided we can be assured that we will be paid in full and in a reasonable period of time that our intellectual property will be honored and respected, which has been sort of the biggest problem with billing work, particularly in Southeast Asia is that you can do design work and next thing you know, your design is popping up everywhere and you're not involved because they have essentially taken your IP, your intellectual property. We - Manish and I, were convinced that our message was heard and well received by all the members of leadership within these countries who also recognize that ACEC represents the best of the best design firms on a global scale.
Mitch Simpler: And if you want us to be able to work on your projects in those countries, they need to be clear and open about how we're working, how we get paid and, and how our intellectual properties will be respected. And that message was made very loud and clear and very well received. And our hope both through the commerce department as well as through the individual firms that are doing actively doing work over there now that we will be able to continue the conversation and and get more firms actively involved. They are all doing incredibly well from a, from an economic development standpoint. And it certainly would behove any and every American firm to get involved to the extent that they are able, because it is, it is a booming economy and will soon be, it's right now that the Asian countries represent the third largest market segment and third largest economy. And we need to be more actively involved. My hope is that we will.
Host: Yeah, I think it's, it's, you know, there's a great, and again, you know, ACEC being part of that trip you know, with how many companies and professionals that we represent and that, that, that massive force behind that name. It's also important to kind of point out that as far as it, as the, as the trade mission went, we were the only professional trade association that was part of the trip. Everybody else was part of a company or....
Mitch Simpler: Yes, they were there with a very pointed mission to sell their specific product. And we were selling an idea and I'll tell you, it was, it was very well received. And by the way, including the companies that were there saying, you know, we need to talk to you guys about help design facilities for us over here because they all want to look. It's a huge economic booming area. Right now one of the big issues was the fact that there is an average of $40 billion trade deficit in favor of those countries against the U.S. and getting us companies to invest and building projects in Southeast Asia, but using U.S. firms and us products was really part of the mission statement. And I, and I, that was not lost on anyone there, including the companies that accompanied us to Southeast Asia using American companies to do their design and build and construction and using American products and the whole thing. It was, there was, it was a home run.
Host: I mean when it was Tesla, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, I mean some and some of the larger players in the oil and gas, natural gas fields. I mean, and also creating those inroads with those companies that are going to be making those investments. And then from a national security and more strategic position is that, you know, the big, of course name on the block there is China and there's a, there's, you know, with, with the belt and road initiatives that China's doing and their investments in the region that those countries are looking for other partners in the landscape.
Mitch Simpler: They are looking for alternatives, because I think the gloss has worn off the belt and road concept and they're now beginning to realize that that's not a good spot for them to be in. Because China has really started tightening, no pun intended, tightening their belt on those countries and they're saying, look, we need alternatives. We need, we need better solutions from outside of China. And we were there to help.
Mitch Simpler: By the way, having both the city there as well as USAID and the Import-Export bank gave them funding opportunities that they would have otherwise not had.
Host: I can tell you from you know, the reciprocity side. I mean, after you came back in short order, before the end of the year, we had about two or three meetings inside our DC office with representatives from the region and including Vietnam who were very interested in talking to us because like you said, you know, we are the gold standard. We have that knowledge base. We have that just that ability to improve of course their own practices and to influence how they are shaping the rules and regulations that govern the work that's done in the region. But then also having that ability to create and build the best infrastructure possible for a market that is just growing by leaps and bounds. And, and for any company out there that's listening any CEO who's saying, you know, it might be interesting to get involved in international work with a country in the region you know, reach out to us because Dan Hilton on our team did a very good job of, of helping to provide the background, of course, to help you guys get out there and make it a successful meeting.
Host: But, you know, we are tied in with still USAID, the Export-Import bank those government entities we have a very good relationship with them and we can help firms out there that earth that are looking at getting involved in those markets. And we can be that door opener. We can be that convener to help make those relationships happen. So if you're interested in it, please reach out because you have a lot, you know your membership in ACEC goes beyond just you know, what you see day to day. There's a lot of work going on to on the international front. So, you know, take advantage of that.
Mitch Simpler: Absolutely agree. As I said, very exciting. Clearly an opportunity and a number of our member firms are already actively involved in Southeast Asia and this is really an opportunity for other firms now to be able to piggyback on the successes that have already taken place.
Host: Yeah. so that's, that's it was a busy year both domestically and internationally, a lot of things are going to be going into 2020 that, that were started of course in 2019. The strategic plan being one I guess what's your outlook? I mean, not just from ACEC, but also as a leader and an executive in the industry. You know, what's 2020 looking like from your seat in the C suite?
Mitch Simpler: Well, from my lips to God's ears I'm, I'll use the term cautiously optimistic. You know, I think everyone is, is feeling the success over the last several years, but particularly for 19, we would love for it to continue. But those of us who've been in business long enough, and this is my 43rd year with JBB and 33 years as a partner I've seen economic booms and I've seen economic busts. And just when you think when things are going good and they're going to be sustained, you know, the floor drops out. So I'll use my term cautiously optimistic for 2020. We certainly have, we as a firm we as a region have a, just a real boom going on in the Northeast construction boom in the, in the engineering industry is is feeling it in a very good way.
Mitch Simpler: We have reasonable expectations that this will certainly continue through 2020. We know, obviously this is an election year and that's when, you know, funny things happen and somebody says the wrong thing at the right time and next, now the market takes a tank. So my term cautiously optimistic is just that for that reason, I've ever reason to believe that it will continue going. Certainly in a matter of similar, not necessarily, I'm not sure it will continue at this a fevered pitch, but, but certainly continue at reasonable growth. And the reports that I've gotten back through my network as chair certainly through my fellow CEOs is that this, I think this cautious optimism is, is pretty much spread out across the country. And it's, that's good news. Anything we can do to continue that process we should be doing. Absolutely. Tell me what that is. I'll be happy to do it.
Host: Well, it's going to be an interesting year. I, without question, when ever you have it you know an election year like this, it's always going to be very interesting. And we're going to be very active in it from our position to help the candidates understand the importance of the engineering industry to see all the policies that are out there that benefit us from, from, you know, issues related to workforce, immigration resiliency, climate change, things like that, that, you know, we have a part to play. And we have a voice and we want to have that voice included in the policy debate. And that's going to be up to us to make sure that happens.
Mitch Simpler: Right. And this is the what's the right word? A a not so honest plug for the PAC, but this is where the PAC becomes so critical. And then the good news is I was, I got my, my notice that the PAC has exceeded $1 million again for 2019 and congratulations to all of those who contributed. It is an absolute, probably the single best arrow we in our quiver for the success of ACEC members and our advocacy program is the PAC. And this year will be the year that it was ever going to be something worthwhile to have. It's a PAC during this presidential election. And so kudos to all of those who, who contributed kudos to ACEC for being able to continue to grow the PAC and use it in our advocacy and amount of, to which it was intended. And that's, this year will be that test year. It's, it's disappointing that for the last four years, we've not been able to get an infrastructure bill passed. But, but we certainly have every reason to believe that this year could be that year.
Host: And again, as it happened with the 2016 election, infrastructure was more than just a back burner issue. It did come to the forefront. Hopefully that happens again. And, and the PAC enables us to keep that conversation going and to introduce, of course, our industry to more Members of Congress. Of course, the significant number of freshmen that are in Congress right now who are going to be up for reelection you know, they're going to want to know what's happening. And the PAC, the townhouse that we have of course in Washington right now, which Dave Bender is overseeing being able to have people in and to have those meetings, it's critically important. So yes, thank you for all who have donated. And the PAC is a, is a potent weapon. And, and, and it's, it's said a lot about in DC that, that, you know having one of that size is the kind of thing that separates you from a crowd and, and has you and your message taken a lot more seriously. So breaking that million Mark is, is a, is a big landmark that really sets us up for for a good 2020.
Mitch Simpler: All right. Fingers crossed.
Host: Yeah. Fingers crossed.
Host: Exactly. I guess that that kind of you know, I think that's a good note to, to kinda end on. It's a cautiously optimistic for 2020. Anything else that you want to add before we sign off?
Mitch Simpler: No, other than it's been a real pleasure to work both with Jeff, with you and the entire ACEC team at national and you guys make us all look good, but it is not lost on any one of us. That it is you, the, the staff that make ACEC the success story that it is. And thank you all. And I wish everyone a very happy, healthy and safe new year. And I will see you actually on Wednesday.
Host: Yes, absolutely. And thank you for that. And we will see you for our EXCOMM training and the year is kicking off with a fast pace and a very packed January. So we really look forward to an exciting year ahead and talking to you in the future. And thank you very much for taking the time, Mitch, and Happy New Year.

Jump into 2020 with tips from the ACEC Life Health Trust

Engineering Influence kicks off 2020 with an interview with April Leonard and Lindsay Simone at the ACEC Life Health Trust with tips for a healthier year for you and your firm.
Here are some of the resources mentioned during the interview:
https://fitspotwellness.com/blog/3-competitive-advantages-of-workplace-wellness-programs/
https://smallbiztrends.com/2015/07/company-need-a-wellness-program.html
https://hiring.monster.com/employer-resources/workforce-management/employee-benefits-management/workplace-wellness-benefits/
Transcript:
Host: Welcome to another edition of engineering influence, a podcast by the American Council of Engineering companies. Very pleased to be welcoming back the ACEC Life Health Trust. And we have April and Lindsey back on the show. Last time we spoke to them was at our conference in Chicago in October. We've talked about the general benefits and what the trust offers, but now that we're in a new year, everyone's kind of focused on those resolutions that we all make to be better people to lose the weight, get healthier. And you know, everybody's looking and seeing what they might be able to do to prepare for a spring of 2020. So Lindsey and April. Welcome back to the show. What kind of tips and tricks do you suggest that our members take advantage of the new year?
Guest: Sure. And the new year, as you stated, is a great time to focus on your health and wellbeing and specifically resolutions that you have and things you want to achieve during the year. My number one suggestion is always to start and understand where you're at today. To be able to then have very specific goals in mind, you need to at least have an a general assessment or baseline of where you're at now. And so what we typically recommend is using your preventive visits doing a biometric screening, a checkup with your doctor to get a just a full list of all of your measurements and where you're at today also it doesn't hurt to look and do it a health assessment as well, just to see if there's any habits that you have that you may want to tweak. And I think the important part about setting goals is finding something that's meaningful to you. But it's also achievable. I think a lot of people say, I want to lose the 10 pounds or if they had the same goal over and over. So maybe just looking at it in different light and breaking it down into very specific goals that are achievable.
Host: Yeah, I'm, I'm guilty of that. I think everybody is of trying to bite off more than you can chew or, or just keep on coming back to the same ideas. And, and that's a good point. Kind of doing an assessment early on and trying to figure out where you are. Everybody kinda has that tendency to look towards the end point and you know, the things OK, this is where I want to do and they push themselves. But they kind of do that without actually seeing what they're capable of or where their health is at the start. So that's a, that's a very good tip.
Host: A lot of our firms should have already received or they should be expecting a new year's wellness kit from the trust. What is in that kit and what can they do with it?
Guest: Sure. So ACEC Life Health Trust offers a comprehensive wellness program to every single one of our firms that has a medical plan through us. And we really wanted to help our firm get off on the right foot this year, help them to promote wellness and create a culture of health. So to help them do that, we did send later in December, 2019 we sent a new year's wellness kit and it's really just a nice package of tools and resources that firms don't have to create from scratch either or they can just use to get the message out to their employees and spouses about the wellness resources available to them. And add a kit included some things like a monthly wellness calendar, which shows a general health observances during the year. Create awareness around that. We have some cards to help direct people to their online wellness account and to be able to access those resources. And we're doing some promotions just to encourage people, you know, get off on the right foot in quarter one of 2020 get started now versus waiting until the end of the year and setting the resolution for 2021 instead.
Host: Absolutely. So that's, that's a good, that's a good set of resources. If, if firm doesn't have one in hand, how can they get one from you guys?
Guest: They're welcome to reach out to us. We can be reached at our email address, wellness@aceclifehealthtrust.com or if you've received a kit and you need more materials, we're more than happy to send more to you as well.
Host: That's great. So if, if a firm wants to take advantage of the offerings that the life health trust has for their employees, what are some of the basic costs for the wellness programs? From the life health trust?
Guest: Sure. Part of the mission and vision and the life health trust is to support the health and wellbeing of our member firms and employees and spouses that are covered by our medical plans. And so towards that end, we have invested in all of these wellness resources on the behalf of our firms, meaning everything in terms of the comprehensive wellness program is available to firms and members at no out-of-pocket costs. And so I always like to say it's a risk free trial of a wellness program. Definitely take advantage of those resources that are available to you. On top of that, the trust funds monetary incentives. So individuals that participate in engage in the program can be winning up to $400 per year, depending on their plan that they're in. And that's an individual. So an employee in South can walk away with that money for their engagement in the program.
Host: Okay. So what - something that we talk about a lot is the idea of wellness. And what that means, not just for the individual employee, but also for the employer. From your perspective in the work that you guys do at the trust and the employees and the, the firms that you serve, how do you define that? Both individually and from the firm perspective.
Guest: It is different for each group. I think wellness is, can be a very customized thing depending on your organization. So we serve a large number of engineering firms across the country, and they're all at different stages when it comes to what they're doing with wellness. I always like to say the first piece in wellness is awareness. So maybe you're not ready as an employer to have a full comprehensive wellness program, but simply just creating awareness around health awareness around the medical benefits that you offer that support health and wellbeing. So if you're, hopefully you're all members of the life health trust, but if you're not, I highly recommend just exploring all of those benefits you're enrolled in and seeing what resources you can pass along to employees. But truly within a wellness program, the intent is to help create a stronger, healthier organization. And I, I don't think I come across many employers that don't want that for their company.
Host: Yeah. And there are a lot of different ways to do it. Like I mentioned to you guys before we went on air, that we're kind of finishing up - in at the end stages of our Fitbit challenge at ACEC headquarters. Which was an idea to kind of just spark out of the staff and, and, and Rose up. And we decided to do it and everybody got Fitbit trackers or they're using their phones and you know, even have a map with photos of pretty much where everybody is on the chart and it's a good little competition but it's all good natured, good fun and is getting people to get out there and walk a little bit more to, to get outside of the office and get active and take the stairs instead of the elevators. And little things like that can help not just individual fitness but then also just general morale and organizational wide kind of wellbeing.
Guest: Absolutely. The more you can create an environment that is supportive of health and wellbeing and more productive, your employees will be like you said, that camaraderie that you're helping to encourage healthy habits. And then there's that team element that you can all encourage each other. It doesn't necessarily have to come from the top down always. But one thing we always like to say is that within leadership, having very strong leadership and encourage people to take advantage of these resources and be healthy, that speaks volumes to employees.
Host: Yeah. And as you know, you've in the past, you know, health benefits in general are one of the top three expenses for a firm. So it's, you know, the bottom line wise it's, it's, it makes sense financially to encourage employees to engage in wellness programs. And then you'll also mention that that wellness plans, especially for younger employees or it's critical, critically important to have those in place to attract and retain employees. Have you, what have you seen about that, that trend for firms to stay competitive by offering kind of wellness programs, and how that's kind of fit into the employment market?
Guest: Sure. In terms of the engineering firms that we serve, but we typically see are very rich benefits packages. There are engineering firms are very generous when it comes to helping take care of their employees and the families that they have. I think it's those added values that really speak volumes to just set your firm apart. So wellness being one of them, telemedicine products, anything that's considered innovative. Those are usually what millennials are looking for. And it's, it again shows that you care about your employees, you're invested in them and in their health. And to your point it could make or break a new hire. Someone could say, well, I'm getting some additional incentives and additional tools and it's a great culture in a different company that can be, you know, a turning point. So really trying to demonstrate that you value your employees is a, can be a significant game changer. And having values added services like wellness and health, medicine, those types of things can do just that.
Host: Yeah, absolutely. It's that changing mindset of, of wanting to have more of a, just I guess the financial compensation, but then also that that feeling of you know, mental and physical wellbeing that goes along with the job. Since it, it does occupy so much of our time and our mind space, we want to make sure that we have the tools and resources to be able to, to to help in those areas as well.
Guest: Exactly that. We spend, as you said, we spend so much time at work at, we want to have that be a safe space, one that we're able to be our best possible selves and bring our best work to the table. So the more that you can create that environment, the better off your company will be in the long run.
Host: Yeah, absolutely. And then you have supplied us with some great resources on the importance of of wellness plans and, and, and how companies can go using wellness plans. We're going to include those into the show notes so that everybody can have access to them. Is there anything else that you want to kind of hit on, on the the issue of what kind of wellness and, and the new year?
Guest: I think the key takeaway is if you're not doing anything as an organization now, it's definitely the time to start considering offering a wellness program. And I mentioned this before, that the firms we work with are at all different stages signed somewhere. That's a good start. Even if it's just simple, see what resources you have available now and start getting the word out because what you may find is there's a lot of people that are very interested in it and maybe even interested in taking over and helping you promote these types of things. So I think just putting that foot out there, I put in that put in the door is a great takeaway to getting started this year and setting yourself up for the long term success.
Host: Yeah, it's a great point. And then I think the, the point of polling in the staff or, or, or getting them engaged is very well taken that a good way for a firm management to figure out exactly what a health and wellness program could be is to ask the staff and to see what really rises to the top is the most pressing issues. And then to create a plan that really addresses those and, and keeps those employees engaged. That's a really good point that you raise.
Guest: I love that you brought up a survey. Having a needs and interest survey to get things started is a great way and having that be an ongoing process. How are things going? We did introduce this. What more do you want? That it should be a two way conversation between you and your employees so that you can constantly evolve your efforts to supporting their health and wellbeing?
Host: Well, this is great information for from owners and employees. Again, the ACC life health trust has a lot of resources available for starting up or improving an existing wellness program. Again, if you have not received their wellness kit contact them at wellness@aceclifehealthtrust.com. Check out the show notes for some resources on what you can do to set up your own wellness program. And again, you've got to walk before you can run. So don't, don't, don't try too much at the start with these resolutions. You know, longterm success sometimes takes off with a slow pace. So you know, start with an assessment and kind of ramp up from there. So all very good tips to start off the new year. Lindsey, April again really wanna appreciate you coming on the show and look forward to having you on again soon. I think we have a lot of topics that we can cover.
Guest: Happy new year.
Host:  Great. Can't wait to talk to you again. For now. This has been engineering influence from ACEC.

The Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure and Envision

Engineering Influence welcomes Anthony Kane, the President & CEO of the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure to discuss the Envision program for engineers and the projects they design.  Learn more about ISI at www.sustainableinfrastructure.org
Transcript:
Host: Hello and welcome to another episode of Engineering Influence - a podcast by the American Council of Engineering Companies. This morning we are pleased to welcome Anthony Kane to the show. Anthony is the president and CEO of the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. Based in Washington, ISI was established in 2009 by the American Public Works Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers and yours truly, the American Council of Engineering Companies who collaborated with the Zofnass program for Sustainable Infrastructure at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design to develop Envision - a frameworks for sustainable infrastructure development. Anthony, welcome to the show.
Anthony Kane: Thank you.
Host: So how did the Envision framework come to be and kind of tell us a little bit more about ISI, your background, and how you came into all this.
Anthony Kane: Absolutely. Well, Envision as you noted was really a collaboration, which is exciting from the beginning. It was about working together and coming to a consensus. So both on the ISI side where ASAE, ACEC and APWA got together and decided to collaborate in creating envision. At the same time, I was formerly with the softness program at Harvard working on a sustainability rating system for them as well. And the two organizations, the softness program at Harvard and ISI got together and decided that it would really be productive for us to combine our work. And it's very exciting because I think at that time we each had very good content, very good ideas, but it was through that collaboration and merging of the two tools that the sort of another level of value was realized in the system. And that was Envision version two that was launched in 2012. And so that was very successful and, and had a long run and we just now recently released Envision version three really following on that success. We released that in 2018.
Host: So in your experience from coming from the academic side and then industry, I mean is this something which has happened in, in your experience a lot where you have maybe the trade associations or the groups that are engaged on the industry side of things, reaching out and trying to work with academia to, you know, improve or to set kind of a standard practice or, or kind of a framework to help guide a lot of their best practices or formalization of tools and talents for professionals?
Anthony Kane: I wouldn't say that it's common, at least in my experience. I hadn't seen it happen very often but I think it is happening more than it used to and it is really exciting because I think there's a lot of opportunities there. And that was really one of the draws that incentivized me to come from the research end because it's very enjoyable doing university research. But this feeling of when you're partnered with the industry and practitioners, there's a realization that your research, the work that you're doing can have a direct impact on the world, which is often what's missing on the academic side. So I think that marriage is really important and brings a lot of value to these types of collaborations.
Host: So you're on version three right now for Envision. So what are, what are the core pieces of that? What's the framework of the Envision platform?
Anthony Kane: So Envision encompasses 64 sustainability indicators, which we call credits. And those are divided into five categories of quality of life, leadership, resource allocation, natural world and climate and resilience. And part of the genesis around envision version three was one that Envision version two was six years old at that time, kind of needed a little bit of an updating, but at the same time had been developed and written prior to Hurricane Sandy, some of the natural disasters that we had seen. And we realized that over that six years are as an industry, our understanding of resilience and different sustainability criteria had really changed and evolved. And it was time for envision to take all of that knowledge and new experience and incorporated into indicators that the rest of the industry can use.
Host: That was an interesting time because I think that, and at the time I was, I was involved but not on the Hill but, but I had watched everything happen with Sandy and that seemed to be a really shift. That was a moment of a shift in perception of even from the policy side, but also I guess industry side about, okay, how do we actually build so that we can anticipate these things because the storm was so remarkable in its destructive power. Also in the geography of where it hit. And it. was kind of a game changer in that, in that respect. How, how did that influence a lot of the work that went around that?
Anthony Kane: Sure. Well, I think what we realized was that something that we probably intrinsically knew, which is that these systems are the interconnections and the interdependencies of these systems are far more complex than we probably appreciate it. I'd say don't say we didn't know. I think we knew, but we maybe didn't appreciate how important the interconnectedness is. And so that's where we've really changed and evolved our understanding of resilience from an early concept of maybe just sort of withstanding these things on a individual basis, can my project withstand a hurricane?
Anthony Kane: Or can it withstand a flood? Can it survive or rebound and evolving this concept of resilience into something much more than that, which is how does my project, my system interact with the other systems? How are they dependent? How is the failure of one system in a certain way going to impact the ability of my system to provide services or to function in the long term? So I think we're, we're just developing this sort of more robust understanding of the issue.
Host: A network approach instead of just a single project approach. So as I kind of, with the Envision platform, if I call it a platform, but it's, it's that, that idea kinda has two core pieces that kinda hit the engineer itself. It's at that professional credential. But then also project validation and engineers that are engaged in this kind of makeup the ISI network. How big is the network currently and you know, where, where does that stand?
New Speaker: Sure. So in terms of the envision sustainability professionals, that credentialed individuals, we've credentialed around 9,000 individuals. That's primarily within the U S and Canada, although we also now have a large user group in Italy. And then sprinkling of credentialed people in sort of about 30 countries around the world. Small numbers, but again, primarily US, Canada and Italy. We have verified about 90 projects with another hundred that are registered, meaning that they're going to pursue the verification. And those total about 23 and a half billion dollars worth of infrastructure that have completed the process and another 20 to 22 billion that are the registered projects coming through. So we do see a pretty big intake. And then the membership, which is just one caliber for ISI, we don't necessarily require membership. But if people want to receive discounts or participate more with the Institute, we have a membership program. And right now that's about 300 companies, which primarily are the engineering firms, but also construction firms and different groups. We have a sprinkling of other associations and nonprofit organizations and then about a hundred government agencies. So sometimes it's a city government, county government, a department or bureau, airport authority, things like that, that are public sector members. And then about 25 universities that participate as members and support through teaching Envision in schools.
Host: Have you seen a is there a geographic, kind of a divide between the public agencies that have, that have signed on and, and have become part of the network? Are you seeing more coastal or is it, is a kind of across the board?
Anthony Kane: Yes and no. So I think we do see a very broad distribution. There's an Envision project in Alaska is an Envision project in Hawaii. Kansas city is a big user, Florida, so we see broad distribution at, at at least an initial level. But certainly we do see depth of use in, in key areas like Southern California, Los Angeles, New York City. I think areas where they may be already had very robust sustainability programs in place, they were able to just very quickly take, Envision, adapt it, apply it and run with it. So we see a lot of projects in Southern California and New York, Miami is also coming up as a big key area for us. And then as I mentioned, Kansas City, some Midwestern cities have also been big adopters. And then now the Pacific Northwest. So Sound Transit and Seattle area. And I should say I'm talking about the US but we also have big use in Canada. So Vancouver is, is a major area as well as Montreal for us.
Host: Okay. So if you're an engineer and you do want to get involved in this and you're looking at the credential, what's involved in earning that? And how is that kind of managed through ISI?
Anthony Kane: And I might start with saying, you know, maybe why would you want to do that? We really see two values with envision for, for both the public and the private sector. So when we created Envision, there was this realization that some of the public agencies they want to do sustainable infrastructure. They don't maybe know how they don't have the in house expertise and it's a big lift to say, okay, we're going to totally change how we do things and we're going to come up with a framework and we saw a lot of RFPs going out asking the companies to kind of come up with the frameworks and the ratings for these different public agencies. And so we created Envision as in a way to be an a kit of parts, a toolbox, just an off the shelf thing that any public agency with no costs can just grab it and say this is going to be our sustainability framework.
Anthony Kane: And it comes with an education program as we discussed the credential, it comes with a third party review if you want it, and that's a real value to the public sector users. I think where that benefits the companies as well is we saw the industry headed down this route again of every client having their own sustainability criteria, their own custom sustainability program. And that was just going to create a real burden on the consultants at the firms that every client you have, you're going to have to have a different way of doing stuff. So we think the real value, again with this collaboration and partnership between the private firms and the public sector agencies is that if we're all on the same page, it's a value to both agencies. It's a huge cost saving effort, saving and we can devote all that time and money and resources into just doing the sustainable project rather than figuring out how we're going to do this sustainable.
Host: ...or defining what it would be.
Anthony Kane: Exactly. So if ISI can help by just taking that first step off the table and saying here, why don't you guys just start with step two? That's where we really see our role and the value that we can provide and that's where going to get the credential. If that's something that you're interested in or if you think there's value in that, having the credential just means that you've invested the time you've studied envision and you probably know how then to go ahead and apply it on projects, whether you're on the public side or the private side, you have that extra knowledge. And so it's a fairly straightforward process.
Anthony Kane: We have an online course which is seven one hour modules self-paced. You can watch however you like. There are also certified trainers around the world who teach in-person classes if you prefer learning in an in person setting. Those are offered as well. And then there is an exam and I say that, you know, we try to, it's not a kind of memorize this thing, go to a testing facility really since it's an online course, open open note exam. It's really designed to test that you've read the material and that you can review, envision. So they're kind of problem questions that you work through. And it's really the second part of the education program is the exam. And then you pass that and you've received your credential.
Host: And then on the project side also you can have a project that's been that's been verified by the envision program. Give us kind of a snapshot about how that works and if you have a good real world kind of example.
Anthony Kane: Sure. And we stress that we don't require the third party verification. So Envision is free to download and to use. A lot of public sector agencies use it and they do self-assessments and we encourage that. And again, as a, as a 501c3 nonprofit, our mission is sustainable infrastructure. So if people want to do self assessments, that's great. But there is a value in oftentimes public sector agencies and companies find value in having that third party recognition. So whether it's through accountability or or demonstrating to the community ratepayers, taxpayers that you did a good job, you know, it's not just us saying this. And then sometimes it's, it's to receive the award and, and also a learning process going through the review is a learning process for the project teams themselves. Have they applied, Envision the same way that ISI would apply it?
Anthony Kane: Have we documented performance? So for those that do choose to go through the third party verification we see a range of projects from large projects like LaGuardia airport extension, a multibillion dollar projects all the way down to a couple of million dollar projects. Madison metropolitan sewage districts, pump station, small parks, and we see projects like that. So it applies to a full range of projects across different sectors as well. So we see a lot of projects in water and transportation right now, but energy is growing. It's probably our fastest growing sector of Envision uses energy. And then other sectors like environmental, parks, things like that. So we see a wide distribution. The process is fairly straight forward. It's all done through our online system. So credentialed individuals can go in, they can assign their levels of achievement they provide their documentation demonstrating why they met those achievements. And then it goes through a third party review process where ISI partners with our third party certified verifiers. So always there's a team of active professional in the industry with an ISI staff who review the submission.
Host: That's great. I mean, that's, that's important. And I think that, you know, having it helps you know, they say, you know, rising tide lifts all boats kind of ideas. I mean, if you go for more verified projects and you have, you know, greater number out there and in, in existence, and that credential helps raise that profile and, and spread the word so that hopefully over time, you know, you have more engineers of course that are, that are credentialed, you have more projects are being verified and you get more adoption of those standard procedures. So that there is a, there's a guidebook to, to raise sustainability which will improve infrastructure in general. So it's a great mission. And that's, you know, it all ties together with that general idea of, of kind of the buzzwords. You know, it's just not engineering, but it's all over the place. The ideas of sustainability, resiliency, adaptability, and of course for engineering it has particular meaning.
Host: You know, from your perspective, both in academia and then also working with industry, how have you seen over the past few years, even just the industry respond and evolve to really embrace these ideas of, you know, sustainability, resiliency, you know, it's become more of a, just, you know, something to put on promotional material.
Anthony Kane: Right. And I think what I've seen that's been the biggest shift in the mindset is because sustainability was sort of born out of the environmental movement. There was an initial perception that this was sort of an environmentalist thing, right? And you know, all the typical term, you know, you're tree huggers and this and that. I think there's been a shift more into the mainstream now where a recognition that when you look at sustainability as being, you know, better for the social, environmental, economic aspects, you know, so it improves, community, provides better services, protects the environment, uses resources efficiently, drives a stronger economy. When you really boil that down, it's just better. It, it's not this add on. I think that's the shift. We need to move away from that sustainability that we're going to design a conventional project and then we're going to decide whether sustainability gets added on or not.
Anthony Kane: The core of sustainability is that this is better infrastructure and so the question isn't do we add quality on at the end? We would never say that. We would never say, okay, we're going to design a sort of bare minimum project and then we're going to decide at the end whether we're going to make it good or not. Right. We don't think that way and I think that's the shift that is happening and needs to still kind of happen a little bit more is that sustainability is about quality, infrastructure, good infrastructure and I see it as an avenue, as an industry to break out of what has become unfortunately this process of kind of designing to minimum standards and I don't think anyone is happy with that and we want to do better, we want to do more and it's about also encouraging the public sector owners to demand more and better and higher quality. And I think sustainability and resilience is an avenue towards that. And to have them recognize that there's a value in this and that they should pay for it, obviously, and that the engineering community can provide that.
Host: Yeah. I think that kind of ties into a lot of the things that we're trying to do internally with the association. It's the idea of even if you're building a water project free municipality, it's that recognition that it's it's not just an end in itself. It's part of a larger system. And that impacts on, that could have downstream impacts that may not be foreseeable if you're looking at the project a box. But if you take a holistic approach and say, you know, this is how it would affect a system and this is why it would be better from a cost of just public safety and just quality perspective, you know, as, as from our perspective with, with the consulting engineers and their clients and the relationship, it's that trusted advisor relationship of being able to say, you want X, but let's talk about what that end result is.
Host: And then being able to provide that experience and that perspective of why you would want to improve it or look at it differently. And that's where the value comes in. And that's also the argument against the whole idea of not just designed to minimum standards but looking at engineering services as a, as a product instead of an actual service. And that's the, of course a commoditization argument that because you have these like the Envision framework is a good example is that you have this experience which was gained through either the credential or just of the bedrock principles of the platform. There's a lot of of value just there alone, which, which enables the engineer to become more of a, more of a participant, active participant and just someone who's going to be designing a product. So that, that altogether is critically important. If there's an engineer out there, there's an ACC member who's very interested in exploring this and learning more about it where should they go?
Anthony Kane: So they can go to the ISI website, which is just www.sustainableinfrastructure.org and from there you can read on our website or you can create a free account, no charge. And from our account you can download the complete envision manual. You can see the different options to become credentialed. So it's a pretty low barrier to entry for people who are interested in learning more about it. I'd say just go ahead, download the manual and look it over.
Host: Yeah. And then you were also in the office last week with the larger groups. So you do have, you know, you know, in person events, if you're in the area, in Washington you know, there's a, there's a chance that you could come in person and, and talk to some people.
Anthony Kane: Well, our door is always open for people who, if you happen to be in the DC area to come by and we'd be happy to talk with you. But you mentioned, yes, there are a, we hold a quarterly in person training events here in DC just because we're here and our staff is here. But there are, as I mentioned, certified trainers around the country. So if you're interested, you could also contact us and we might be able to put you in touch with a trainer in your area. If you are interested in hosting an event, we do find that if interested as an individual, the online courses, a very great way to go. But sometimes it's, there's a real value in getting a team together and you develop this sort of okay culture of we're doing this as a team. And an in person training event is really great for that. We see a lot of public sector agencies that prefer the, the in person training because again, they're thinking of this as a culture shift, a program that they want to roll out and they get a whole team of people together.
Host: Well, it's a fantastic initiative and a great objective. And Anthony, thank you very much for being on the show. We, hopefully you can come back on a kind of a, a maybe an update, you know, just a general update in the next year about where things stand and, and things that might be coming up. And if you ever have news or anything you want a break, just please just let us know and we'll, we'll have you on. Thank you. Thanks for having me on up. Thank you. Have a great holiday and new year and we'll see you in 2020.
Anthony Kane: Thanks.
 

Private Industry Brief - Q3 Economic Review

On today's episode of Engineering Influence, we welcome back Erin McLaughlin to provide a overview of her latest Private Industry Brief, which is available on www.acec.org.
Transcript:
Host: Welcome to another edition of engineering influence, a podcast by the American Council of Engineering Companies. And once again, we are very pleased to welcome Erin McLaughlin, our own Erin McLaughlin, who handles all of our private market research and produces the Private Industry Brief, which is a very popular document available online at www.acec.org that covers the gamut of private market activity. And it's a regular document that looks at different sectors of the economy and in this issue available now online, we're looking at the Q3 - quarter three - 2019 review and Erin has pointed out a couple of highlights from the report and welcome back. And what are those highlights?
Erin: Thank you. Well even though in Q2 and earlier this year, lots of folks were talking about when a recession would hit. Overall, we've seen that a recession does not seem to be immediately coming and we continue to have the longest economic expansion on record. So as of November, that was 125 months. We still have the record low unemployment rate, which averaged 3.6% in Q3. This obviously for our member firms has resulted in finding talent being a significant challenge and any fears of sort of the global economic market, which is slower than the U.S. Market influencing us has sort of been mitigated by the Fed Reserve, which has lowered interest rates three times in 2019 and all within the last four months.
Host: Yeah. And talking to some people, they understand that Europe's kind of bottomed out with their kind of economic decline and it seems like they're in the process of stabilizing so that that's had an impact as well. But the labor crunch as always, I mean it's great to have close to full employment but doesn't really make it easy to get talent and it's a very competitive market.
Speaker 3: It is. But on the upside we're continuing to see member firm revenues grow. So the U.S. Census Bureau actually tracks A/E firm revenues and puts out a quarterly report. They released their first estimate for Q3 on November 19th and it showed at $91.73 billion in firm revenues for the third quarter. So that's the last two quarters. It's gone up a little bit after sort of declining in the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019. So sort of similar to the construction spending the ups and the downs are very minute. So I would say it's pretty flat, flat but strong. So, and then sort of some of the other A/E macro industry indicators have also been pretty flat. So the ABC backlog indicator is still, when you average it out, hovering about 8.8 months of construction backlog and sort of the new housing units starting and some of the other economic indicators remain solid.
Host: So one of the things that we talked about before going on was kind of the I guess the dismal science of economics, the upside risk. Now everything's going bad, but this one great thing is happening. So what's the upside risk for our industry?
Erin: The upside risk? So we belong to the national association for business economics and they do a great, they do great surveys of sort of macro economic forecasters that cover all different industries folks that work for trade associations, wall street, federal reserve banks, et cetera, and sort of the A/E/C industry. So they are not specific, they're not specifically looking at that design or the construction market. However, in their most recent survey when these macro economic economic forecasters were asked, what is the greatest upside risk to the economy, infrastructure spending came in third and that came in after strong wage growth and reduced a trade protectionism. So the fact that, you know, as our economy sort of flattens out and may or may not decline in the next, you know, 12 to 24 months, the fact that there could be greater infrastructure spending on the horizon, you know, might help it for our industry, any sort of slow down.
Erin: And I think just my insight is that might be especially true given how low interest rates are. So within the economist community, there's a conversation about how, you know, during a recession or to mitigate a recession, you would lower interest rates, but they're so low already. There's only so much you can do within that policy toolbox. So sort of counter to lowering interest rates is stimulus. So we're hoping here at ACC to keep, you know, working in, hammering that issue for our people that are in the advocacy groups so that when we're presented the opportunity, we can help policymakers understand that in that tool box, it's not just lowering interest rates, but also spending on infrastructure. So
Host: Yeah, it's the best time to start investing in infrastructure. Federal, of course, this is, you know, FAST Act, you know, we've got to look at moving on that and the Congress and then the States are doing their own thing with investing and that's good. But national leadership is something that we are continuing to advocate strongly for. So the point is well taken. You can't lower interest rates that much further and it's the prime time to start building things.
Erin:  Exactly. One of the, one of the sectors that I was most surprised at is both when you look back at 12 months from Q3 of this year through Q3 of 2019, and what money is being spent on what construction sectors, the two leading sectors are water supply, which is more than 20....has grown more than 20% and sewage and waste disposal, which is an 18% growth. So those are the top two. And what the, you know, for most of our member firms, water supply and sewage and waste disposal are the water wastewater folks. You know, the people that serve that market. And I think that really that spending is going to continue. We've seen in certain parts of the country and Michigan and New Jersey and elsewhere that the decline of the water systems has given policymakers and those that fund those kinds of projects real, a real sense of urgency that I think we're now starting to see the result of.
Host: Yeah, they have that incentive now with Camden and Flint, they're really take a close look at the last time that they really made improvements to the road infrastructure and, and and that's good - it's a societal good because it means that they're paying attention to it, which reflects that growth in that market. So let's kind of round out this brief update with the index of consumer sentiment. Where does that stand?
Erin: Well, and then that is not an index that I usually highlight. But it is one of the driving the driving growth of our continued economy is that people are still spending money and feeling good about spending money as consumers. That is certainly driving the Amazon spending the last mile, the intermodal and logistics, that sort of freight transportation related market that a lot of our members play in. But it's, even though the index of consumer sentiment is really strong University of Michigan is the one I highlighted in the brief as a 2018. It was up at 98.4. This is after a low in 2008, 11 years ago of 63.7. So it's very, very strong. But that strength has not translated into sort of the real estate market being larger when it comes to the retail square square footage. So it's just a fun fact that even though a consumer sentiment in spending is strong in the retail market, on the private side spaces are still shrinking and becoming other things, which is really interesting.
Host: Yeah. People were buying more things, but they're buying it online. So yeah, you don't need as much retail square footage, brick and mortar construction as you used to. So that's a really interesting point. So what's next for the brief? What do we have coming up next issue?
Erin: The next issue is the intermodal and logistics issue, which we'll talk about sort of freight, transportation and land use and ports and congestion, and all of that good stuff and the sort of market for our member firms in that. And then our next quarterly report will be a Q4 review for 2019 and an outlook for 2020. And so that will be out in sort of mid winter and we can reflect back on 2019 but also look ahead to 2020
Host:  2020 and the the new year and all that it will bring. Erin, thank you again for coming back on the show again. The the private market briefs are a great source of information, very, very easy to read and digest to pick apart. A lot of graphics, a lot of visuals. If you're an executive who just wants a quick snapshot of the economy or a business sector and you don't feel like going through a lot of reports, this is a great resource for you. Again, just go on to acec.org and you'll find them both this edition and past additions and you can just sign up to subscribe so you don't have to do anything. They'll just get delivered right to you. So thank you again for coming back on and we'll see you next time.
Erin:  Thank you.
 

Engineering Influence Welcomes the Hosts of the Close of Business Podcast from Black & Veatch

Engineering Influence welcomes Kevin Flaker, Becca Schmidt, & Ryan Karlin, the hosts of the “Close of Business” podcast. Kevin, Becca and Ryan are all young professional engineers at Black & Veatch who started the podcast as a place for young professionals in STEM to discuss all issues related to tech, innovation, work/life balance and any and all issues related to the science and engineering industries.  Subscribe to their podcast on Spotify, the Apple podcast here and wherever podcasts are heard.  Check them out!
Transcript:
Host: Welcome to another episode of the engineering influence podcast. ACC is regular series of podcasts. We're here today with the three presenters of the close of business podcast, which they build is the one and only podcast for young STEM professionals. All three are engineers at black and Veatch. So why don't we start off by the, each of you introducing yourself and telling us a little about yourself.
Kevin: All right. I don't know. I'll go ahead and my name is Kevin flaker and first thank you for having us on and letting us join your podcast. We've all three are engineers at Black & Veatch. I am an electrical engineer. I work in the solar design business. I design solar fields for a living and podcasting is, I guess as you would say, a side hustle for me.
Becca: My name's Becca Schmidt. I'm also, I'm an engineer mechanical engineer who's been focused on designing a natural gas fired power plants and just transitioned over to to doing business development and sales, more client facing work.
Ryan: And then I'm the third cohost. A name is Ryan Carlin. Instead of those two, I am a civil engineer, so he got all of covered. I have been focused in the power delivery group transmission line and substation work. So kind of diverse engineers within the power business. But all have love for podcasts. Yeah.
Host: Yeah. I've really enjoyed it. I've listened to a few of them and they're really well done. It sounds like you guys have a lot of fun doing it. It, you, when you first started, you were saying that, you know, this is, this is from people who have never looked up on Google how to do a podcast. How did, how did you guys decide to do a podcast?
Kevin: Yeah, so a couple of years ago, a few of us were pulled into somewhat of a roundtable here at Black & Veatch. And the purpose of the discussion was to look for ways for Black & Veatch to engage more in the community. We're a severely industrial or in the past we're heavy in the industrial power water, telecom businesses and not necessarily more on the commercial side. So we were just kind of throwing around ideas for ways for us to connect into the community. And I happened to just start getting into podcasts and listen to podcasts and love how much you can learn. So I threw this idea out there that, you know, we could create this podcast. It would be a way for us to engage with community on the different projects we're doing. The work we're doing at Black & Veatch. But then also selfishly it was going to be, if it went through a cool way for me to being a recent graduate, look up all these different cool industry technologies that were emerging as well as all the different things Black & Veatch was doing.
Kevin: And being able to like research that for myself as well as share that on the podcast format with the community. And what that's transformed into today is not so much of a, here's what we do at Black & Veatch, but more of a, here's a generic STEM podcast where we talk about technology across, we try to reach all industries, not just power or water, telecom. Oh, you know, we talk about autonomous vehicles and the Hyperloop, just any really cool thing going on in the STEM industry and just bring that to the community. And I guess utilize Black & Veatch's knowledge when when applicable.
Becca: And in addition to that, we talked a lot about engaging with the millennial workforce, the millennial group. We felt like there's this external perception of what engineers and people working in the STEM industry are really like. And the three of us kind of like to categorize ourselves as something that's kind of against the grain, not the typical stereotypical, nerdy, nerdy engineer, you know, and we wanted to present, you know, what it can be like to be an engineer, that it's this really cool and exciting thing and it doesn't have to be over complicated or super nerdy.
Becca: It can be talking about just cool things going on in the STEM industry, literally over beers and communicating it in a really digestible, relatable way too.
Ryan:  And that's kind of just to give a hindsight how we got the name close of business. So it was all meant around, you know, having to close the business, you know, when everyone goes home or goes to a happy hour, kind of just talking recent news or STEM-related stuff in a fun and kind of informal manner. So we try to kind of play on that and have an informative yet fun kind of atmosphere.
Becca: Kind of a long winded response. But we put it all on the table.
Host: It really comes across and I especially in your early ones when when you were sort of finding your feet what do, I mean all three of you are, are really quite young. I mean, I, if I'm right, I mean you're all graduated since like 2015 or 2014 is is what does that bring, do you think to your, your program? I mean, you know, the, the picture of the old stodgy engineer with the time and you guys are not that obviously, but it, what impact does your age do you think have on this?
Ryan: I think I mean one is just a different perspective, you know, we don't know what we don't know type of thing, so we're not afraid to ask questions. Kind of along the same lines of our audience. We're learning just as much when we're preparing for these episodes as our listeners. So I mean, I think, I think that's one big thing that I see.
Kevin: Yeah. I guess one of the focuses or one of the, one of the purposes for this podcast would be to kind of grow and influence STEM in younger generations, whether that be college students who are studying in the field and are, or maybe flirting with the idea of getting into STEM industry, but don't really know, like, you know, that's a huge entry point when you start talking science and tech. It's kind of scary, daunting at first or even high schoolers who are interested. So I think like we're able to bridge the gap to where we can communicate with the experts in the industry. We have the connections, but at the same time, we're still learning ourselves. So we're able to, as Ryan mentioned, ask the questions that the everyday listener would be asking. You know, we're not experts. We hardly know what we're talking about. And I think that's kind of our trick.
Becca: Yeah, for sure. And I think a lot of the perception that of that I've had with the people that I work with here is that, you know, they're experts now, but what were they like when they were developing as young adults, young people in their career. And I think we're all kind of like finding ourselves when we're learning throughout our, our careers and also learning what it's like to be a young adult in early on in your career, in developing through all of that. It's something that people don't really talk about as much. And in reality, when we all started working full time, we didn't know we were doing, Oh, that's totally fine to community, still trying to communicate that, you know. And that's something that we are really passionate about engaging with our listeners on as well.
Host: Yeah, no, you can hear the passion obviously, and the enthusiasm. I mean, what have you, have you learned about your listeners at all? Do you know who they are? You know, are they, are they the young people who are thinking about getting into STEM or are they other engineers?
Ryan: I'd say it's kind of a wide range. So we've gone to college career fairs and some people have listened to the podcasts, you know, they love it and they say they get good stuff out of it. But then also, you know, we do episodes kind of internally and they're released and we have executives come up to us whether within black and Veatch or external companies, and they kind of share their interests and kind of excitement about the podcast. So, I mean, I think just, we're geared towards young professionals, but I don't think that really leaves us out of, you know, Quinn Robinson, who's on your guys's board. He's a big fan as well. And I want to call him a young professional. So it kind of all ages, I guess, in that sense. Yeah.
Host: Yeah. How do you guys how do you come up with your, to your topics, the, I mean you've done 33 so far, that's a lot of things to think of and, and, and bring and research and bring to the air.
Becca: Yeah. It's a combination of tapping into all of the different things that are all the different innovative things that are happening within Black & Veatch. A lot of the people that we've interviewed so far professionals that are doing really awesome, big innovative things within the company and we're excited about it and we want to communicate that with the, within the world, what we want to commute that out into the community. And then also just things we're interested in too. A lot of times it's us just we're on the internet work, curious reading about what's going on in that STEM industry and we'll talk about it amongst ourselves and we're like, this is a really cool thing to do, a podcast episode about.
Kevin: And one cool thing that's happening is as we grow within Black & Veatch, we have more and more people reaching out to us with topic ideas or inviting us to go to conferences where, you know, we just came back from San Francisco at a Singularity University summit where there are topics talking about, you know, Bitcoin and digital currency, AI, space, like all these really cool topics and you know, we're getting invited to go there. So we find our topics via presenters at these conferences or you know, clients of Black & Veatch, you know, black and beaches worked with Tesla or Volkswagen with the electrify America. So, you know, our clients are also the ones who are out there innovating in this industry. So we're, we're being put in contact with a bunch of different people as well.
Host: I mean, I tell that you guys were at Power Gen I mean, you guys do get around it. I mean, is it is it the podcast taking you there or are you going there and then using that for the podcast?
Kevin: Well, I think it's 100% the podcast taking us there.
Ryan: Yeah, we've definitely got a lot of support from within Black & Veatch. I mean they really liked the idea of the podcast and kind of what we bring to the table. And so Black & Veatch has really been supportive about, you know, giving us a budget. And that budget allows us to do things like, you know, buy new fancy equipment or go to these conferences or I may have you, so I really say it's a podcast that's really funded a lot of this. Yeah.
Host: Yeah. I would say the you know, it doesn't feel like a Black & Veatch podcast if at all. It feel, I mean, I guess when you mention it, yeah, you do talk to a lot of Black & Veatch people, but it doesn't feel like you're doing this to promote the company, you know, which is great.
Kevin: That's a very important point. We don't, we don't want to be a podcast that shoves Black & Veatch down the listeners throat because that will just be a turnoff in all honesty. It's an obvious marketing scheme and that's not what we are here. We're, we're basically utilizing our contacts because we work with these people. They know us, they reach out to us the most. But as we see I'm willing to bet if we were to look back, like the first half are mainly Black & Veatch centric, but as we started to expand and grow our network, we are focusing on I don't want to do you want to call it external initiatives and stuff like that. So we definitely want to utilize Black & Veatch when we can, but we also don't want to, you know, make it all about Black & Veatch.
Host: Yeah. What looking back over all the, the episodes, what are some of your favorite episodes that people might want to, to listen to?
Becca: Yeah. I think one of my personal favorites was when we had the opportunity to interview Eric Anderson who is the executive chairman for top golf and CEO for West River Group. That was a great opportunity because that's PR one because it was one of the most high profile people that we've been able to sit down and talk to, but also a lot of the business and leadership and entrepreneurship insights that he gave us were completely invaluable. And then also the additional content that we have on that episode. We focus on technology and sports and the three of us are really big sports fans. And so it was kind of like a wonderful merging of worlds and just us being able to really truly show our personality and show our interest on that episode. That's definitely one of my favorite ones. And Kevin's having a hard time deciding,
Kevin: I've got a couple, I'll give you two, I guess. One of my favorites I guess I would say would be the Hyperloop, one of the Hyperloop discussions we had, and this was kind of more early on at around episode 10 or so. Yeah, but it was, I mean, Hyperloops kind of continued to get a lot of the limelight and just selfishly, you know, I learned a lot from doing that episode about what Hyperloop is. So I mean, I think that's on the kind of still applies today even though that was maybe one a year ago. And then the other one probably I would say is he's a little bit of a wild card. But Tom Friend we interviewed him at PowerGen. He just give a quick background. He's like, was what? He was in the air force and then now he w he was a consultant for Duke Energy. He's a scrum or like agility consultant. He's kind of all over the place. But super fascinating and intriguing guy. And that was probably one of my favorites
Becca: Talk about somebody who's passionate about learning. Tom Friend was the most passionate about learning.
Ryan:  Yeah, he was, it was a fun interview. I think, you know, I just, I just want to say all of the guests you've had and all the topics we've covered are great. Let me just put that out there. My, my favorite is probably the Prekapa Sankar interview that we just completed at singularity university, mainly because this is a woman dominating the STEM industry at such a young age. She's on her second company right now and data and AI for good. Yeah. And that's like the future and that's where, you know, the probably going to be the dominating technology coming in the next 10, 15 years and she's already at the helm of it. And I'm more excited to have interviewed her then maybe about the topic just cause like I'm excited to see what she can do in the future.
Becca: She's going to make a big impact on the planet. She, she already is, but she's gonna make really big impacts. So, yeah.
Host: And I guess from your, from your visit out to Singularity or do you have other, other podcasts planned, maybe something on blockchain or something?
Ryan: Yeah, we are. Blockchain episode fell through. We did get a little bit into it with Tom Friend, we'll say, but he, he was so passionate and so like educated on it that, you know, we try to slow him down and yeah, that's definitely something we need to do is like a block chain 101 episode because it is kind of like a really vague idea that's kind of hard to explain and process and we have a hard time understanding it sometimes. So definitely that would be something we want to help our viewers unders or listeners understand as well. So trust me, that's, that's on the list of ideas.
Kevin: We do have an episode, one more episode from singularity to coming up with the CEO of Upwork. who was a Silicon Valley guy back in the PayPal and all that those days. So really cool guy. I got to sit down and talk with him about the future of work play more than anything else. So Upwork is a, what do you, freelance platform online like one of the largest and one of the largest in the world. And he has really great insights about what the future of the workforce is going to be like and how we need to adapt and how Upwork is helping the workforce adapt as well. Yeah. So
Host: Well you guys really get into a lot. I that you actually had, didn't you have one on space recently?
Becca: We just released one on a little bit of a space topic. One of the more random, we interviewed the chief scientist, Bruce Betts from the planetary society. For those who aren't familiar with the planetary society, it's a non nonprofit crowdfunded space exploration and research company headed by the boy, bill Nye, bill Nye the science guy.
Becca: Yeah, so it's his, his company. And Bruce bets was one of the people who led on the LightSail 2 mission. I can go into all sorts of details about that, but you can listen to our episode and you might learn a little bit more about what that technology is.
Kevin: If you want to hear an interview that had absolutely no outline or plan, listen to that. Cause we literally grabbed him from off stage and interviewed him with no questions or anything, just kind of let the conversation go. And I think it was pretty funny and random because of that.
Becca: And it's still super educational as well.
Host: Well for, for if any of our members were listening and were thinking maybe they wanted to start a podcast, what, what would your, what your advice be for them to, to as a member of a member firm to get a successful podcast going?
Ryan: Yeah. And I think this answer may apply to more than just a podcast. It's really anything that you think is kind of entrepreneurial within your company or just in general is I think just taking the bull by the horns and kind of holding yourself accountable. You know, Kevin was a ringleader of this, but just him making the statement that he thought it would be a good idea kind of puts the wheels in motion. And without that kind of first step you're never gonna actually achieve anything. So, you know, we, Kevin, myself, Becca, we didn't know how a podcast recording and the whole post-production, all that stuff, that was all new to us when we started out. But it's just something you kind of learn as you go. You know, it took us a while to release our first couple of episodes and kind of master what we we're doing. We've been doing it what for two years now and we're still not mastered. So yeah, just like any new skill or hobby, you know, it takes, takes time and takes initiative and action and kind of holding yourself accountable.
Kevin: I guess from, from with inside a company, if we want to look at that mind frame, if you have an idea, I think in any successful company you're going to have leaders that support most ideas. And I think, yeah, like Ryan said, the biggest thing is speaking out, expressing your idea and then following through with it as Ryan said. But I think like the biggest thing was I spoke out in a meeting and there are leaders in that meeting that were willing to be like, you know what, let's run with this. We'll give you five hours a week, let's see what you can do. And since then, iteration after iteration, we've grown to have, you know, a larger budget but also make sure that whatever it is you're doing is something that you love. And I know that sounds kind of cliche, but one thing that we found is we're full time engineers.
Kevin: So we work 40 plus hours a week doing engineering work or Becca with business development. And this is something we have to do on the side. And it's really hard to put in the extra hours when it's not something you enjoy. So you have to make sure you enjoy it first if you're really gonna be successful in it.
Becca: I think just jumping off of things that they both said, we're really fortunate that there is leadership within Black & Veatch that supports innovation. They see the value in what we're doing here. And we feel really fortunate that there are leaders here that were willing to take a chance on us and help us progress through this whole project and see where it could go. So we're really thankful for that. And then in addition, yeah, the passion is super important. And then also just finding a voice that's different than what is out there now.
Becca: We think that we had a, and we still do believe that we have a different perspective than anybody else out there on the podcast platform. And we have a voice and we have things to say and we're hoping that we're teaching people and they're learning and also just give, giving people a better perspective on what our industry is about and the kind of impacts we're wanting to make as well. Yeah.
Ryan: And one last thing I would just add to that is, one thing I've noticed talking to a lot of these interviewees is most companies are passionate about kind of motivating and giving ownership to young employees. Most companies have a STEM related kind of program. And so I think you know, don't be afraid to kind of speak out and speak your idea. Like we've kind of been saying so far. Yeah.
Host: Yeah. And from, you know, being in the industry, writing about the industry for the last 12 years, I mean, one of the big issues is how do you motivate your younger employees, you know, the, the baby boomers don't understand the millennials sort of thing. And this seems to be a an example of a way of doing it.
Becca: 100%. Yeah. I think in general, us in the millennial generation are really motivated by kind of like a greater calling. I don't come to work everyday because I know I'm going to be sitting in responding to emails or doing calculations. It's because I know that I'm coming to work and I'm contributing to a better society, a better community, a better infrastructure, so that we as a community can live a healthier, more comfortable life. And I think that this is just another outlet for us to discuss that and try and get that out into the world a little bit more.
Host: Well, great. Well that, that, that I think you've guys have covered the gamut here. So I'm, I really appreciate your coming on and I urge our our listeners to tune into the Close of Business podcast. You guys are on a Spotify, right?
Ryan: Yeah. Spotify, Apple podcasts, any, any really podcast forum.
Ryan: Yeah. The best way just to look up whatever you listen to on podcast closed the business and you'll find us. And hopefully you enjoy the episodes. And if you got questions or comments reply to us. But otherwise you can email us to that. cobpodcast@gmail.com. Awesome.
Host: Well, thank you.
 

Government Affairs Update for November 2019

Engineering Influence welcomed ACEC's Matt Reiffer to the program for a government affairs update.  Matt provided an update on two critical issues important to the engineering industry - the repeal of a $7.6 billion rescission in FAST Act highway contract authority and new movement on NEPA regulations.  
ACEC recently joined with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AASHTO and other groups to advocate for the repeal of the FAST Act rescission. Here is the map mentioned in the interview which shows, state-by-state, how much contract authority will be restored in the CR:

The 2020 Economic Forecast for the Engineering Industry

Engineering Influence sat down with Richard Branch, the Chief Economist for Dodge Data and Analytics to discuss the 2020 economic forecast for the A/E/C industry.
Transcript:
Host: Welcome to another episode of engineering influence ACEC's regular podcast series. Today we're talking with Richard Branch, who is the chief economist for Dodge Data and Analytics. And we're going to talk about his 2020 forecast for the construction and engineering industries. Good morning Richard.
Richard Branch: Good morning. How are you?
Host: Doing well, thanks. So this is your first forecast for Dodge. Can you give us a little bit about your background?
Richard Branch: Sure. So yeah, our previous chief economist Bob Murray, a well deserved retirement. He ended his term at the end of August. I started right after him in September. I've been with Dodge about 10 years now. My previous position here as a senior economist covering mostly the commercial markets as well as our Canadian forecast.
Host: Great. I saw that you're a graduate of university of Ottawa. Are you? Are you Canadian?
Richard Branch: I am. I'm actually a dual citizen, so I went, did my undergraduate at the university of Ottawa, moved down to Boston to do my graduate work in economics at Boston College and fell in love with the city. And fell in love with my wife who's a Boston girl and stayed here.
Host: And you live and you work out of Goffstown I saw. Is that, is that right?
Richard Branch:  Well my our office is in Bedford, Massachusetts, just a little bit North of, of Boston's one of the Northern suburbs. But I live in Southern New Hampshire.
Host: Well a couple of weeks ago Dodge put out its forecast for for 2020. What's your view on the the AEC industry for for next year?
Richard Branch: Sure. So what we're looking at for total construction activity in 2020 and the total construction being the sum of residential construction, non-residential buildings as well as what we would call non building. That's kind of the infrastructure side of the market. We're looking at a decline of 4% for 2020 $776 billion in terms of construction starts for next year. Just to put that into perspective, that would bring the construction industry back to about where we were in 2017. So certainly not a cataclysmic drop in activity next year, but certainly a settling back after several long years of us with several years of strong growth.
Host: And why do you see that settling back taking place?
Richard Branch: Well, we're certainly starting to see the seeds of slower economic growth in the U S. GDP was 2.9% in 2018. We're expecting it to slip this year down to around 2.3% for 2019 and we expect the economy to slow even further in 2020 down to around 1.5% growth. So not recessionary, but we're starting to see the effects of the trade uncertainty the tariffs that have already been put in place as well as the potential for future tariffs causing uncertainty amongst business leaders in the economy. And we expect that to result in, in a continuation of a slower of job growth, which we've seen this year. In addition to the fact that just how tight the labor market is right now. Certainly in the construction industry, the lack of available labor is certainly a key issue and we think that works to constrain growth in, in construction next year.
Host: I mean, with, with your point about the labor market as well as the slowing economy are those pushing the combination of those two things, are they pushing the the industry down a little farther than it might've needed to be if one or the other weren't a part of the equation?
Richard Branch: I think so. I, you know, we, if for not that the trade uncertainty, if, if the labor market had if there were, if there were more available workers, we certainly wouldn't see economic growth slow. To the extent that we're expecting it to do in 2020 you know, it would be back above potential growth - the potential rate of growth in the U S economy is around 2% give or take. So barring those two events, we would probably see another year of slightly above potential growth next year.
Host: So in, in, in your forecast, are there certain sectors that you expect to perform better than average or better than the average of all of them in 2020?
Richard Branch: Yeah, absolutely. It to put a fine point on it. I would say that projects that have some semblance of public funding will do okay in 2020. So we're talking education, construction, particularly K through 12, healthcare construction, some transportation construction in terms of airline terminals and whatnot. As well as some of the infrastructure categories. We're talking streets and highways. Environmental public works like water system sewers. Those should do a well, those should do okay. Next year, you know, moderate growth where we expect to see the slippage in 2020 is more on the commercial side. So these are projects that are highly tied to the overall growth rate in the economy. So we're talking offices, retail and warehouses. We expect that market to slip back next year along with the residential market. FAST Act expires in September, 2020. So there would be need to be a new surface transportation bill to take effect after that. The growth that we're expecting on that streets and highways is really that, that last year of the FAST Act.
Host: And and you were mentioning the ones that you don't expect to do as well and you, you met you, you mentioned housing. Is that a, is that basically is that a job growth thing or what would you attribute to slow down and housing to?
Richard Branch: Yeah, great question. So I think you've got to have two separate discussions here. First of all, single family, single family has really underperformed in this cycle. Due to for the most part, affordability housing prices essentially been growing faster than wages and incomes and, and pushing people out of that suburban single family market. More often than not, that has been, has been the Millennial age group.
Richard Branch: And as the millennials start to age, we're seeing that group continuing to have difficulty entering the market mostly because of the lack of available supply of that entry level or starter home. People just aren't able to build those homes because the margins are pretty tight. So on the single family side we see it more as a supply issue as opposed to a demand issue. Whereas on the multifamily side, very aggressive growth over the life cycle. So we had all those folks that were were forced out of the suburban single family market going into either townhouses or condos or the rentals, all of that track in, in multifamily. So that has seen very aggressive growth throughout this cycle. And what we're starting to see already this year is a bit of a pullback and especially in larger metropolitan areas. So places like Chicago, excuse me, not Chicago, places like Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, even New York City starting to ebb a little bit. And so it's, those are pulled back in those larger markets that are pulling back that the multifamily side. But as you mentioned, the multifamily side is very much tied to overall economic growth, very much especially tied to labor market growth. So that's also having a bit of a negative effect on the multifamily market in 2019.
Host: And one market that a lot of our members are involved in is, is the power market, the you know, building pipelines building transmission lines....where do you see that market going?
Richard Branch: Sure. So the electric power category as we classify it is, includes your traditional fossil fuel plants. It includes LNG export facilities all those big things that are being built down in the Gulf Coast. It also includes the transmission lines as well as renewable. So wind and solar utility scale, wind and solar. That market's actually doing very well this year FERC has streamlined their approval process for LNG facilities. And as such, we've seen several large projects break ground this year. Particularly the Cameron LNG facility in Louisiana was a $4.2 billion project that broke ground earlier this year. So that side of the market seems to be doing well as well as the wind power side, renewables the, the traditional fossil fuel plants not doing so well. There was a good period of growth in the 2014 to 17 range as more natural gas fired plants were being started. But that has started to ebb back slightly. And on the transmission side, we're certainly starting to see growth there, whether it's a grid hardening. So these are our utilities looking to protect their, their infrastructure from storms and whatnot, or circling back to that renewable side, all those wind plants in the Midwest in terms of building transmission lines to bigger power centers.
Host: Great. Thank you. That's great. So one question that I've had for a couple of years about, about the Dodge forecast as it is you, as you use the dollar value of starts, what, why, what, what do you see the value the forecast value of that?
Richard Branch: So why, why do we, why do we talk in terms of dollars?
Host: Yes. Yeah. I the value of,
Richard Branch: Yeah, that's, that's a great question. So our data, we actually forecast both the square footage figure as well as the dollar value. I tend to like to talk about the dollar value figure for for two reasons. Number one, it does include that non building sector, that infrastructure side where there is no square footage applied in those, in, in those building categories, but also it's more inclusive. So our dollar value figures include new construction, it includes additions, but the key part is it also includes renovation activities. So it's a much more inclusive. And, and when you look at say a category like retail where a significant chunk of the retail sector in terms of construction is actually renovation work. I, I think it's important to talk about that opportunity, whereas the square footage side of our data doesn't include renovation.
Host: Great. That makes sense. Yeah. And and one of the things I think I saw in the, in the forecast was a bit about server farms or whatever the proper term for that is...
Richard Branch: Data centers
Host: Data centers. Yeah, that seems to be a big continuing to be a big growth area.
Richard Branch: It is. So we classify data centers as office construction. And back in 2017, data construction was about five point $4 billion, accounted for about 13% of all office activity in terms of our data, 2018 up to $10.4 billion in construction for data centers. 22% of all office activity was data centers and that demand for cloud space and for telecommuting and the like has certainly kept this market very strong. And we expect that to continue certainly in the years to come in and will actually be a bit of a cushion to the office sector. Whereas the traditional office sector, will pull back a little bit. As the economy slows, it should be cushioned slightly by those data centers and they're very, very expensive projects in terms of the infrastructure, in terms of the wiring and in terms of the HVACs, they are very complex buildings. Very expensive.
Host: That's remarkable growth.
Richard Branch: Yes, absolutely.
Host: So looking at, turning towards towards our members, the engineering from the firms around the country, from from a Dodge forecast, you know, you typically look into the coming year. What, what lessons can engineering from leaders take from, from those, those numbers and descriptions?
Richard Branch: Sure. Well, I think that the big thing I've been saying to folks as we unveil our forecast is, and I believe I mentioned this at the outset, is we need to remember that even though this was the decline of 4%, this isn't what we saw in 2007, 2008, there will still be loss of opportunity for growth across the construction industry. And we need to remain aggressive. We need to remain creative in terms of finding those opportunities. And those different opportunities may exist in different geographies than you're currently used to. They may be different building verticals than you're used to say education versus say a more commercial sector. And that this will be because there's no systemic underlying economic issues like we saw in 2007, 2008. This will be a fairly short downturn. And then by the time we're back into 2021, we should start to see those seeds of growth in the building markets again. And it's important to prepare for that 2021 return to growth in 2020. Again, in terms of being creative and being aggressive.
Host: So you, so looking a little farther into the future, you see 2021 is a stronger year than 2020.
Richard Branch: Certainly on the residential side of the market. Absolutely. that will be kind of the, the engine of the recovery in 2020 in terms of construction markets. And then we should start from the commercial construction kick in, in terms of growth towards the end of 21 into 22 and then institutional. So things like schools and hospitals lagging a little bit after that.
Host: Well, that's very optimistic.
Richard Branch: Again, I think so. I certainly compared to what we just went through, you know, 10 or 12 years ago this will be a fairly mild downturn. I again, I there, there's nothing systemic in the economy that's pointing to a longterm catastrophic pullback and activity like we had in the last cycle. This will be fairly short, be fairly mild, and as long as folks, again, are being creative and aggressive and finding opportunities they will fund.
Host: Oh, great. Well, I appreciate your taking the time to talk with us. This has been a very enlightening,
Richard Branch: Thank you. Happy to do it. Thanks for having me.