2007 Issue

UTAH ENGINEERS COUNCIL JOURNAL 23 ACEC-Utah Goals For 2007 KAREN K. NICHOLS, P.E., Stantec Consulting, Inc. AMERICAN COUNCIL OF ENGINEERING COMPANIES OF UTAH www.acecutah.org President Kim Nichols, Stantec Consulting, Inc. President-Elect/UEC Representative Bob Davis, Sunrise Engineering, Inc. 801-523-0100 Secretary/Treasurer Vernon L. Arne Vice President Clint Topham Parson, Brinkerhoff, Quade & Douglas Secretary/Treasurer Hiram Alba Executive Director Michael Smith, ACEC-Utah Lobbyist Craig A. Peterson, LLC Program Chair Jim Schwing SOCIETY FORUM As ACEC-Utah moves into 2007 and beyond, I would like to iterate our three goals. These are short and long term goals, aimed at professional and governmental involvement. O URCURRENTACEC-UTAHBOARDOFDIREC- TORSHASADOPTED THESEGOALSAND IS DIRECTINGCOMMITTEESTOCONDUCTAC- TIVITIESANDEVENTS TOSUPPORT THEM. As a long term goal, ACEC-Utah has focused on establishing a presence on Utah’s Capital Hill, to enhance our relationships with state legislators, while focusing on two principal policy objectives: infrastructure funding to keep pace with Utah’s growth and procurement reform to ensure engineering services are procured on the basis of quality and value. On the national front, it is worthwhile to note that ACEC supports these two objec- tives, while adding additional key objectives as outsourcing of engineering services and elimination of regulatory and tax barriers to the business of engineering. In a recent press release ACEC President Dave Raymond was quoted as stating “ACEC has always worked well with House and Senate members on both sides of the aisle, many of the issues that we advocate, notably greater investment in highways, airports, water systems, and energy infrastructure, lend themselves to bipartisan support, so we will look for opportunities to work with the new majority.” He went on to say ““I expect the new Democrat majority will focus on moving the appropriations bills in a timely manner, and look for bipartisan initiatives, such as the reauthorization of the airports construction program (Vision 100), that will attract broad support.” As a short-term goal we are focusing on increased member participation, education and involvement. Committees, events and professional training are offered to all mem- ber organization employees seeking resources for information-sharing, best practices, and networking. Monthly luncheons, Engineer- ing Excellence and Leadership Institute are opportunities open to all members, potential members and associate members. As a close I would like to encourage all professionals, members and non-members to be active advocates for the engineering and surveying profession. Recent reports indicate that fewer students are choosing the engineer- ing profession. Comparisons have been made that indicate the United States is well behind China and India in producing engineering graduates. Locally, graduating engineering students are reporting that they have several job offers well before they graduate. As the need for new engineers becomes crucial to support economic growth, active participation in any professional organizationwill encourage growth of the profession for the future.