To the ACEC Community, Our annual Convention is recognized for its focus on grassroots advocacy and this year’s event will carry on the tradition of bringing ACEC’s “citizen lobbyists” to the halls of Congress to press our most important issues to their elected leaders. Thankfully, we’re out of the woods with the pandemic, and House and Senate office buildings have returned to pre-COVID operation. It will be good to be back to normal with face-to-face meetings. This year, ACEC National’s advocacy focus will fall under four main policy priorities. We will ensure that our grassroots army is prepared with talking points and position papers on each and we will hold our traditional legislative briefing covering the details of our position on the issues in the afternoon of Monday, June 12, directly after our keynote speaker, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. You can also get a head start by attending the Advocacy team’s webinar on May 22 at 1:30pm Eastern for a preview of our key issues. Our four areas of concern are:
R&D amortization fix
IIJA implementation
Workforce Development, and
Permitting reform
Each of these issues is critical to our industry’s success and is a topic of debate in Congress right now, either in concept or with legislation on the move. I cannot stress enough the importance of having a strong showing of engineering firm leaders taking to Capitol Hill this year. Your voice is the best weapon in our advocacy arsenal. We have an exceptionally talented group of policy experts and lobbyists in our advocacy department, but nothing will ever rank higher for a congressman or senator than a meeting with his or her constituent. All politics is local. The relationships you forge with your elected leaders are as important as the relationships you develop with your clients and business partners. Related to business development and relationships, the Annual Convention is a perfect opportunity for young professionals at your firm to get their first experience with advocacy. In addition, there a several educational sessions specifically tailored to growing emerging talent at member firms. I hear from member firms every day that they have more work on their plates than ever, and it’s understandably hard to balance client delivery with professional development for your team. However, I strongly believe our Annual Convention can impart critical information and insight that will help your team thrive and grow. Make sure to register for the convention soon and bring along that rising star.
Have a great week,
Linda Bauer Darr President & CEO American Council of Engineering Companies | ACEC
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