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2009-2010 Annual Report

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It’s difficult to know where to begin as I reflect back on the last twelve months. Last summer, I was headed into my final year as National Director, and likely my last year on the ACEC/Nebraska Board of Directors. At our very first meeting with the newly elected Board in August, I was asked if I would be willing to step in and serve as President to fill the vacancy created when our recently elected President left the consulting business. I was honored to be asked to serve and I appreciated the confidence in me expressed by the Board of Directors, but knew that the challenges facing our industry were significant. The past twelve months have been extremely difficult for our member firms and their employees. The recession continued to suppress private development activity, and the decreased sales tax and gasoline tax revenues further strained our local and state governments. For those member firms that provide transportation engineering services, these challenges were compounded by the issues between NDOR and FHWA and the complete overhaul of the way local projects were processed. As a result of the changes, very few projects moved through the system and even fewer new projects were initiated. ACEC/N was very actively involved in the discussions with NDOR and FHWA, and provided key testimony during the Transportation Summit convened on April 30, 2010 by Senator Ben Nelson. Since that time, we have “had a seat at the table” with NDOR and FHWA as they follow up to address the concerns raised at the Summit. While in many cases, progress has been slower than we would like, we have seen some significant shifts in policies and processes that will help to alleviate concerns and expedite project delivery. We still have a long way to go, but progress is being made. It appears that public sector funding for infrastructure projects will continue to be limited for a number of years due to reduced revenue at the local, state and federal levels. There will likely be a push in the Legislature for a new Transportation Funding program, and ACEC/N will be aggressively supporting a significant increase in overall funding, which may include shifting revenue sources from other programs into the Highway Trust Fund. As I enter my 10th year of service to the member firms of ACEC/Nebraska, I think of all of the changes that have taken place in our industry and in our Association. Near the end of my first term as ACEC/N President in 2007, I was tasked with the responsibility to hire a new Executive Director and staff. Over the last three years, it has been rewarding to see how quickly Jackie and Bea have adapted to the challenges of our industry and have become such strong advocates for consulting engineering and our Association. Their professionalism and hard work help to make ACEC/N the voice of engineering in Nebraska and a resource for politicians and other community leaders. I would like to publicly thank Jackie and Bea for their service to ACEC/N and for all of the help they have been to me personally over the last three years. Our industry still has many challenges ahead of us, and the next couple of years will continue to be difficult for many firms. I have great confidence in the elected leadership and staff at ACEC/N to provide the guidance and direction necessary to represent our industry and our member firms and to keep our Association strong.

Kyle Anderson

2009-2010 President, ACEC/Nebraska

President’s Letter

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Alvine Engineering HWS Consulting Group RVW

Baker & Associates Iteris R.W. Engineering & Surveying

CH2M Hill JEO Consulting Group Rupprecht Engineering

Civil Design Group KPE-Consulting Engineers Schemmer Associates

E & A Consulting Group Kirkham Michael Short Elliott Hendrickson

EA Engineering, Science & Tech KLEINFELDER Speece Lewis Engineers

ESP Consulting Engineers Lamp, Rynearson & Associates Terracon Consultants

Ehrhart Griffin & Associates M.C. Schaff & Associates Thiele Geotech

Farris Engineering M.E. Group Thompson, Dreessen & Dorner

Felsburg Holt & Ullevig MACTEC URS Corporation

Geary Engineering Miller & Associates WLA Consulting

Gilmore & Associates Morrissey Engineering Wade Trim

HDR Engineering Olsson Associates Wilson & Company

HGM Associates PB America’s

HNTB Corporation Performance Engineering

ACEC/NEBRASKA MEMBERSHIP 2009-2010

ACEC/NEBRASKA BOARD 2009-2010

Kyle Anderson President & National

Director Felsburg Holt & Ullevig

Matt Tondl Past President

HDR Engineering

Marty Wiedenman President Elect Performance Engineering

John S. Olsson Treasurer

Olsson Associates

Jack Baker Secretary

Baker & Associates

Phil Schreier State Director

Farris Engineering

Rick Herrick State Director

HWS Consulting

Steve Kathol State Director

Schemmer Associates

Jeff Elliott State Director

E & A Consulting

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2010 Engineering Excellence Awards

GRAND AWARD

Engineering Excellence is our annual design competition recognizing engineering achievements which demonstrate the highest degree of merit and ingenuity. Twenty-four projects ranging from research studies and buildings and water resources to transportation entered this year’s state competition. The Engineering Excellence Awards were presented on Tuesday, February 16 at the Champions Run in Omaha. Entries are rated on the basis of innovation and originality; technical value to the engineering profession; social and economic considerations; complexity; and how successfully the project meets the needs, including time and budget constraints of the client. Entrants may also enter the national competition which is judged in Washington, D.C.

The 2010 Grand Award was presented to HNTB for its role and contributions to the design and construction of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge for the City of Omaha. The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, a 2,222 foot pedestrian bridge spanning the Missouri River, has become a landmark for Omaha and a symbol of cooperation and good will between the cities of Omaha and Council Bluffs. The river span of the structure features a one-of-a-kind 1,012-foot curvilinear cable stayed bridge, with a main span length of 506 feet. The superstructure is supported by single pylons near each bank that rise 200 feet above the water surface, and two planes of cables suspend the superstructure from the pylons. Landings at each end of the bridge descend to public open green spaces and provide connections to a regional trail system that had been previously inaccessible to pedestrians and cyclists prior to the connectivity provided by the bridge.

HNTB for the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge

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Honor Award: Ch2M Hill

Honor Award: Morrissey Engineering

Honor Award: ME Group

Honor Award: HDR Engineering

2010 Honor Awards Four projects received the Honor Award, the next highest honor in the competition: Omaha Long Term Control Plan by CH2M Hill with HDR Engineering

and Lamp, Rynearson & Associates for the City of Omaha 4940 Building by Morrissey Engineering for Morrissey Engineering Palmer Ridge High School by ME Group for Palmer Ridge School

District # 38 OPPD Nebraska City 2 by HDR Engineering for the Omaha Public

Power District

Small Firm Award Broadwater Water Improvement by Baker & Associates for the

Village of Broadwater

2010 Merit Awards

Firms, their projects and their clients receiving 2010 Merit Awards included: West Haymarket Transportation, Environmental and Utilities

Plan by Olsson Associates for the City of Lincoln Lower Platte North NRD Groundwater Study by Olsson

Associates for the Lower Platte North NRD Saddlebrook Joint Use Facility by Alvine Engineering for the

Omaha Public Schools Appliance and Electronics Store by Alvine Engineering for the

Nebraska Furniture Mart Signs and Shapes International by Thompson, Dreessen &

Dorner for the No Mans Land, LLC Harris Overpass by Schemmer Associates for the City of Lincoln Midtown Crossing at Turner Park Implementation of the

Concrete Maturity Method by Terracon Consultants for the Weitz Company

Ashland Wastewater Treatment Plant by Olsson Associates for

the City of Ashland Torrington Correctional Facility Utility Corridor by Baker &

(Merit Awards continued on next page)

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(Merit Awards Continued)

12th & U Street Water Mains by HDR Engineering for the City of Lincoln Glen Cunningham Dam, Reservoir and Recreation Area Improvements by Olsson Associates for the Nebraska Game and Parks South Sioux City Flood Plain Management by Olsson Associates for the City of South Sioux City East Adams Improvements by HWS Consulting for the City of Lincoln 72nd Street, I-680 to N-36 by Schemmer Associates for Douglas County MOPAC Trail Bridge by Schemmer Associates for the City of Lincoln Collin Stadium – Omaha South High by Lamp, Rynearson & Associates for Omaha Public Schools Zebra Mussel Eradication by URS for the Offutt Air Force Base

Charles Durham Achievement Award Roger J. Wozny of the Schemmer Associates was selected to receive the 2010 ACEC/Nebraska Charles Durham Achievement Award. The award was established in 2009 to recognize outstanding individuals who have contributed significantly to the engineering profession through their leadership role in ACEC/Nebraska, professional societies, and community service organizations.

2010 Public Relations Awards

The 2010 Young Professionals of the Year award went to Joe Zadina, PE, a Civil Engineer at Lamp, Rynearson & Associates Omaha, Nebraska. This award recognizes the accomplishments of members of the profession who are under the age of 30 and have contributed to the engineering profession and impacted society.

Young Professional of the Year Award

Last year’s ACEC/N winner, Craig Reinsch, PE, Civil Engineer and Office Leader at Olsson Associates in Lincoln, Nebraska, was selected as one of the 5 Young Professionals of the Year in the national competition. Craig’s accomplishments will be recognized at the ACEC National Fall Conference in Puerto Rico in October.

(Public Relations Awards continued on next page)

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( Public Relations Awards Continued)

Pride Awards The Public Relations Committee of the American Council of Engineering Companies/Nebraska announced the winners of its 2nd Annual Public Relations, Image Development and Enhancement (PRIDE) Award.

HDR Engineering was named the ACEC/N 2010 PRIDE GRAND Award Winner for its “Drinking

Water Operations Treatment & Distribution Wall Chart.” Submitted by Suzanne Putnam and the HDR

Engineering Team. The winning entry was also named the ACEC/N 2010 PRIDE GOLD Award Winner in

the Marketing/Branding/Image Enhancement/Campaigns category.

Schemmer Associates was named the ACEC/N 2010 PRIDE GOLD Award Winner in the Events category for its 2009 comprehensive marketing/anniversary initiative, “Schemmer: Proudly Celebrating Our First Fifty Years.” The winning entry was submitted by Julie Gasper and the Schemmer Marketing Team.

Lamp, Rynearson & Associates was named an ACEC/N 2010 PRIDE Award of Excellence

Winner in the Marketing/Branding/Image Enhancement /Campaigns category for its 2009

comprehensive marketing/anniversary initiative, “50 Years and Still Cruising.” The winning entry was

submitted by Leslie Peterson and the Lamp, Rynearson Marketing Team.

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

GOLD AWARD

GRAND AWARD

Kyle Anderson, Suzanne Putnam and Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy

Kyle Anderson, Leslie Peterson and Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy

Kyle Anderson, Tracy Mumford and Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy

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LPA PROGRAM CHANGES FOR CONSULTANTS WORKSHOP July 30, 2009 Southeast Community College-Lincoln Training on the new LPA Guidelines Manual presented by NDOR Staff. ACEC’s PRESIDENT DAVE RAYMOND VISIT TO NEBRASKA August 24-25th 2009 ACEC President Dave Raymond visited Nebraska to brief local, state, and federal officials on issues of key concern. In his meetings, Dave talked about how important our industry is in the state’s economic development and encouraged more outsourcing in both stimulus and non-stimulus projects. OMAHA ENGINEERING PARTNERSHIP October 21, 2009 Holiday Inn Convention Center-Omaha Speakers—Mayor of Omaha Jim Suttle; Bob Stubbe, Director of Public Works; Rick Cunningham, City of Omaha Planning Director; Jeff Schovanec, Sr. Design Engineer Infrastructure Replacement MUD and a panel discussion moderated by Matt McFadden with Kirk Pfeffer and Tim O’Bryan, Omaha Public Works and Jim Wilkinson, NDOR. AASHTO AUDIT GUIDE SEMINAR November 10, 2009 Cornhusker Marriott-Lincoln Presenting this seminar was Lynda Konomos, External Audit Manager with HNTB. This seminar was an overview of the new AASHTO Uniform Audit and Accounting Guide. NDOR TRANSPORTATION WORKSHOP November 10, 2009 Cornhusker Marriott -Lincoln Speakers—Monty Fredrickson, NDOR Director; Joe Werning, FHWA Division Administrator; State Senator Kathy Campbell; Randy Peters, NDOR Deputy Director; Lynda Konomos, External Auditor for HNTB; Dawn Knott, NDOR Agreements Engineer; Jim Wilkinson, NDOR Local Projects Engineer; Dave Jesse, Sr., V.P. Harry A. Koch Company and, Allan Abbott, Aide to Senator Ben Nelson.

LINCOLN ENGINEERING PARTNERSHIP WORKSHOP December 15, 2009 Holiday Inn Downtown -Lincoln Speakers—Greg MacLean, Director of Public Works; Fred Hoke, Development Service Center Manager; Richard Burton, Department of Building and Safety; Jereme Montgomery, NE Concrete and Aggregates Association; Matt Ferguson, HDR; Linda Beacham, Committee Chair for Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Infrastructure Finance Committee and Dan Marvin, Arena Project Manager. ACEC/N 2 DAY WORKSHOP ON NEPA & CATEGORY EXCLUSION DOCUMENTS December 16 & 17th 2009 and February 24 & 25th 2010 Cornhusker Marriott-Lincoln Presented by NDOR, FHWA and NESHPO Staff. Overview of Environmental Processes for Nebraska Transportation Projects, submitting successful NEPA and Category Exclusion Documents. This course was one of the requirements to become NDOR NEPA Certified. ACEC/N ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE AWARDS BANQUET February 16, 2010 Champions Run in Omaha Master of Ceremonies—Dwight “Doc” Wininger This year 24 engineering projects were entered in the competition. ACEC/N President Kyle Anderson and Nebraska Lt. Governor Rick Sheehy presented the awards. HNTB received the Grand Award for the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. CONSULTING CONGRESS DAY April 27-28, 2010 Washington, D.C. Four ACEC/Nebraska representatives carried the message of the engineering industry to our elected officials on Capitol Hill.

2009-2010 EVENTS

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ACEC President Dave Raymond visited Nebraska at the request of the State Organization to brief local, state, and federal officials on issues of key concern. In these meetings, Dave talked about how important our industry is in the state’s economic development and encouraged more outsourcing in both stimulus and non stimulus projects. Raymond, Jackie McCullough ACEC/N Executive Director and ACEC/N volunteer leaders met with Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy; State Senator Tony Fulton; FHWA Nebraska Division Administrator Joseph Werning: Nebraska Department of Roads Director Monty Fredrickson; Congressman Lee Terry (R-NE); Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D-NE) Chief of Staff Tim Becker; and Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle. At member luncheons in Omaha and Lincoln, Raymond briefed members and received feedback on transportation funding, the stimulus package, and the impact of healthcare and other legislation All of our membership really appreciated Dave’s coming to Nebraska. We had the opportunity to exchange views, share what’s on our members’ minds, and bring a local perspective to ACEC’s national efforts.

ACEC President Dave Raymond Visits Nebraska

E-WEEK PROCLAMATION SIGNINGS

Governor Dave Heineman and Lincoln Mayor Chris

Beutler each signed a proclamation declaring

February 14-20, 2010 as Engineers Week.

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The Omaha Engineering Partnership (OEP) had a busy year. We dealt with issues relating to procurement of professional services and private plan review. During quarterly meetings with the Public Works Director we discussed a variety of topics and worked with the Director on the Small and Emerging Business Ordinance, new contracting limits and private plan review to name a few. We met individually with the Mayor and all City Council members to discuss the proposed Small and Emerging Business ordinance. During our meetings we also discussed increasing the contract limit requirements. Increasing these requirements would mean the need for fewer proposals and could save both consultants and the City money. The OEP also planned and conducted the Omaha Engineering Partnership Workshop on October 21. The workshop was very well attended by both the public and private sector. The Director supported this effort and encouraged City staff to attend. We also had a Public Works person on the planning committee to make sure the program would be of interest to City participants.

Finally, toward the end of the year, we took up the issue of private plan review. Issues include inconsistent review, time it takes to get a review and changing requirements. The full committee met and decided it would be appropriate to send a small group to meet with a group of managers at the City. The first meeting was very productive and this effort will continue into next year.

The Lincoln Engineering Partnership (LEP) completed another successful year. We began the year by meeting with various representatives of the Public Works & Utilities departments and also reached out to new departments including Building & Safety, Urban Development, Planning, and Parks & Recreation. These meetings were organized to make City representatives mindful of our organization/committee and to encourage them to reach out to us if/when needed. The Lincoln Engineering Partnership Workshop was held on December 15, 2010. The topics included The Lincoln Haymarket Arena, Development Services Center, special inspections, pervious concrete, Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Infrastructure Financing plans, District Energy and Cap/Trade. The workshop was attended by Public Works & Utilities Director, Greg MacLean, as well as many other City staff.

Jim Wilkinson, NDOR; Kirk Pfeffer, Omaha Public Works and Tim O’Bryan Omaha Public Works facilitated a panel discussion at the OEP Workshop

Omaha City

Engineer Charlie Krajek

and Steve Kathol visit

after the workshop

Omaha Engineering Partnership Committee Chair: Terry Atkins

Lincoln Engineering Partnership Committee Chair: Mark Lutjeharms

Mark Lutjeharms,

LEP Chair, discusses the

program with presenters Jereme

Montgomery of NE Concrete &

Aggregates Assn. and Matt

Ferguson, HDR

(Lincoln Engineering Partnership continued on next page)

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LEP Committee members met with Council members Jane Snyder, Gene Carroll, Adam Hornung and Doug Emery to introduce and remind them of our organization and to offer our group as a resource to them and the issues they address as City Council members. Additionally, the LEP Committee drafted a letter for signature by the ACEC/N Board supporting the Fast Forward Fund, aimed at funding infrastructure for economic development projects; provided review comments to Engineering Services’ revisions to their Standard Specifications; and worked with the Mayor’s staff to identify additional work tasks under the primary categories for which firms submit for pre-qualification. In the coming months, the LEP committee will be working with the Mayor’s staff and the Public Works & Utilities Department on developing processes for electronic document submittal and filing. The Business Practices Committee worked with many ACEC/N members throughout the year on issues related to QBS, selection processes, contracts, government competition and more. Qualification Based Selection is always at the forefront of the committee’s attention. We encourage our members to report incidents where QBS is not being used. The committee reviews the selection processes and when appropriate, contacts the public agency that issued the rfp to discuss the QBS process. ACEC/N continues to field questions from local agencies generated by the implementation of NDOR procedures for QBS and the federal legislation that mandates QBS for projects receiving Federal aid. A QBS presentation was made to the Nebraska League of Municipalities at their

winter conference. The panel included ACEC/N members as well as a one of our local agency partners. The next step is to develop a program for the League on how to assist municipalities in implementing a QBS program. Instances of competition with governmental agencies at all levels continue to be reported to ACEC/N. We have had meetings with public agencies, legislators and public entity officials to discuss the cases, always emphasizing the benefits to hiring from the private sector. The slogan is: “If you can find it in the yellow pages, government shouldn’t provide it!” The ACEC/N PR committee engaged in activities to raise the awareness of the value that engineers provide to society and encourage students to pursue engineering as a career. The committee’s primary focus during E-Week was to share the passion for engineering with students and the general public to generate awareness of our profession through publications and public outreach. The committee selected award winners again this year to recognize individual engineers’ contribution to the engineering and consulting industry and outstanding marketing activities by member firms.

(Lincoln Engineering Partnership continued)

Business Practices Committee Committee Chair: Jane Jordan

Public Relations Committee Committee Chair: Gretchen Dolson

John Olsson, Olsson Associates does a QBS presentation to the League of Municipalities Conference with panelists

Thomas Shaffer, City of Lincoln, Rob Brigham, JEO and Marc Rosso, HDR Engineering.

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NDOR Partnership Committee Committee Chair: Karl Fredrickson

The ACEC-NDOR Liaison Committee (Committee) began the year in the midst of significant change at NDOR and considerable turmoil with the Federal Highway Division Office. Monty Fredrickson had just begun his new position as Director-State Engineer, July 6, 2010, after serving as Deputy Director of Engineering since 1992. Randy Peters was elevated to Deputy Director of Engineering after he served several years as Planning and Project Development Engineer. FHWA Nebraska Division also saw changes: Victoria Peters, Assistant D.A. was reassigned to Washington D.C., and was replaced by Doug Atkin. FHWA-Nebraska had placed restrictions on our ability to do business with our clients:

PE/CE restriction Conflict of Interest allegations Writing an LPA manual Responsible Charge issues Retroactive recession of project approvals Process changes that changed daily

The Committee was proactive in quickly setting up ongoing working meetings with NDOR staff to represent our industry and work through process changes to assist in developing documentation that would satisfy FHWA in an effort to speed projects through the ever-changing NDOR/FHWA environment. Our committee also provided constructive feedback when changes either hurt the project development process, our clients, or our business (e.g. liability in agreements).

Senator Ben Nelson conducted a Transportation Summit with Victor Mendez, FHWA Administrator in April 2010. The Summit, held at Lincoln’s City Council Chambers, was attended by an overflow crowd. Included were City, County and State staff, City Mayors, and County Board Members, private section engineers, and the press. Up to the Nelson Summit in April, FHWA-Nebraska did not see it in their interest to attend the working meetings stating it was their role to interact only with the state highway agency. After the Summit, FHWA began attending the meetings and constructive face-to-face dialogue took place, making progress possible to revise previous processes and policy decisions.

Industry involvement was critical to the decisions as industry kept the impact of slow and nonresponsive actions at the forefront in every meeting.

The Committee held the ACEC-NDOR Annual Meeting in November. The meeting was very well attended and we had some special guests from the Cities and Counties in attendance to hear what the speakers had to convey. The meeting was preceded by a training session on the Federal Acquisition Rules (FAR) and was also well attended.

By the end of the year headway with NDOR and FHWA included: a profit worksheet, a task order form, a conflict resolution policy, a consultant evaluation process, discussion of a Pilot PE/CE plan, development of an On-Call list of construction engineering (CE) firms to aid LPA’s, and changes to the ICE and SCOPE processes used by LPA’s.

The On-Call CE was initially agreed to by the committee as a way to speed up selections, however, the initial process required the RC’s to go through another selection process with the on-call firms. Through the committee’s discussion, modifications have been made to make the process less cumbersome. The on-call process will be further reviewed over the summer for further efficiencies.

As the committee enters into the new year, continued work on solidifying NDOR/FHWA processes so that work done for NDOR and LPA’s, and work for engineering firms can become predictable.

Kyle Anderson and Matt Tondl testify at the Transportation Summit.

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The second session of the 101st Legislature was a typical busy session for both the members of the Legislature and organizations like ACEC/N who closely monitor legislation that affects their industry. When the session started, there was little money to spend and little anticipation of any major law changes. The session ended on the same note with the exception that the financial concerns increased as tax receipts continued to dwindle. Several initiatives affecting our industry were carried over from the first legislative session along with the introduction of several new pieces of legislation in 2010. However, we are pleased to report that all major initiatives that we monitored closely were either defeated or failed to come out of committee. What that means is a clean slate when the Legislature reconvenes on January 5, 2011. Several members of ACEC/N participated in the annual Legislative Forum and Luncheon, hosted by the Nebraska Design & Construction Industry Council, held in Lincoln on March 3, 2010. Our members had the opportunity to spend time at the capitol meeting with Senators and watching the Legislature in action. Governor Heineman and Senator Kathy Campbell were the featured speakers during the morning forum. During lunch, our members enjoyed conversation with 22 Senators seated throughout the room. The Senators were thanked for their service and the three organizations comprising the council – ACEC/Nebraska, AIA Nebraska, and AGC Building Chapter - reminded the Senators of the wealth of resources available to them and their staff through our members. During the summer months, meetings were held with Transportation Chair Senator Deb Fisher, and several Transportation Committee Members. Meetings also took place with the chair of the Natural Resources Committee and the Speaker of the Legislature to discuss resources available to the Senators through ACEC/N and issues of importance to our members. Senator Fisher has indicated she will be introducing major highway funding legislation in the upcoming legislative session. While details of the proposal are not being released by Senator Fisher, she has indicated it will be a major proposal. Senator Fisher has told us she is working closely with other Senators and Governor Heineman to develop a passable piece of legislation. This will be a key piece of legislation in the upcoming session. 2010 was another very busy legislative year as it always is, and 2011 looks no different.

Legislative Committee Committee Co-Chairs: Dan Park and Mark Pohlmann

Governor Dave Heineman’s talk during Legislative Day.

Loren Steenson with his Senator Pete Pirsch.

Rich Herrick, Tom Kellogg and Senator Scott Price.

Senator Mark Christensen visits with Larry Lewis and

Karl Fredrickson

Legislative Forum March 3, 2010

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Environmental Affairs Committee Committee Chair: Eric Obert

Eric Obert with JEO Consulting Group chaired our newest committee – the Environmental Affairs Committee. Eric recruited and organized the committee, and together, they crafted the committee’s mission statement. The Environmental Affairs Committee (EAC) provides a discussion forum for the broadly defined fields of environmental engineering to exchange ideas and information regarding environmental issues that can affect ACEC/N member businesses, and to develop relationships, make contacts, educate members, and influence business practices to help improve relationships and assist in promoting environmental policies that benefit both member firms and their clients. The EAC functions as an information source for its members involved in environmental activities as well as for the related public agencies. The Committee’s first task was to assist NDOR with training for environmental professionals on the NEPA processes. The training also included representatives from the Federal Highway Administration and the Nebraska State Historical Society’s Preservation Division. The popular class was held twice to accommodate those interested. The Committee also wanted to reach out to the various agencies our members interact with and introduce ACEC/N and the resources we have available to assist our public partners. Good initial discussions took place and a more formal schedule of meetings are planned for next year.

Much of the committee’s activities have been conducted through our partnership in the Nebraska Design and Construction Industry Council. The Council was started by members of our committee, as well as, members from AIA/N and AGC/N and has been very busy. The council has redesigned its website (www.ne.dcicouncil.com) and created an extensive manual on Delivery Methods. The manual provides a laymen’s overview of D/B/B, D/B, and CM@Risk as it applies to Nebraska entities, and also provides a second section on how to effectively and properly carry out a project under each method. The Council has made presentations on delivery methods to various groups and associations over the past 12 months, most recently at the Nebraska Health Care Association and Nebraska Assisted Living Association conference in Kearney. In August 2009, the ACEC/N Board of Directors approved the formation of a USACE Partnering Committee. The committee was proposed in support of a national partnering agreement between the two entities and to provide for improved communication and a higher level of collaboration to benefit the Nebraska public. A group of ACEC/N members met to prepare a vision, mission, and committee charter for the new committee. The group identified objectives for the first year and emphasized the importance of a partnering agreement between ACEC/N and the USACE Omaha District. Joel Carson, Committee Chair, and Jackie McCullough met with Col. Ruch at the USACE offices to discuss the committee and the partnering agreement.

Alternative Delivery Methods Committee Committee Chair: Matt Kronaizl

Corps of Engineers Partnering Committee Committee Chair: Joel Carson

(Corps of Engineers continued on next page)

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Col. Ruch wanted to formalize the Nebraska agreement after the national agreement was re-signed. On April 26, 2010 ACEC and the USACE signed a national partnering agreement. The Colonel’s travel schedule has made it difficult to meet to execute the state agreement. The Committee feels it is important that a partnering agreement be executed locally providing the foundation for a successful partnering committee and they will address the partnering agreement in the coming year.

The Membership Committee successfully recruited five new member firms in 2009-10! The committee identified firms to approach and made contact with each of those firms to discuss the benefits ACEC/N membership brings to their firm’s bottom line and their employees. For 2009-10, the ACEC/N Board of Directors approved a membership incentive program which proved successful. The membership committee submitted the applications for membership and all were unanimously approved by the Board of Directors throughout the year. ACEC/N welcomed Black and Veatch, ESP, Miller and Associates, RDG Geoscience and Engineering and Veenstra & Kimm as our newest members during the year. At the end of the fiscal year, ACEC/N counted 42 firms in its membership with over 2,059 employees. Continuing to define and strengthen our value proposition will be crucial to both recruitment and retention of our member firms.

Representatives from ACEC/N joined more than 1,000 business and policy leaders at the ACEC Annual Convention in Washington, D.C. in April. In addition to the many educational seminars and keynote speakers from the political arena, members also took the industry’s message to Capitol Hill. Our lobbying focused on infrastructure initiatives, defense of contracting out, and repeal of the three percent withholding mandate. Our ACEC/Nebraska delegation spent a full day on Capitol Hill meeting with both Senators and two Representatives talking about those subjects, the impact on our industry and the ramifications to Nebraska engineering firms. Each member was asked to co-sponsor the 3% withholding mandate legislation and Congressman Terry signed on the spot! The bill was reintroduced this year (H.R. 275 and S292) and requires legislators to co-sign the new bill even if they were co-signers of the previous bill. We also discussed our concerns about the continuing stalled transportation delivery system in our state and the effect on our firms and the citizens of the state.

(Corps of Engineers continued)

Membership Committee Committee Chair: Loren Steenson

Kyle Anderson, Loren Steenson, Senator Mike Johanns and Rob Brigham

Mike McMeekin, Kyle Anderson and Congressman

Lee Terry

Rob Brigham, Senator Ben Nelson, Mike McMeekin and Loren Steenson

Loren Steenson, Congressman Adrian Smith, Kyle Anderson

and Rob Brigham

Consulting Congress Day

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The ACEC/N Political Action Committee (PAC) continued to be actively engaged despite the year falling in the middle of the major election cycle. The ACEC/N member firms continue strong support for the PAC. A total of 19 member firms and one officer contributed $13,100 to the PAC in calendar 2010, matching last year’s total numbers. This includes 11 Platinum contributors at the $1,000 annual level. The PAC trustees, consisting of a firm representative from each of the Platinum contributors, established a list of 16“ACEC/N Friends” within the Legislature as a preliminary guide to candidates that will receive future financial support. The PAC provided direct financial support for 13 candidates over the past 12 months, including candidates for the Nebraska Legislature as well as some local races of interest. The PAC held one lunch meeting this year with a Legislative candidate, and has 3 additional lunches scheduled. These candidate meetings provide member firms with an opportunity to interact face to face with Senators and engage in detailed policy discussions on issues of interest to the business of engineering. The fall elections are before us, and the PAC will continue to be engaged in the electoral process. We have a solid financial footing that will allow us to play an increasingly powerful role for the member firms of ACEC/N. By pooling our political capital, we can have a greater impact than the sum of the individual parts.

Health care reform, proposed changes in tax structure for S Corporations, transportation funding to state DOTs, funding for infrastructure projects (including water and aviation), opposed union attempts to derail competitive sourcing, card check legislation, including the expansion of QBS & uniform contracting rules in FAA reauthorization legislation are just a few of the issues that Congress debated this year that could dramatically affect the profitability of engineering firms. These federal issues have far-reaching consequences for us here in Nebraska, as well as throughout the entire industry. ACEC members have a strong voice on Capitol Hill: the ACEC Political Action Committee. ACEC/PAC is the primary weapon in our industry's political arsenal to help elect candidates that support pro-business, pro-engineering positions. Our bipartisan ACEC PAC has generously supported our Nebraska delegation. Our accessibility to Nebraska’s federal delegation both here in Nebraska and on Capitol Hill is the envy of 49 other states. Thank you to the firms who made the commitment to educate their staff on the importance of the PAC and for their contributions to the PAC. Federal election laws mandate that only individuals from firms may donate to the National PAC. My thanks to each of you who made contributions, making it possible for us to exceed our $9,822 goal by $1,398 in 2009.

ACEC/PAC Champion: Mike McMeekin

Jackie McCullough and Roger Helgoth present a PAC check to Congressman Adrian Smith

ACEC/Nebraska PAC Committee Chair: Dan Thiele

Dan Thiele, Jane Jordan, Jim Linderholm, Senator Amanda McGill, Roger Helgoth, Jackie McCullough,and Karl Fredrickson

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Neil Armstrong, John Sununu, Herbert Hoover, Lee Iacocca...each one an engineer. Each one a designer, a problem solver - just like the engineers employed by the firms of ACEC/N. Those same engineers serve as members of the Board of Directors for ACEC/N and as our Committee Chairs – representing the industry, engaged with legislators, agencies and government entities to strengthen and protect the business interests of our members. The Board of Directors, with varied experiences representing multiple disciplines, are keen to respond to the industry’s issues and concerns. As you’ll read in the annual report, the Committee Chairs have taken their charge from the Board and advanced the issues and concerns of our industry - creating and fostering strong partnerships with public agencies and advocating best business practices throughout the state enhancing the business climate for our members. We also proudly announced the most creative and innovative design projects in the state during the Engineering Excellence Awards. Congratulations to all of our firms that submitted projects and to the 2010 Grand Award Winner “The Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge” designed by HNTB. I would like to thank Jeff Elliot for his service to ACEC/N on the Board of Directors as his term on the board comes to a close. And a BIG thank you to Kyle Anderson who reprised his role as President this year to assist the organization through a leadership transition. Kyle’s commitment and service to ACEC/N is unrivaled and deeply appreciated. It has again been my honor to advocate for Nebraska’s engineering community and I look forward to representing ACEC/N and the many noteworthy engineers employed by our members. Jackie McCullough Executive Director, ACEC/Nebraska

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S LETTER

Jackie McCullough Executive Director ACEC/Nebraska

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Cornhusker Plaza 301 S. 13th Street, Suite 101

Lincoln, NE 68508 P:402.476.2572 F.402.476.9850

www.acecnebraska.org

OUR MISSION:

“Improving the quality of life in Nebraska by strengthening the business environment for and image of

the engineering profession.”