 |
|
 |
 |
|
News | |
|
SC Council of Engineering and Surveying Societies is Taking Applications for Seat on SC State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors Each engineering and surveying member of the Registration Board must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of South Carolina, must be licensed in this state, must have been engaged in the practice of engineering or surveying in this state for at least twelve (12) years, and must have been in responsible charge of important engineering or surveying work for at least five (5) years. Responsible charge of teaching engineering may be construed as responsible charge of engineering work. The primary responsibility of board members is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public of South Carolina. The South Carolina Council of Engineering and Surveying Societies is charged, by law, to make recommendations to the Governor from which he must appoint engineers and surveyors to the Registration Board. The South Carolina Council of Engineering and Surveying Societies is accepting letters of application from Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors who meet the state’s minimum requirements that wish to be considered for the two (2) Registration Board positions. It should be noted that the two (2) incumbents (Ms. Theresa Hodge, PE and Mr. Gene Dinkins, PE/PLS) have requested that they be reappointed to their respective seats for another term. The deadline for applications is August 31, 2010. The following information should be included in interested engineers’ and surveyors’ letters of applications: education and collegiate achievements, engineering/surveying achievements, professional and technical society activities, civic and humanitarian activities, continuing competence, professional experience, general personal data, and references. Send applications with the above information to the South Carolina Council of Engineering and Surveying Societies, c/o Jones, McAden & Associates, P.O. Box 11937, Columbia, SC 29211-1937. State Chamber of Commerce Holds Grassroots Meetings Throughout State The annual meetings began in Columbia for the Midlands Aug. 3 and followed quickly in Florence for the Pee Dee area on Aug. 5. Local and State Chamber staff made opening remarks and then asked participants to for input. Joe Jones, ACEC-SC and SCSPE Executive Director attended the Midlands meeting and told chamber leaders tort reform and infrastructure funding must be on the legislative agenda when the next legislative session begins. He said public funding may be extremely tight next year, but legislators cannot forget about the state’s roads and bridges that are deteriorating which need attention which takes money. Also, local water and waste water facilities are aging, need repair and upgrading. Others in the audience added concern for the technical school system, real estate tax reform, workers’ compensation reform and the lack of funding for the state’s colleges and universities. Eight more grassroots meetings are planned throughout the state. You are urged to attend these meetings and tell the leadership the issues that are on your mind that affect you, your profession and your business. Click on the link for the meeting in your area; you can register on line if you wish to attend. August 10: Charleston August 12: I-85 August 18: Hilton Head/Beaufort August 19: Orangeburg August 25: York August 26: Grand Strand August 31: Savannah River September 2: Piedmont Design and Construction Industries Organize Candidates’ Forum The forum will be in mid September in the Columbia area. Along with the candidate presentations a barbeque meal is planned. The forum can be successful only if engineers, architects and contractors turn out in large numbers to show these candidates the industry is truly interested in what they have to say and what positions they are going to take on our issues. Among the issues the candidates are going to be asked to give their positions are tort reform, qualification based selection (QBS), a bond bill, workers’ compensation, sustainable design, infrastructure funding, alternative delivery methods, tax reform, extracting registration boards from the SC Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation, and stock school plans. A professional moderator will lead the forum, and he will ask candidates questions and instruct them on the time they have to respond. The audience also will be able to ask the candidates questions. Ultimate Fate of SC Budget and Control Board Still Unknown The engineering community was concerned with three BCB responsibilities: the State Engineer’s Office, the grant program for small cities and towns water and waste water construction and the geodetic survey. The BCB instructed its staff to meet with the governor to see if the funding situation could be resolved. In July Joe Jones, ACEC-SC and SCSPE Executive Director, wrote Governor Sanford informing him of the engineers’ concern for these programs and asked him to continue these areas. No word has come from the government on the fate of the entire agency or those programs engineers’ identified as important to them. ACEC-SC/SCDOT Annual Meeting Set for October 27 at Seawell’s in Columbia This year’s meeting should be as interesting and informative as the ones in the past. Exhibitors have already begun signing up for the meeting. This year attendees will be able to register on line and pay with credit cards. The program includes briefing sessions by DOT and FHWA officials as well as sessions relevant to the transportation industry. PBSJ Merges with Atkins, a United Kingdom Engineering Firm PBSJ is employee owned and one of America’s leading providers of engineering, planning, architecture, construction environmental and program management services with approximately 3,500 people. The selling price was $280 million. Robert Paulsen, chairman, CEO and president of PBSJ, said: “We are excited to be joining Atkins which provides an excellent cultural fit for our business and a great opportunity to further develop our offering. We are both focused on engineering excellence and share a clear vision to become one of the world’s best infrastructure consultancies. Atkins is a well regarded organization and we look forward to continuing to drive high standards of work with our clients as part of an enlarged world class engineering consultancy.” According to an Atkins news release, the company said the combination of Atkins and PBSJ represents an important step in Atkins’ multi-skill, multi-local strategy and further expands its geographic footprint. The Acquisition delivers the following benefits for Atkins’ shareholders and clients: balances Atkins’ geographic presence, deepens the Group’s technical skills in established sectors, provides a strong platform for growth and delivers attractive financial returns. PBSJ has an office in Columbia, SC. The 2011 Conference committee is meeting soon to start planning education seminars, activities, and another great conference. So mark your calendar and make sure you don’t miss the 2011 SC Engineering Conference and Tradeshow June 9-12, 2011 at the Hilton Head Marriott. Jones Reports to ACEC Executive Committee on Status of State Organizations Due to the economy, almost half of the ACEC state member organizations said they had significantly changes their 2010- 2011 budget expecting less dues revenue. Furthermore, about 20 percent said the member organizations had reduced services and cut programs with one it had furloughed employees and others said they had cut staff and officer travel. When asked if the member organization executive directors expected any positive trends for their states, they responded: bright membership prospects, rebound in firm employees, member involvement, and improved ROI for members. The states that responded said their biggest challenges this year were membership, keeping members involved, funding for public works, the economy and QBS. Mr. Jones concluded his report: “I believe the member organizations are expecting things to look up as only six states raised member dues and few had to cut services or programs. Therefore, I think most states do not see too many dark clouds on the horizon.” Mr. Jones is the president of the National Association of Engineering Council Executives, and in that position, he serves on the ACEC Executive Committee for a year. He is serving with M.L. Love, PE, FACEC who is serving a two year term. He and Mr. Love are the first South Carolinians to serve on the ACEC Executive Committee.
The American Council of Engineering of South Carolina is a member of organization of the ACEC-SC Reports is published for members firms and friends by
|
|
|
|
"What we do is all around you."
We would like to thank our sponsors and exhibitors: Silver Sponsor Bronze Sponsors
Mid-Morning Break Sponsor Golf Lunch Sponsor Exhibitors
August 13 October 7 October 10 October 19–22 October 27 October 29 & 30 November 4 November - TBA November 19 December 2 December 10 December 15 December 17 January 6 January 7 January 25 February 3 February 8 February 11 February 20-26 February 23 March 17-21 April - TBA April - TBA April 8 & 9 May 5 May - TBA May 18 June 1 June 9-12 June 9 June 11
We would like to thank those that have committed to participate in this year's annual meeting as an exhibitor or sponsor. Bronze Trade Show Exhibitors
ACEC-SC would like to thank our members for your continued support. For membership information contact Ginger Booker at ginger@jma-associations.com. The mission of ACEC-SC is to promote and protect the business interests and professional standards of engineers in the state of South Carolina; and to improve member firms' ability to profitably provide quality services to their clients. ACEC-SC is an Organization of more than 80 Engineering firms employing more than 4,000 individuals. Membership Information
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|