12/20/2018

Professional Finance Forum a Success!

Learn what our Committees are actively working on

Finance Forum:

ACEC Ohio hosted our first Finance Forum on Tuesday, December 3 from 10:00AM-1:00PM at our office space.Through ACEC Ohio’s Finance Forum, finance professionals were connected to a network of peers in an informal, roundtable setting. Participants shared best practices, discussed problems and solutions, gained valuable insights into industry trends and networked with each other. 

The topics of discussion included: AASHTO & FAR Update, Internal Controls, Risk Management, New Section 199A Pass-Through Tax Deduction, General Tax, ESOPs and Other Ownership Transition Options/Evaluation.

Our facilitators for the forum included a couple of our affiliate members: Jason Bainter with Somerset CPAs and Becky Carlson with TWO CPAs & Consultants, Inc. We had fifteen participants representing fourteen different ACEC Ohio member firms.

Overall, based off of the post survey sent to participants, they found the forum valuable. One individual stated, “I appreciate the opportunity to offer suggestions for the agenda. Good guests/speakers. Very knowledgeable”. Another participant stated, “Thanks for creating the collaborative environment for us Finance focused individuals! Great idea!”.

With the successes of the HR and Finance Forum, an additional forum for IT professionals is being planned. More communication on this forum to follow!

Communication: The committee reviewed the recent Communication/website audit outlining what is performing well and where there are areas of opportunity for ACEC Ohio’s website and social medias. The Engineering Excellence Awards subcommittee was identified and is set to meet in January. Lastly, the committee reviewed the member survey results to ensure the Council’s goals are aligned with member needs. The committee will meet again February 1^, 2019.

Government Affairs: The Government Affairs committee met briefly to report updates regarding the current Lame Duck Session, committee work plan, ODOT transition document, Transportation Funding Coalition and PAC. Their next meeting is scheduled for February 8, 2019 as their quarterly in person meeting at ACEC Ohio.

Member Services: The Member Services committee met and reviewed updates on the member firm target list created to analyze successes and failures on outreach to firms and discussed a more efficient approach. The target list includes firms that are ACEC National members, but not ACEC Ohio members, Life/Health Trust members, firms that have won ODOT work and DBE firms. The committee also reviewed tiered affiliate membership options that other states provide. After reviewing, the committee collectively decided to stay with the flat rate of $525 for affiliate membership. Lastly, they discussed efficient recruitment tools for MEP and DBE firms. The committee will meet again on Monday, February 4, 2019.

PAC Trustee’s: The PAC Trustee’s recently discussed current PAC standings and reviewed this PAC year as a whole. They elected to continue regional PAC events and will be hosting an Appreciation Event to celebrate member firms that have met their goals and the employees that contributed on January 11th. The 2019 PAC Kick-off event is in the planning stages and scheduled for February 7^, 2019. All members will receive their 2019 PAC asks in January along with a newly created Annual PAC Report recapping 2018. 

QBS Task Force: The Task Force reviewed their current work plan and set  small group assignments to meet with outside organizations and the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. A calendar of statewide conferences is being drafted in order to assign committee members to create abstracts regarding QBS that can be presented at each conference to raise awareness and educate all those in the industry as well as potential clients. Lastly, the Task Force discussed adding an annual QBS award that would be included as part of the Engineering Excellence Awards and would be awarded to two clients, one in the private sector and one in the public sector.

State Public Works: The State Public Works committee discussed how to get more vertical construction (MEP and Structural) Engineering firms involved in ACEC Ohio. They discussed a more direct marketing piece to attract these firms and are in the process of creating a one pager tailored specifically to attract MEP firms. This sub-committee is preparing the Ohio white paper on public works projects, based on ACEC Texas documentation. The revision of the document has been assigned to individuals on the committee and the first draft was due December 1, 2018. The ACEC/AIA OFCC Liaison meeting was Wednesday, December 19, 2018. The State Public Works committee plans to meet again on Thursday, March 7, 2019.

Transportation: Members of the Transportation committee drafted a Transition document that was presented to the new gubernatorial transition team. The document highlights areas ACEC Ohio members feel ODOT is functioning well and where they see areas that need improvement. Committee members also participated in an AV/CV stakeholder meeting and offered comments on the just released-- Ohio House AV-CV report. The next meeting is scheduled for February 7, 2019.