"Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness." 
- Frank Tyger
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
By  Kurt M. Evans, PE, FITE, FACEC
IT'S BEEN A GREAT YEAR!
This year has brought me much happiness and joy in working with a great group of people on the ACEC of Louisiana Board of Governors. As we close out the ACEC of Louisiana (ACECL) 2017-2018 year, I would like to highlight the achievements of your ACECL .

Educational Programs for the Year

Project Outlook, Critical Issues Summit, ACEC National Annual Convention , ACEC Deep South Convention, ACEC National Fall Conference, Emerging Leaders Institute, Business Forum, Social Media Updates, Newsletters, Monthly President Message

Implementation of Strategic Plan Goals
  1. Increase Membership Growth:
    • We were able to sustain membership at about 150 member firms with approximately 4170 total employees in Louisiana. The investment of adding value to ACECL membership and an expanded PR campaign will increase membership as we move forward.
  2. Be Recognized as the Voice and Advocate of the Engineering Business Community:
    • Represented our members in working with LDOTD on contracting, overhead rates, audits, and program funding.
    • Represented members at the Legislature with the CMAR bill, public employee bill, and the fire marshal information bill.
    • Represented members in working with architects in defining "architectural incidental" which helps to clearly define the responsibilities of architects and engineers working together on a common project. Our goal is to protect the life, health, property and welfare of the public.
    • Energized the PR committee with a robust social media focus, news articles, monthly president message, and membership spotlight.
  3. Become Recognized by all Engineering Companies as the Primary Source of Business Practices:
    • ACECL provided the first Business Forum with National speakers and Round Table discussion focused on business education for engineering firms.
  4. Maintain a Highly Effective Board and Committee Structure:
    • ACECL performed a thorough review and update of the ACECL bylaws which were completed and adopted. The new bylaws can be found on the website. The titles of the executive committee and the executive director were changed to match those of the ACEC National. We will be using the title of Chairman of the Board and the executive committee will follow suit with Chairman Elect, Vice Chairman, and Secretary-Treasurer. The executive director will now be titled as the CEO/ President of ACECL.
    • In the review of the bylaws, the five standing committees were maintained as membership, continuing education, public relations, legislative, and client liaison. Changes were made to the structure of the subcommittees under the client liaison committee. Five subcommittees were established as Transportation, Water Resources, Facilities, LES/LAPELS, AGC/ AIA.
  5. Enhance the Financial Strength of ACECL
    • ACECL has changed banks to save expenses and achieve better returns on the financial accounts. We're working on developing additional revenue generating events which will add value to your membership.
Increased Member Engagement through Committee Involvement

ACECL appointedCommittee Chairs who are not Board Members and were asked to attend a Board meeting for presentation on their committees' plans for the year and status updates periodically. I would like to thank those committee chairs and the committee members for your hard work over the past year. The non-board committee chairs were:
    • Legislative Committee Chairperson, Bryan Jones, HNTB
    • Public Relations Chairperson, Fannie Bennett, Buchart Horn
    • Water Resources Chairperson, Rob Delaune, Digital Engineering
    • Transportation Chairpersons, John Basilica, HNTB and Tom Hunter, AECOM
I would like to thank Mr. Dan Mobley, Ms. Janet Tomeny, and Ms. Haleigh Gray at the ACECL office for their continuous hard work and support on making ACECL a success.

I would like to welcome our first Chairman of the Board of Governors, Mr. Raymond Reaux, and our first CEO/President, Mr. Dan Mobley, in accordance with the recent bylaw revisions. I look forward to working hard to support our membership and the Board in the 2018-2019 year.
2018 ACEC DEEP SOUTH CONFERENCE
Interested in learning more about the "business of engineering"? Click here to register online and join us at the upcoming the ACEC Deep South Conference July 26 - 28, 2018 in Destin, Florida. 

I look forward to seeing you there.