Proud Grandpa moment! Please reach out to NACM Southwest team member, DANA WEBSTER, CGA with congratulations: In 2021 his two grandsons won the Texas Fiddle Championship as Texas Champions in their age category...and recently Tristan (only 10 years old!) won the 12 and under National Championship at the Old Time Fiddler Competition while big brother, Thomas (13) finished in a very respectable third place in his 15 and under division. 

In addition to grandson celebrations, congratulations and a big party are in order for DANA WEBSTER, CGA (NACM Southwest – Oklahoma Region) and his lovely wife, BARB, who will celebrate their 50^th wedding anniversary on August 7^th. Here’s to another 50, Dana & Barb!

It’s anniversary season! ABBY ODNEAL, CAE (NACM Southwest President) and her husband, CURT, are celebrating their 30 year anniversary. Best wishes for many more to come, Abby & Curt!

·   Big high-five to our individual members (and the member companies that supported them!) that gathered in Austin to speak to the legislative committee. 

·   Much appreciation to NACM Southwest members for financially supporting the hiring of our lobbyist, Burt Solomons.

·   Huge thanks to Randall Lindley (Bell, Nunnally & Martin, LLP) and his associate Perrin Fourmy for their unwavering efforts to ensure that the proposed bill fully protected the interests of NACM Southwest members as it made its way through the legislative process. 

·   A shout-out to Sean Rooney (JD Herberger & Associates), Rebecca Hicks (Hicks Law Group), Jason Walker and his associate Katie Baird (Andrews Myers), who stepped up with analysis, member education, and support. 

·   Eliminating the “2nd Month Notice Letter” requirement for suppliers and subcontractors, but expressly     permitting suppliers and subcontractors to send a notice of nonpayment to the original contractor (ie, the General Contractor), of a past due invoice.

·   Shortening the statute of limitations to file suit to foreclose a lien from 2 years to 1 year.

·   Extending lien and notice deadlines that fall on a weekend or holiday to the next business day.

·   Expressly providing lien rights to design professionals and equipment rental companies.

·   Providing a standard form for notice letters, similar to the standard forms already in Chapter 53 for lien waivers.

·   Eliminating Section 53.083, “Payment to Claimant on Demand,” which required an owner to pay any claim not disputed by an original contractor within 30 days after the original contractor received a copy of a claimant’s payment demand to the owner.

More CEOs anticipate an economic boom (60%) rather than stagnation (40%) in 2021 and 2022, according to a recent survey of CEOs and senior executives by Gartner, Inc., a research and advisory company. Most respondents (35%) anticipate returning to or exceeding 2019 revenue levels as early as this year.

More than half of the respondents identified growth as their primary focus, followed by technological change and corporate action.

The annual Gartner 2021 CEO Survey was conducted between July 2020 to December 2020 among 465 actively employed CEOs and other senior business executives in North America, EMEA and APAC across different industries, revenue and company sizes.

Technology-related change was the second-highest priority for CEOs. When asked about their organization’s top five strategic business priorities for the next two years, respondents gave answers in their own words. CEOs’ responses increasingly included the simple word “digital,” cited by one in five CEOs in this year’s survey. The digital capabilities category was also the only category in which CEOs intended to increase investment in 2021.

When it comes to specific technologies, CEOs see artificial intelligence (AI) as the most industry-impactful technology. Over 30% of respondents said that quantum computing will be highly relevant to their long-range business plans but are still not quite sure how.

Blockchain, 5G, AI and quantum computing are at the forefront of an emerging economic race between the U.S. and China, with one-third of CEOs believing that evolving trade disputes between the two nations over these technologies are a significant concern for their businesses.

Within CEOs’ third strategic business priority of “corporate action,” mergers and acquisitions were the most mentioned item, rising 75% year over year. This shows that CEOs and senior executives seeking advantage from a cyclical downturn are going shopping for structural inorganic growth.

There was a significant reduction in mentions of “sales revenue” within the growth priority category and a significant increase in mentions of “new markets” across different industries and company sizes, suggesting that CEOs are finding it hard to obtain simple incremental sales revenue growth using the strategies that have served them well in the past.

Over 80% of CEOs expect enduring societal behavior change arising from the pandemic, such as a permanent shift to hybrid work. Shifts in customer behavior are expected as well: The biggest concern among CEOs is that customer demand will be constrained, particularly in industries such as travel, and that consumers and chief financial officers (CFOs) alike will hold back on related expenditures.

As key matters of sustainability and social justice rise to the foreground of public consciousness in many countries, 39% of CEOs said that taking an active social justice stance is good for business and that their employees are mostly of one mind. This leaves 61% who are tentative around such subjects – the majority are still not confident and comfortable navigating the business through this area of change. In addition, nearly half of CEOs (45%) said climate change mitigation is having a significant impact on their businesses.