I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, and I wish you and your families a very happy and successful New Year! With the New Year just days away, it seems fitting to introduce myself to ACEC/L membership as your new President and CEO. But before talking about myself (which I don’t like doing), I must extend my sincere gratitude to the ACEC/L Board of Governors for providing me this opportunity and entrusting me to lead this organization into its bright future. I do not take this responsibility lightly.

To follow a brilliant worker and leader like Doreen, and to know the incredible work she has done for ACEC/L and the business of engineering over the last several years, is exciting, humbling and a bit terrifying, if I am being honest. That said, with the help of awesome staff in Janet and Haleigh, the leadership of your Board of Governors, our membership and partner organizations, I have every resource I need to hit the ground running and get to work for each and every one of you.

Instead of boring you all with trivial information about where I am from, where I went to college or what my hobbies are, I hope to tell you a lot about who I am by telling you a little about another man, the legacy he left behind and how it has guided me to where I am today. As the old cliché goes, you can't know where you are going until you know where you (or your great-grandfather) have been.

Pictured below is the general store my great-grandfather, Atwood Barker, opened in the 1930’s at an intersection (no roundabout needed then) in rural St. Tammany Parish. Anyone familiar with the area and the rough economic times of the day can understand that the early years of the business weren’t exactly booming.

Faced with a bevy of uncertainty and struggling to provide for his young family (who lived in the back of the store), Atwood had what some called “a twin stroke of generosity and genius.” Acquiring hundreds of acres in property through the form of currency for goods sold at the store and knowing the parish public school system was looking to build a new school somewhere north of Covington, he donated 10 acres adjacent to the general store for the school system to build a K thru 8^th grade school that remains there today. Recognizing an opportunity to increase access to education for his community but to also rapidly expand his customer base, this act increased traffic past the store and even allowed school children to drop off their parents’ grocery lists during their lunch break which Atwood would have ready for to pick up at the dismissal bell. Fast forward almost 90 years, the area, now known as Barker’s Corner, is home to a growing community that is in desperate need of a roundabout.

Like so many of us, the legacies we are building in both our personal and professional lives are continuations of someone else’s. Though I never met the man, Atwood Barker’s story is my story and serves as my own personal reminder how businesses and the communities they serve can benefit greatly from one another when quality partnerships are purposefully developed between the two. I believe ACEC/L can serve as the model for how such partnerships sustain and protect communities, foster economic growth, enhance quality of life and create professional opportunities through work force development.

In addition to continuing the great work led by my predecessors and the Board of Governors, it is my vision to see ACEC/L and our members build upon the momentum the industry is experiencing by looking for ways to develop our own “twin stroke of generosity and genius.” Let us not get complacent in the successes of the past or present, but let’s build (literally and figuratively) upon those to simultaneously improve your communities and grow our businesses.

Again, it is my absolute honor to serve ACEC/L as your new President and CEO, and I am looking forward to meeting you all soon. If you need anything in the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach me at bdirmann@acecl.org or 985-630-4696.

After the first of the year, ACEC National will be working closely with ACEC/L to schedule meeting(s) with Senator John Kennedy and his staff considering he is a member of two very important committees as mentioned above.

STATE:

TO ENSURE YOUR COMPANY WILL BE PROPERLY REPRESENTED PAYMENT IS DUE 30 days upon receipt of invoice. Deadline to be included on banner signage is January 15, 2022.

Contact: jtomeny@acecl.org or call (225) 927-7704

Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn located in New Orleans provides legal counsel to engineers in transactional and litigation matters. In addition, the firm represents design, management, and other construction industry professionals in professional liability matters. Our professional liability practice includes the assessment and procurement of insurance coverage, lien and bond issues related to construction projects, insurance coverage disputes, and professional liability litigation. For more information, please contact Dan Caruso at danc@spsr-law.com.  

ACEC of Louisiana | 225.927.7704 | bdirmann@acecl.org | www.acecl.org