The $787 Billion Economic Stimulus Package and the Outlook for A/E Firms
If you are the leader of an architecture, engineering, or environmental consulting firm hoping to benefit from infrastructure or “green” projects, programs to upgrade educational facilities, or business tax incentives resulting from the package, you need to know what, when, where and how funds might be dispersed. The ZweigWhite A/E Industry Briefing Webinar Series features interviews via webinar with government officials, representatives from professional associations, industry economists, public policy, financial and legal experts, and leaders from A/E firms actively involved in public projects. Seven 90-minute sessions provide listeners with new details about the Economic Stimulus Package and a different perspective on the outlook for the A/E industry with particular emphasis on infrastructure prospects and other public/private partnerships. The webinars will give listeners valuable insight into where money will be spent and how to be part of it.
Purchase a single session CD for $195 or the entire series at a discounted rate of $750.
The $787 Billion Economic Stimulus Package and the Outlook for A/E Firms
If you are the leader of an architecture, engineering, or environmental consulting firm hoping to benefit from infrastructure or “green” projects, programs to upgrade educational facilities, or business tax incentives resulting from the package, you need to know what, when, where and how funds might be dispersed. The ZweigWhite A/E Industry Briefing Webinar Series features interviews via webinar with government officials, representatives from professional associations, industry economists, public policy, financial and legal experts, and leaders from A/E firms actively involved in public projects. Seven 90-minute sessions provide listeners with new details about the Economic Stimulus Package and a different perspective on the outlook for the A/E industry with particular emphasis on infrastructure prospects and other public/private partnerships. The webinars will give listeners valuable insight into where money will be spent and how to be part of it.
Purchase a single session CD for $195 or the entire series at a discounted rate of $750.
Overview: Recorded March 5, 2009 The Washington, DC law firm, Arent Fox, has been conducting an ongoing and in-depth analysis of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (economic stimulus bill), broken down by industry sectors. In this introductory session, partners from the firm James Frankel, Craig Engle and Dan Renberg present an overview of the bill with particular emphasis on the prospects for project funding and any tax incentives that will have a direct impact on architecture, engineering and environmental consulting firms in the U.S. including new grant programs, regulatory standards, tax regulations and related agency actions.
Part 1: Recorded March 10, 2009 The featured guest speaker was Gary LaGrange. As the Chief Executive of one of the largest port authorities in the U.S. (the Port of New Orleans), LaGrange has been actively following the progress of the economic stimulus bill and lobbying for increased funding of infrastructure projects.
Part 2: Recorded March 19, 2009 Featured guest speaker: D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE President, Klotz Associates, 2009 President, American Society of Civil Engineers. Since becoming the National President of ASCE, Wayne Klotz has led the discussion on more infrastructure funding. Recently, ASCE released a report card on America’s infrastructure—an assessment by professional engineers of the nation's status in 15 categories of infrastructure—and estimates the nation stands at a D average. Deteriorating conditions and inflation have added hundreds of billions to the total cost of repairs and needed upgrades. ASCE continues to take an active role to promote the value of infrastructure in an economic stimulus and has published Five Key Solutions for raising the grades. In this session, Wayne Klotz describes efforts to engage civil engineers in the infrastructure initiative and specifically how firms can participate in and benefit from the current focus.
Part 3: Recorded March 24, 2009 Featured guest speaker: Kurt Ubbelohde, Vice President, Director of Federal Programs, Leo A. Daly. As one of the 10 largest architecture, engineering, planning, and interior design firms in the United States, Leo A Daly is a leader in the design of the built environment. The Federal Market represents a significant portion of their business and, with all that is happening, that portion will likely grow. Like most of the AEC industry, they want to position the firm to benefit from the impending infrastructure investment programs. They have been focusing considerable attention on the stimulus program and have developed strategies and action plans that they feel will best serve the firm’s interests. In this session, Kurt Ubbelohde shares insights on what his firm is doing toward that end.
Part 4: Recorded March 26, 2009 Featured guest speaker: Scott Brenner, Consultant, Governmental Affairs and Public Policy, Akerman Senterfitt. In this session, Scott Brenner discusses the amount of money coming down the pike; which includes the stimulus bill, the omnibus spending package, the next budget the President will unveil and the highway and aviation reauthorization packages that Congress will debate over the next two years. In addition, Scott describes how the FAA and the FHWA plan to get their monies out the door under the congressional mandated timeline.
Part 5: Recorded April 22, 2009
Featured guest speaker: Frank M. Rapoport, Senior Partner, McKenna, Long & Aldridge, LLP. The Obama stimulus package was signed into law on February 16, 2009, bringing with it the promise of an array of new projects devoted to the rehabilitation and creation of transportation infrastructure and the creation of 3.5 million new jobs. However, there are certain elements of the package that remain unclear and many of the questions raised during the vetting process have now spiraled into sharp questions requiring strategic answers. This webinar session provides an analysis of the package and how it might signal future opportunities for both the public and private sectors.
Part 6: Recorded April 23, 2009 Featured guest speaker: Kermit Baker, Chief Economist, AIA. Kermit Baker is a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, and is also the Chief Economist for the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C. In this capacity he analyzes business and construction trends for the U.S. economy, and examines their impact on AIA members and the architectural profession. As the guest speaker in this session, Kermit Baker addresses the connections between the stimulus bill provisions, bank lending standards, and new project activity.
Moderators for the sessions include Ian Rusk, President and CEO, ZweigWhite, and Craig Engle and Dan Renberg, partners, Arent Fox.
ZweigWhite is registered with the AIA Continuing Education System (AIA/CES) and is committed to developing quality learning activities in accordance with CES criteria.
James E. Frankel is a senior partner in the Construction Practice Group at the national law firm of ArentFox. His practice is focused on creating top line revenue growth for the firm's A/E clients. He has focused his firm's Government Relations Practice on the needs of the A/E as it relates to the Stimulus Package. In addition, his work focuses on front-end project structuring, transactional documentation and contentious dispute resolution within the owner, architect, engineering and construction communities. James also provides intermediary as well as business advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions structuring, within the architect, engineering and construction arena. He and his team also act as SEC counsel to publicly-traded A/E firms.
Craig Engle joined Arent Fox’s government relations practice after a distinguished career on Capitol Hill. He has extensive experience advising Bar Associations, law firms, ideological groups, and corporations on legal, legislative, political and communications issues. In 2003, Craig was chosen by 14 state governments to author a Supreme Court amicus brief in the controversial McCain-Feingold litigation. Craig serves as the firm’s PAC Director and Treasurer. Craig’s clients include a broad range of Fortune 500 companies, which regularly face complex political or regulatory issues, and numerous political organizations, party committees, and associations.
Dan Renberg is a partner at Arent Fox, where he co-manages the Government Relations Department. A former Executive Branch presidential appointee and former Deputy Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, Dan spent eight years in the federal government working on a wide variety of issues, including transportation infrastructure (rail, aviation, transit, maglev), water projects, and other matters of interest to architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms. At Arent Fox, Dan represents corporate clients, trade associations and nonprofit organizations on legislative matters, including securing federal appropriations, and assisting clients in resolving issues before executive branch agencies. Most recently, Dan has advised clients on the contents of and implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (economic stimulus legislation) and has worked with his colleagues on issues related to the TARP.
Gary P. LaGrange Since 2001, Gary LaGrange has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Port of New Orleans. He led the efforts to quickly restore commerce at the Port two weeks after Hurricane Katrina, the biggest natural disaster in U.S. history. LaGrange has also worked to expand the Port, completing work on new facilities to handle container ships, refrigerated cargo ships and cruise ships. LaGrange is the chairman of the National Waterways Conference and a former chairman of the American Association of Port Authorities, as well as other state, regional and national port and maritime associations. LaGrange was also named to the International Maritime Hall of Fame at the United Nations Building and also named to the National River Hall of Fame in Dubuque, Iowa. LaGrange’s previous experience as a port director includes posts at the Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport, the Port of South Louisiana and the Port of West St. Mary (Louisiana).
D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE
D. Wayne Klotz, P.E. is President of Klotz Associates, Inc., a full service civil engineering firm based in Houston, Texas. His 34-year career began with a BSCE from Texas A&M University in 1974 and an MSCE from the University of Houston in 1976. He is a licensed professional engineer in Texas and Louisiana. Mr. Klotz is on the Board of Directors of the Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District. He has served as Officer for ASCE, HCEC, CEC-T Harris County Flood Control Task Force, the C Club, and the University of Houston and the Texas A&M Civil Engineering Advisory Boards. He started the Klotz Associates Endowed Scholarship in Civil Engineering at both universities. Among his awards are the ASCE National 2005 Edmund Friedman Professional Recognition Award and the 2004 Texas A&M Distinguished Graduate of the Department of Civil Engineering. He has also been awarded the Texas Section and Houston Branch ASCE Awards of Honor. The American Water Works Association awarded him a Life Membership for his more than 30 years of dedication to AWWA and the water profession.
Kurt Ubbelohde, Vice President, Director of Federal Programs, Leo A. Daly
Kurt Ubbelohde is Vice President and Corporate Director of Federal Programs for LEO A DALY, an internationally recognized, award-winning architecture, planning, engineering, and interior design firm. In the three years he has been with the firm, Kurt has provided strategic leadership to DALY’s Federal Programs, helping to position the firm as a leader in providing integrated design services to Federal clients. A graduate of the United States Military Academy, with advanced degrees in Physics and Strategic Studies, and more than 26 years of active military service in the US Army Corps of Engineers, Kurt has extensive experience in leading design and construction organizations. Kurt is a Fellow of the Society of American Military Engineers.
Scott Brenner, Consultant, Governmental Affairs and Public Policy, Akerman Senterfitt Scott Brenner has more than 15 years of experience on Capitol Hill, more recently with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he was chief of external affairs for the Science and Technology Directorate, and with the U.S. Department of Transportation, where he served in a similar capacity. For the last two years, Mr. Brenner served in Washington as a public policy consultant with O'Neill Associates. Mr. Brenner has broad, public and private sector experience in identification, coordination, development and analysis of legislative and policy issues, and has established important, non-partisan relationships with key members of Congress, their staffs, the mass media and other prominent participants in the nation's domestic security network. Additional positions Mr. Brenner has held include postings with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means.
Frank M. Rapoport, Senior Partner, McKenna, Long & Aldridge, LLP
Frank M. Rapoport is widely regarded for his ability to strategize and implement profitable business initiatives for clients in the transportation, real estate development, construction, design and engineering, defense and aerospace, security, life sciences, healthcare and IT, and government services industries. His team at McKenna Long & Aldridge includes specialists in U.S. and international government contracting, government affairs at all levels, and seasoned business and economic advisors with years of transportation, infrastructure and privatization experiences, both domestic and internationally. Mr. Rapoport’s business acumen is sharpened by his many years of “big ticket” litigation where he represented contractors in all phases of large government-funded infrastructure projects. He routinely counsels companies on bid protests, debarment and suspension, defective pricing, procurement fraud and voluntary disclosure, change order claims, differing site condition claims, government-caused delay claims, convenience and default termination claims, breach of contract claims, subcontractor claims, business and minority issues, joint venturing, privatization, and marketing to the federal, state, and local government. Mr. Rapoport served for five years as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC, concentrating his practice in the area of federal government contracts and litigation.
Kermit Baker, Chief Economist, AIA
Kermit Baker is a Senior Research Fellow at HarvardUniversity's JointCenter for Housing Studies, and is the Project Director of the Remodeling Futures Program. This research effort, which began in 1995, is the first comprehensive analysis of U.S. remodeling activity ever undertaken by the JointCenter. Its goal is to develop an improved understanding of the dynamics of the U.S. repair and renovation industry so that businesses can better take advantage of the opportunities that this market offers. Baker is also the Chief Economist for the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C. In this capacity he analyzes business and construction trends for the U.S. economy, and examines their impact on AIA members and the architectural profession. Prior to joining the JointCenter, Baker was vice-president and director of the economics department at Reed Business Information where he was responsible for industry forecasting. During his 10 years at Reed he developed the Top U.S. Construction Market Report, and served as editor of the Reed Business Information's Construction Market Forecast newsletter. Baker received his master's degree in urban planning from HarvardUniversity, and holds a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the same field.
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