The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) California region held it's annual Conference this week in Sacramento, combining the Conference, Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet and Legislative Visit Day into one issues-packed week.
The Conference, with the theme Back in Black: Paving the Road to Economic Recovery kicked off on Monday morning with the General Session breakfast and an inspiring keynote speech by U. S. Senate Candidate Carly Fiorina. At lunch we were given an overview of the California Forward's principles and plans for pursuing nonpartisan government reform by Jim Mayer, the Executive Director of California Forward.
The roundtable discussion, breakout sessions and panel topics included GIS, Water, Transportation, Healthcare, Labor Law and Marketing.
The hallmark of the Conference is always the outstanding networking opportunities, timely topics and interesting speakers. The staff of ACEC, led by Jenny Devine, routinely does an exceptional job organizing and putting on these events.
Converse Consultants is an active member of ACEC CA and several of our senior staff and principals are members of various committees.
A nationwide coalition is undertaking the task of repairing, restoring and, in some cases, saving the Great Waters of our nation.
The America's Great Waters Coalition is an alliance of more than 30 national, regional, state, and local organizations working to protect, preserve, and restore America's Great Waters, which include, but are not limited to, the Chesapeake Bay, Coastal Louisiana, the Everglades, Great Lakes, Gulf of Maine, Long Island Sound, Mississippi River, Puget Sound, San Francisco/Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
The goals of the America's Great Waters Coalition are to:
- Make the restoration of our country's great waters a national priority
- Secure sustainable dedicated funding for restoration
- Enact and ensure sound implementation of restoration projects
According to Jennifer S. Vey, fellow, Brookings Institution in this article in Waterworld, "Research has found that cleaning up the Great Lakes and its waterways -- by improving water and sewer infrastructure, restoring and preserving wetlands and coastal habitats, and cleaning up toxic areas -- would create jobs and inject billions of dollars into the regional economy....This indicates that directing public investments toward improving the health of all of the nation's Great Waters -- from the Chesapeake to the San Francisco Bay -- simply makes good economic sense."
A complete list of coalition members can be found here.
See the full size map here.
This effort can result in a widespread investment in our national infrastructure which, in turn, can give a boost to the A/E/C industry. The water/wastewater treatment plants, surface and groundwater resource management and transportation systems in our country can be upgraded to be more efficient and ecologically sound.
Converse Consultants is ready to assist in this effort to improve our Great Waters and our infrastructure.