This message was sent to ##Email## January 29, 2020 Vol. 49 No. 46          Home  |   About Us  |   Membership  |   Resources  |   Events  |   Contact Us Subscribe  |   Archive    GBA NEWS 2020 Spring Conference Registration is LIVE GBA Please join us as we gather in sunny Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for our annual Spring Conference at the Marriott Sawgrass Golf Resort and Spa. RESILIENCE: Preparing for the Next Downturn – Many economists are forecasting a downturn, if not a full-blown recession, over the next 12-24 months. We have seen one of the longest expansionary phases in recent history and our members have flourished, but there are several leading indicators that cloud the horizon. Regardless of economic conditions, this conference will focus on best practices to help you run a healthy, sustainable and profitable consulting business. Conference includes: Committee Collaboration Presentations by Outstanding Subject Matter Experts and Best-Selling Authors GBA Signature Receptions Gifts for All Attendees Magnificent Spa Resort with private beach and associated TPC Golf Course GBA's Annual Award Banquet We will be talking about this Conference for many years so please join us and be a part of the celebration. Save money by taking advantage of early registration discounts. For conference information: CLICK HERE 2020 Summit a Huge Success GBA GBA held its annual Winter Leadership Summit on January 24-25, 2020 and it was a huge success. 73 leaders from 44 Member Firms convened in Denver to collaborate on projects to benefit our members and identify ways Committees can improve to better serve our Association. We used pre-Summit feedback from Committee Members to deliver a workshop titled, Optimizing Our Committee Experience. At the conclusion of the meeting, the GBA leaders had the opportunity to celebrate their hard work and network during a uniquely GBA reception. Please visit GBA’s Facebook page for 2020 Winter Leadership Summit photos: HERE GBA Director Spotlight - Tom Blackburn, CE, GE, F. ASCE, F. ACEC (Blackburn Consulting) GBA Volunteers that serve on the GBA Board of Directors dedicate significant time and energy providing leadership to our Association. A seed that was planted in the head of a future soils engineer took root to become a successful family owned consulting business with support of GBA and GBA Member-Firms. Read about how the Blackburns grew their family-owned business: HERE IN CASE YOU MISSED IT GBA GBA released 5 more Case Histories with refreshed format and updated lessons learned. Learn from others’ mistakes! GBA Updates 5 More Case Histories  EVENTS Future GBA Events: Mark Your Calendars Now Spring Conference 2020: April 23-25, 2020 at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort and Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Fall Conference 2020: October 22-24, 2020 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis Hotel, in Minneapolis, MN Spring Conference 2021: April 22-25, 2021 at the Marriott Marquis, San Diego, CA For more information: GBA EVENTS CALENDAR  MEMBER NEWS Eustis Engineering Announces Strategic Organizational Leadership Changes: Gwendolyn Sanders, P.E. will become Eustis Engineering's first woman President. Eustis Engineering The year 2020 will be a notable one in Eustis Engineering’s history. Read More GZA Acquires Minnesota-based Vieau Associates Inc. GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. (GZA), a leading multi-disciplinary firm providing geotechnical, environmental, ecological, water, and construction management services, today announced the acquisition of Vieau Associates Inc. (Vieau), strengthening GZA’s position as a premier provider of environmental services throughout the Midwest and nationally. Read More Sanborn Head Announces Rising Leaders Sanborn, Head & Associates, Inc. Sanborn, Head & Associates, Inc. (Sanborn Head) is proud to announce new titles for Tim White, P.G. and Seth Soos, P.E., effective January 1, 2020. “It’s great to see these emerging leaders stepping into their own,” said President and Chief Operating Officer Barret Cole. “Tim and Seth are outstanding individuals, and we’re very lucky to have them on the team that is leading the future success of Sanborn Head.” Read More GSI Helps Wichita State University Establish New Hydrogeology Site GSI Engineering GSI Engineering (GSI) assisted Wichita State University (WSU) in the development of a new hydrogeology site at their existing Ninnescah biological field station. Chuck Brewer, President of GSI, said, “We are proud to be able to assist the WSU geology program, as several of our current employees are WSU graduates. GSI strongly believes in helping within our community and partnering with our state university programs to enhance the learning experience of their students, which develops even more high-caliber professionals ready to enter our local work force.” Read More SNC-Lavalin strengthens leadership team to support new strategic direction: Appoints Chief Transformation Officer, President of Infrastructure Projects SNC-Lavalin SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) is pleased to announce a series of enhancements to its senior leadership team to better align with and support the execution of the Company’s new strategic direction and its focus on driving cash flow and sustainable growth. Read More Andreas Rothe Joins Golder as Chief Financial Officer GOLDER Golder, a leading global engineering and consulting company, announced today that it has appointed Andreas Rothe as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Rothe takes over for former CFO Lee Anne Lackey, who is retiring after more than 20 years of service to Golder. Read More  INDUSTRY NEWS Great Leaders Understand Why Small Gestures Matter Harvard Business Review So much of the business culture remains fixated on strategic disruption, digital transformation, and the meteoric rise (and disastrous fall) of venture-backed unicorns. What if we took just a moment to think a little smaller, to act a lot more humbly, to elevate the person-to-person interactions that lead to more meaningful relationships? Read More Kill your KPIs: Debunking Old Engineering Metrics Forbes At a recent conference, I listened to consultants recommend software engineering performance metrics. They listed more than 20 KPI-style measures to help teams improve in categories like predictability, quality, stability, etc. If you know software development, especially in larger enterprises, you’ve probably come across something similar. Many of the recommended metrics seemed sensible: but the flaw with these and other metrics that sound plausible but aren't actually useful the minute you implement them. Read More The One Thing Employees Really Want in a Workspace Fast Company 53% of professionals in a recent survey claim they need this one thing to stay engaged on the job. No, it’s not a beer tap. Read More Why Coffee Increases Productivity Monster Coffee is one of the most ubiquitous and unifying products in the world. Without coffee, how many of us would witness a decline in our productivity at the office? Heck, how many of us would see a noticeable drop in our overall happiness? Coffee holds tremendous power over modern society and, especially, over the contemporary worker. There are eight compelling reasons to embrace our java overlord. Read More Legal Feature: Dysfunctional Justice: What's Wrong with the U.S. Legal System Wharton School of Business Novelist Raymond Chandler once said, “The law isn’t justice. It’s a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer.” A recent book by Bruce Cannon Gibney, a litigator turned venture capitalist, gives credence to that idea. Read More Operations Feature: How to NEVER miss a Deadline Again Calendar It is a new year and one of the most common goals that people have set is to do better with meeting deadlines. It’s a worthy goal. Missing deadlines damages your reputation of trust and impacts the ability of others to get their work done in a timely fashion. Perhaps it is possible to never miss a deadline again. Read More Good Collaboration - Bad Collaboration Slack Our global survey of knowledge workers reveals what employees value most and the importance of teamwork. So what makes for successful workplace collaboration? How does team collaboration improve employee satisfaction and motivation? Even more, how does increased collaboration create more value for companies? Read More Shifting into an Era of Repair: US Infrastructure Spending Trends BROOKINGS Our nation’s infrastructure challenges are well known. Politicians, financiers, and much of the general public have stated that investing more in infrastructure is a good idea. Economists tend to be more specific, with particular emphasis on the economic returns from infrastructure maintenance spending. Read More The Scientific Reason Why Dressing for Success Works (With a Twist, Of Course) themuse You always hear the phrase “dress for success,” and think, sure, I’ll step it up a notch today when I get ready. And it probably works, right? You sit up taller, you receive compliments on how sharp you look, and you feel important because your work attire is so much fancier than what you wear on the weekends. And now you’ve got the science to back that feeling up. Read More Science Feature: When Ashes Stain Forest Rivers: Post-Fire Effects on Soil and Water Ecosystems MedForest Water pollution and soil disturbance are two of the most devastating effects of large uncontrolled fires. But, in fire-prone ecosystems these events, in a controlled and careful manner, can also have positive implications. Read More Technology Feature: NASA Helps Get Ahead of Solar Superstorms GeekWire If the sun throws out a radiation blast of satellite-killing proportions someday, Amazon Web Services may well play a role in heading off a technological doomsday. That’s the upshot of a project that has NASA working with AWS Professional Services and the Amazon Machine Learning Solutions Lab to learn more about the early warning signs of a solar superstorm, with the aid of artificial intelligence. Read More [includes video content] Words of Wisdom “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou  BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Arthur “Art” Hoffmann, P.E., D.GE (Gannett Fleming, Inc./ Harrisburg, PA), 717/763-7211 President-Elect: Kenneth R. "Ken" Johnston, (GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. / Norwood, MA), 781/278-3700 Secretary/Treasurer: Thomas W. "Tom" Blackburn, P.E., G.E., F.ASCE (Blackburn Consulting / Auburn, CA), 530/887-1494 Directors: Saiid Behboodi, P.E., G.E., (PBS Engineering + Environmental / Portland, OR), 503/417-7707 Chuck A. Gregory, P.E. (Terracon / San Antonio, TX), 210/641-2112 Christopher Matthew "Matt" Moler, P.E. (S&ME, Inc. / Greensboro, NC), 336/553-1245 Leo J. Titus, Jr. P.E., (ECS, Ltd. / Chantilly, VA), 703/471-8400 Martin LaRoche, P. Eng, M.Sc. (SNC-Lavalin / Montreal, Canada) Matthew "Matt" R. Poirier, P.E. (Sanborn Head & Associates, Inc. Concord, NH) NEWSlog Connect with GBA Recent Issues | Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Web Version  GBA Staff: Joel G. Carson, Executive Director, 301-565-2733 (office) | 402-517-1819 (cell) Sara Menase, Program Manager, 301-565-2733  Phillip D. Pettway, Controller, 301-565-2733  Barbara A. Nappy, Program Director, 301-565-2733 (office) | 727-457-2272 (cell) Geoprofessional Business Association 15800 Crabbs Branch Way, Suite 300  | Rockville, MD 20855 | 301-565-2733 | Contact Us  About GBA The Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA) helps its members and their clients confront risk and optimize business performance by delivering unique professional resources, programs, and services that make them stronger, smarter and more successful. 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