This message was sent to ##Email## August 14, 2019 Vol. 49 No. 34          Home  |   About Us  |   Membership  |   Resources  |   Events  |   Contact Us Subscribe  |   Archive    GBA NEWS Are We Cutting Pie or Baking More Pies? Lessons Learned from a Bourbon Legend GBA Executive Director - Joel Carson I had an insightful conversation with Bill Samuels, Jr. this week about his upcoming keynote presentation at GBA’s 2019 Fall Conference. Mr. Samuels is the Chairman Emeritus of Maker’s Mark, a well-known Kentucky bourbon, iconic for its red wax dipped bottles. Son of Maker’s Mark Founder Bill Samuels, Sr. and godson of Jim Beam – Bill Samuels, Jr. has been an eyewitness to many milestones in bourbon history and has made history himself. When talking about his business, Bill shared with me his experience with the value of collaboration among Kentucky distilleries and the creation of the Bourbon Trail. He emphasized the importance of different distilleries sharing ideas and solving problems together to benefit the entire industry. Now, the Bourbon Trail rivals the Napa Valley for popularity among tourists and spirits enthusiasts, because they have created a unique experience in one of our nation’s most scenic areas. Mr. Samuels agreed that although each distillery is in competition with the others, through group communication and shared ideas, they are elevating the entire industry. During this time of collaboration, bourbon has become the “hottest” spirit among consumers. He emphasized the point with the well-known adage, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” When Mr. Samuels described situations where the distillers were competing for market share, he said they were cutting up the pie. When he described situations where they were collaborating on ideas to elevate their industry, he said they were making more pies. His logic is sound and applies to GBA Member-Firms. When we collaborate and elevate our profession, we create more opportunities, market share and value in the services we provide. Together we are stronger than we are individually. Please join us in Louisville, Kentucky, October 3-5 for our 2019 Fall Conference. Among others, Bill Samuels Jr. will educate, inspire and entertain us. While we are there, in GBA’s unique way, we will make more pies. More Information: GBA 2019 Fall Conference – Louisville, Kentucky Workshop Announced GBA GBA has teamed up with TCEL and Agile Frameworks to provide a one-day workshop titled “Optimizing Business Performance and Confronting Risk” on September 5, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. During this workshop you will learn: How to identify, measure and solve current business process inefficiencies in your business and help you to develop a program to minimize poor or costly productivity The most frequent lessons learned from GBA Library of Case Histories, so you can learn how to avoid them in the future How a GBA member-firm resolved an allegation that could have permanently damaged their reputation both externally and internally. Workshop Fee $25 - Before August 15, 2019 More Information: Optimizing Business Performance and Confronting Risk Workshop Keynetix User Workshop Scheduled Keynetix, a GBA Conference Sponsor, has scheduled their user workshop immediately prior to GBA’s 2019 Fall Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The “Geotechnical Data – A New Era” workshop aims to give business leaders and advanced users thought provoking sessions on the current state of the art for Geotechnical Data Management and investigate new opportunities to increase your competitiveness in a friendly and interactive environment. New and existing technologies are being adopted faster than ever before and the conference is perfectly timed before the GBA’s “Big Data Means Big Opportunities” Conference that runs at the same hotel and starts in the evening of the 3rd October. Workshop Fee $25 - Before August 15, 2019 Learn More and Register: HERE Deposition Do's & Don'ts for Fact Witnesses - GBA Best Practices GBA Legal Affairs Committee Lawsuit. Interrogation. Sworn testimony. All intimidating words that most people don’t like to hear. But as a geoprofessional, it’s possible that at some point in your career you will be asked to testify in a lawsuit as a fact witness. Typically, this will include a deposition, and it can be helpful (and far less intimidating) to know what to expect when you’re walking through the legal process. Enter GBA Best Practices monograph, Deposition Do’s and Don’ts for Fact Witnesses. Read More IN CASE YOU MISSED IT The most Popular Article from our last issue of GBA NEWSlog: GCI Names Bruce Savage President, David Caprioto CEO and Celebrates 40 Years  EVENTS Future GBA Events: Mark Your Calendars Now Optimizing Business Performance and Confronting Risk Workshop: September 5, Dallas, TX Fall Conference 2019: October 3-5, 2019 at the Omni Louisville Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky Winter Leadership Summit 2020: January 25-26, 2020 in Denver, Colorado 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 For more information: GBA EVENTS CALENDAR  MEMBER NEWS BSK is Certified as a Great Place to Work! BSK Associates Happy employees make happy clients, and we couldn’t be prouder to be certified as a Great Place to Work 2019! How did we earn this? Our employees shared in our engagement survey and 81% of them said we were a GREAT place to work. Not a good place. Not a nice place. But a GREAT place! We also completed an intense culture brief where we shared our activities as a values-driven company to ensure we provide quality professional services to you. Read More Gannett Fleming's Western Growth Continues With New Utah Office Gannett Fleming Gannett Fleming, a global infrastructure and engineering firm, continued its swift expansion in the West by opening a new office in the Salt Lake City area. “Engineers in this new location have expertise in hydrologic and hydraulic analysis and dam safety. In addition to serving local clients, the office is currently supporting multiple projects in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, and New Mexico,” said Bob Scaer, PE, Gannett Fleming chairman and CEO. “Through acquisition and organic growth, we’ve opened more than five offices in the West in the past year. We are dedicated to providing our valued clients in this region with the same unparalleled services that we are known for throughout the world.” Read More What You Need to Know and Do About PFAS Regulations Haley & Aldrich Among emerging contaminants, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are getting a lot of attention recently. Referred to by some as “forever chemicals,” PFAS are a group of synthetic fluorinated compounds that are resistant to natural biodegradation and have been used for decades in a wide range of industrial applications and consumer products. In recent years, PFAS were identified as an environmental contaminant of concern associated with aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF), used with a primary focus on their use at military installations for fighting petroleum fires. However, recent evidence has emerged showing that PFAS are far more prevalent in the environment than previously understood. We now know that PFAS are associated with diverse sources and have chemical properties that let them migrate long distances in surface water, groundwater, and the atmosphere. Read More Langan Ranks as One of the Top 10 Best Firms to Work For Langan Zweig Group ranked Langan one of the Top 10 Best Firms to Work For and Top 100 Hot Firms for 2019. Langan ranked in three categories on the Best Firms to Work For list: Civil, Multidiscipline, and 200+ Employee Firms. These rankings are based on surveys submitted by the firm’s employees. Additionally, Langan ranked on the Hot Firms list, which honors the 100 fastest-growing firms in the AEC industry. Read More NOVA Adds Two Senior Leaders and Expands Into Augusta, Georgia NOVA NOVA announced the addition of Senior Geotechnical Engineer James Niehoff, PE and Corporate Safety Director Eric Moore, SMS, CHST to their team. They also recently opened an office in Augusta, Georgia bringing their office location count to 17 across the Southeast. Read More Get to Know Direct Relief - GAI's 2019 Charity of Choice GAI Consultants GAI Chairman & CEO Gary DeJidas, PE, MBA discusses how our employees’ inspiring giving instinct will support the global mission of Direct Relief, GAI’s 2019 corporate charity of choice. GAI will match all employee donations to this highly-rated aid organization dollar-for-dollar. Charitable giving and volunteering are ingrained in the GAI employee spirit. Last year we celebrated GAI’s 60th year in business through our ’60 for 60′ charitable campaign, which saw outstanding participation across the company with 85 percent of GAI offices completing 65 charitable activities to benefit 47 different organizations. This year, we are bringing together our employees’ amazing helping instincts in support of an organization called Direct Relief. Read More The Future of Water: Managed Aquifer GeoEngineers Water is one of our most valuable natural resources. A combination of increased demand and trends toward less snowpack, more intense rainfall events, and/or longer, hotter, dryer summer conditions in many regions of the United States has water managers worried. A survey by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, now several years old, found that water managers in 40 of 50 states predicted water shortages in at least part of their region over the coming decade. If water access isn’t a national crisis yet, it soon will be. With the threat of more water shortages on the horizon, many water managers are looking to creative technologies to increase the efficiency and availability of their water supplies. Read More GeoDesign Selected as 2nd Best Geotechnical Firm to Work For in the Nation GeoDesign GeoDesign has been honored by Zweig Group as one of the Best Geotechnical Firms to Work For in the Nation! The award was largely based on a survey completed by our staff, though diversity, sustainability, and business practices were considered. Our staff shared what it’s like to work at GeoDesign, and the evaluation committee was impressed! Our thanks goes out to each of our amazing team members for contributing to GeoDesign’s unique culture and day-to-day success. The Best Firms to Work For award recognizes the top architecture, civil engineering, multidiscipline, structural engineering, environmental, MEP, surveying, geotechnical, and construction firms in the US and Canada based on their workplace practices, employee benefits, employee retention rates, and much more. Read More Congratulations 2019 Principals and Associates Golder We are an employee-owned company with more than 6,500 employees working from over 165 offices on six continents. We are passionate problem-solvers who are personally invested in our company and in the success of our clients. Differentiated through technical and delivery excellence, Golder relies upon the skill, innovation and dedication of our engineers, scientists, and business professionals to solve our clients’ most complex challenges—we thrive on challenges. We are pleased to announce the appointment of 24 new Principals and 59 new Associates to our leadership ranks. Read More Intertek Becomes First US Lab to Complete Demand Response Testing for Room Air Conditioners Intertek Intertek, a Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, announces the completion of its first project using the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR® Test Method to Validate Demand Response for Room Air Conditioners. Intertek is the first laboratory in the US to complete demand response testing, which allows products to receive wireless communications to better control energy usage, on an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system. Read More  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)  INDUSTRY NEWS I Like Working with Professionals Jason Hornberger on LinkedIn For a while now, I have embraced a saying: ‘I like to work with professionals.’ It has taken me a while to define, but it has been something that I have thought about a lot more recently. Why should customers want to work with me? Why do we chose to work with anyone? The best way to describe any job, which is worth paying money to other people to do, is taking something that is complicated and making it seem easy. Read More Do's and Don'ts for Video Depositions Diamond Reporting Video depositions create a visual record of the deposition testimony. They go beyond typical written transcripts because videos convey emotion and inflection, silences and sighs that are all lost in text recorded via traditional depositions. Videotaped depositions often become the tipping point toward trial or settlement of a case. There’s a list of do’s and don’ts to make the most of video depositions Read More People are Becoming Increasingly Skeptical of Science, Report Finds Fortune People around the world are becoming increasingly skeptical of science, says a new report analyzing global attitudes on the subject. According to 3M’s 2019 State of Science Index, which includes responses from 14,000 people in 14 countries, 35% of respondents say they’re skeptical of science, an uptick of 3% since last year. Just over a quarter of the world say they’re suspicious of the role of science over the next 20 years—in the U.S., this number grows to one third. Read More 17 Pictures that Will Make You Want to Become a Geologist ZME Science Geology is a magnificent and unique science. What makes it so unique, you may rightly ask; well, a good geologist has to know something of everything: physics, chemistry, geography, math, biology, engineering, and many, many more. But it’s worth it, oh how it’s worth it. Here are 17 Pictures that will make you want to become a Geologist, if you aren’t already one! Read More 5 Mistakes Civil Engineers Should Avoid SimScale Executing civil engineering professionalism to a level of excellence is especially challenging in the fast paced, modern and globalized 21st century. Engineering skills are often classified into “hard” and “soft” categories, in an effort to distinguish between technical skills (e.g., structural design) and social skills (e.g., team leadership). Both are important in order to be successful, and both can equally benefit from the right kind of technical tools. There are a number of common areas where civil engineers can fall short. Read More Fake News is Real. A.I. Is Going to Make it Much Worse CNBC Advancements in AI and machine learning are rapidly paving the way for “deepfake” videos, content that falsely shows people saying and doing things they never said or did. Businesses need to pay attention to the rapid emergences of this technological threat. Researchers have improved the technology so much that distinguishing between real and entirely fabricated content is now extremely difficult to the naked eye. Experts are fearing deepfake videos will create an even larger consumer trust issue in journalism, with no clear solution to eliminate the threat. Read More Founded When? America's Oldest Companies Business News Daily Some companies seem able to weather any storm, and you will be surprised by the names on this list. The oldest American company has been in existence since 1752, before our county was founded. Despite wars, depressions, recessions and slumps, these companies have managed to maintain a high-quality offering and position themselves in the market to stand the test of time. Here's a brief history of 21 American companies that were all started more than 150 years ago and are still thriving today. Read More It's Harder to Focus These Days. And No, It's Not Your Fault Wit & Delight We're living in a world where our attention is for sale and we’re consuming information with few limitations and boundaries that place our self-interest top of mind. There is a Podcast entitled “It’s Harder to Focus These Days And No, It’s Not Your Fault” that explores why our brains are having such a hard time keeping us on task in this digital age and what we can do about it. Read More & Listen to Podcast Looking to Bust the Stress Cycle? Take a Vacation. Actually, Think Again. Steve Romano, PhD from LinkedIn Most of us look forward to taking time off. A chance to get away from the daily grind and to re-charge the batteries. Time to spend with friends and family, seeing new places, or just taking it easy. The American Psychological Association (APA) finds that after taking time off decreases overall stress and has positive effects on both well-being and job performance. But what is alarming is what is gained is quickly lost. Surprising? Maybe not. Read More Shifting Focus: What Makes Good Engineers Great ECoENG Drew Wilson is a South African Professional Engineer with a passion for innovation, sustainability and making a difference in communities. His blog entitled "Shifting Focus: What Makes Good Engineers Great" asks important questions about our profession in and its importance to his countries future that we all should be asking. Who are the civil engineers who will impact the most meaningful social, environmental, economic and sustainable change…? What’s the difference between a good engineer and a great one? Are we what (fill in your country) needs and do we have what it takes to encourage the next generation of great engineers? Read More Improve Your Life By Manipulating Your Sleep TED Talk We spend 1/3rd of our life asleep, which suggests it is doing something very important. But, what is all of this for? And why does every animal species appear to need sleep? Based on the latest neuroscientific research Penny Lewis shows why sleep is thought to be critical for combining and restructuring memories, and thus to form the basis of creativity. Her research investigates the role of sleep in strengthening and altering memories and the ways people can use this to their advantage. Read More 18 Proven Ways to Stay Focused That Increase Productivity Entrepreneur Productivity doesn’t happen by accident. Accomplishing all the things you need and want to do requires forethought and planning, along with a continuous supply of motivation and focus. Read More Words of Wisdom “I don’t focus on what I’m up against.I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest.” -Venus Williams 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. Learn how to add us to your safe-sender list so our e-mails get to your inbox. 7701 Las Colinas Ridge, Ste. 800, Irving, TX 75063