Why ACEC’s Coalitions Matter More Than Ever

Engineering firms across every discipline are facing rapid shifts, such as AI, workforce shortages, new delivery models, rising client expectations, and accelerating regulatory change. Behind the scenes, your peers are already comparing strategies, sharing solutions, and shaping ACEC’s advocacy through coalition conversations. These are the discussions that help firms see around corners, and they’re happening every day across ACEC’s communities.

ACEC members stay connected and engaged through three types of communities: coalitions, committees, and professional forums. Together, these communities form a network where members strengthen their business, leaders shape the direction of the industry, and professionals grow their careers.

Coalitions bring together engineers and firm leaders by discipline or firm size, enabling peers to exchange insights, compare approaches, and strengthen business performance. ACEC’s committees guide the Council’s policy, advocacy, and strategic priorities, while our forums connect individual professionals in similar roles for confidential peer learning and leadership development.

These communities each play a significant role in strengthening our firms and shaping the future of the industry. Coalitions are where that work becomes most immediate. They bring together people who share the same practice areas, business pressures, and day-to-day realities. The conversations that happen there are practical, timely, and grounded in real experience that members can apply right away.

Whether your work centers on structural engineering, MEP systems, professional surveying, land development, geoprofessional services, or leading a small firm, coalitions connect you with peers who see the same trends and pressures you do, often before they show up in national headlines.

Coalition participation is open to members across all practice areas and firm sizes, and engagement is designed to be accessible whether you are new to ACEC or have been involved for years. Click here to join and opt into a coalition.

Burns Engineering Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer and Coalitions Steering Committee Past Chair John Burns helped guide the new coalition model. “Coalitions give our members real insight they can use,” he says. “Firm leaders hear what others are seeing in the market, and emerging professionals build a peer network that helps them grow. When people get involved, it strengthens their business and their careers.”

Why Coalitions Matter to You and Your Firm

Every discipline experiences the industry differently. Structural engineers navigating licensure changes, land development professionals facing competitive permitting environments, professional surveyors preparing for the 2026 New Datum, MEP engineers responding to rising energy expectations, geoprofessionals evaluating new testing technologies, and small firm leaders adapting to federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) updates all need peers who understand their specific world.

Coalitions give you a place to compare experiences and learn how others are solving similar challenges. They also help strengthen one of the most essential skills in engineering: building trusted professional relationships. Many members say they value the opportunity to talk openly with peers from other states because they do not view one another as competitors. These conversations often lead to more candid insight than they find anywhere else.

Brandon Claborn, P. E., vice president, environmental at WSB and chair of the Coalitions Steering Committee, sees this across all groups. “One of the advantages of coalition engagement is that you are talking with firms that are not in your backyard,” he says. “That gives people permission to be honest. Members share what is working and what is not, and those conversations have real value.”

The insights shared in coalitions also guide ACEC’s broader advocacy. Topics that surface through engagement inform ACEC’s work on DBE implementation, licensure, tax and regulatory issues, permitting, energy programs, and workforce initiatives. Member experiences become part of ACEC’s national voice.

What Coalitions Are Talking About

Coalitions reflect what firms across the country are seeing in real time. These practice-area priorities highlight the pressures, opportunities, and trends shaping decision-making across disciplines, and they often represent the most valuable aspect of coalition involvement. If you want to understand where the industry is heading, these are the discussions your peers are having right now.

For Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) professionals,grid reliability and capacity constraints are increasingly central concerns as firms respond to rising energy demand, electrification, and client expectations. Contract language governing the use of artificial intelligence tools, expanding liability limits, and the evolving standard of care are also shaping how MEP firms manage risk and deliver projects. These issues are driving demand for practice-focused education and guidance that helps firms navigate energy policy shifts while protecting their business.

For Structural Engineers, changing environmental conditions, resilience expectations, and the long-term performance of the built environment are influencing both design decisions and professional responsibility. Licensure, including the future of the Structural Engineer exam and varying state requirements, remains a key issue, as does the standard of care as codes, materials, and performance expectations evolve. These pressures continue to inform coalition-led education and publications focused on risk, resilience, and leadership development.

Many of these themes overlap between MEP and Structural practices, particularly as firms address energy infrastructure, building performance, and accountability in an environment of increasing complexity. Coalition collaboration helps translate shared challenges into cross-disciplinary education and practical guidance.

For Professional Surveyors, the transition to the 2026 New Datum is a major focus, alongside growing attention on monuments, how they are established, maintained, and in some cases removed, and the implications for property boundaries and public trust. Advances in drones, scanning, and data management are reshaping the practice and professional expectations.

For Geoprofessionals, firms are managing heightened risk and liability exposure alongside evolving delivery models that shift responsibility for subsurface conditions. Fee pressure, workforce recruitment, and the need for consistent data management continue to influence business decisions, while DBE implementation and variation in state-level licensing requirements add complexity.

Land Development professionals are navigating growing demand for data centers, ongoing affordable housing pressures, and persistent permitting delays across many jurisdictions. Revit requirements and expanding project scopes continue to affect profitability, driving interest in education that addresses contract management, coordination, and evolving development models.

For Small Firms, federal DBE rule changes are reshaping teaming strategies and pursuit decisions. Safety, workforce recruitment, and practical applications of artificial intelligence also remain priorities, with peer insight helping firms adapt to a rapidly changing environment.

Looking Ahead to the 2026 Coalitions Conference – Secure Your Spot Today

These challenges aren’t theoretical. They show up in proposals, staffing decisions, client conversations, and risk assessments every day. At the Coalitions Conference, firms work through these challenges with peers who understand the realities of their practice areas.

Join other coalition members February 26 and 27, 2026, when they gather in Houston for the Coalitions Conference. Each year, practice-area peers convene to compare notes, pressure-test ideas, and learn how other firms are navigating the same pressures and opportunities.

The conference is built around two focused program options. The Practice Area Summit brings together each coalition to discuss the issues that matter most to their work. The Future Ready Small Firm Workshop is a peer-led program for small firm leaders, focused on leadership, growth strategy, and practical uses of artificial intelligence.

At this conference, you’ll meet people who speak your language, know your challenges, and are shaping what comes next for your practice area. Don’t miss these important conversations as they happen. Click here to secure your spot today at the Coalitions Conference.