ACEC Chair Dan Larson Delivers State of the Council Keynote in Colorado

Six weeks into his tenure, AET CEO Dan Larson stepped to the podium at ACEC Colorado’s Annual Conference in Denver last week to deliver his first major speech as ACEC Chair. Larson kicked off the two-day event with his perspectives on the State of the Council, outlining strategic plan refinements approved at the May Board of Directors meeting and discussing how those changes will position ACEC for success in a volatile regulatory and political environment.

“Winning starts with knowing who you are,” Larson said. “Not who you aspire to be, but who you are right now. … An organization that wins externally must have its internal house in order first.”

Getting that internal house in order, he said, was the impetus behind revisiting and amending ACEC’s strategic plan. A volunteer committee co-led by ACEC Vice Chair Karen Friese and ACEC Chair Emeritus Keith London began its work by considering the Council’s identity and direction and whether the strategic plan, as written, drilled down sufficiently on issues member firms are facing. The committee, Larson emphasized, didn’t “come in and blow up a plan that was working,” but, rather, expanded the plan’s reach by adding four target areas for focused attention: technology, workforce, licensure, and membership.

ACEC is a federation with representation in every state, anchored by a strong grassroots network through what we call our “Member Organizations.” This structure gives the Council reach into communities nationwide. At this moment of unprecedented change, ACEC’s strength comes from strategic alignment between our organization in Washington, and our grassroots partners in the states. Simply put, a federation moving as one.

“That’s the strategic bet we’re placing,” Larson said. “It also happens to be one of my personal goals as chair.”

Larson then turned his attention to the current political state of play, noting that strategic plans must be operable in the real world. “And the real world right now is not always…cooperative,” he joked.

“None of what our refined strategic plan envisions happens in a vacuum,” Larson said. “It happens in a policy environment that is moving unimaginably fast, in an election cycle that is going to reshape the legislative landscape, and in an industry that is being asked to build more, faster, with a workforce we are still growing and with technology we are still learning.”

But he continued, a strong national organization supporting strong state organizations, with member firms that are engaged and growing, ensures that ACEC is built to capture opportunities and turn them into wins.

One such opportunity is the surface transportation bill currently making its way through the House. A critical midterm election looming, a clock ticking toward the September 30 expiration of IIJA, and water legislation waiting in the wings together represent huge opportunities for the engineering industry. “We will stay focused on winning,” Larson said.

The new chair closed his remarks by reminding attendees of ACEC’s core purpose: promoting the business interests of America’s engineering industry. “It’s the operating principle of everything we do,” he said. “It’s our stake in the ground that we will not be a passive observer of our own future.”