As concerns around managing the exposure to and treatment of Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) continue to escalate and with the President declaring a National Emergency on March 13th, as well as the CDC’s Interim Guidance announced yesterday, March 15^th,  CIRT will be canceling the CIRT Spring Conference (April 27–29, 2020).

Unfortunately, this will also mean canceling the final presentation round of the CIRT National Design & Construction Competition.  However, we are happy to report that 52 entries have been evaluated and three national finalists identified hailing from: Greater Washington DC Metro Area; Greater New York City, and Illinois/Chicago. These teams will have a chance to square-off in a remote or virtual presentation round to determine the National Champion ACE Team!

CIRT believes the health, safety and well-being of our members and your employees, our partners, and the communities in which you live and serve are our foremost concern as we continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 outbreak.

If you had registered for the Spring Conference, please be sure to cancel your hotel reservations directly with The Willard hotel (or other venue) as well as cancelling your travel plans.

We hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy, and we wish everyone well as we collectively navigate this global health challenge.

Please let me or Jane (jane@cirt.org) know if you have any questions about future CIRT events. 

CIRT members were invited to participate in a webinar hosted by APCO Worldwide on Wed., 3/11 re: the COVID19 situation and we are pleased to make the recording of this webinar available for those that could not participate when it was live.   You can find a recording of the session here: https://apcoworldwide.com/coronavirus/
 
Additional resources include: 

• Information about how APCO is helping with coronavirus management
• APCO’s U.S. polling on coronavirus (to be repeated weekly going forward)
• A web version of APCO’s COVID-19 roundup of news and insights and a subscription form 

If you have any questions, please contact Mark Casso or Jane Bonvillain.

Today, the online portal containing the basic information, deadlines, and project challenges/options for the 2020 CIRT National Design & Construction Competition was officially opened at: http://cirtcompetition.org  
[Also, all the teams must be responsive to the “full package” attached and referenced on the CAC portal page].

CIRT has collaborated with the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) over the past few years to run the competition through their online platform as a means to scale the program and make it available on in a more flexible format to a greater number of ACE Mentor of America Affiliate/Chapter teams.  The final deadline for entries is: March 3^rd (at 11:50pm).  Those interested in submitting will have three project challenges or options to select from: (1) Water Resource Management & Preservation, (2) National (USA) Pavilion, and (3) Gastronomic Center. 

Teams are also welcome to use, on a voluntary basis, the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s online learning platform: DiscoverDesign.org  This is a collaborative tool, whereby students can upload their work, give feedback to each other and share photos, links and other resources as they work through the design process.

The annual competition is announced in the early fall to the ACE Mentor of America Affiliates/Chapters and officially begins in January concluding with a presentation round, which will be held in late April as part of CIRT’s Spring Conference. Three finalist will face-off to determine which team will be selected and announced as the winner.  CIRT presents prizes for the top three national finalists, as well as for the runner ups in each of the three project challenges/or categories.            

On September 27th, the first consensus standard contracts written by and for the construction industry reached a 12-year milestone. This first-of-its kind coalition has grown from 20 organizations (including CIRT) in 2007 to 40 leading organizations today, while being at the forefront of breaking down contractual obstacles. The catalog of contracts has grown from 70 to over 100 standard contracts, and in this period the Coalition has established a track record of success with billions of dollars of construction put-in-place using ConsensusDocs contracts.

Dr. Arthur Laffer, keynote speaker at CIRT’s 2019 spring conference along with Stephen Moore, received the highest civilian honor granted in the United States; at a presentation ceremony in the White House with President Trump.

With the now-famous “Laffer Curve,” the Father of Supply-Side Economics illustrated how when tax rates creep too high, people stop spending and investing—leading to less growth and, paradoxically, lower tax revenues. On the other hand, at a certain point on the curve, lower tax rates help spur investment, economic growth, and even government tax receipts. In 1980, Dr. Laffer’s ideas would take center stage as he helped shape President Ronald Reagan’s low-tax, pro-growth working-class agenda. Since then, more than 30 countries have adopted similar tax cuts and reforms. As a result, Dr. Laffer’s policies have helped lift nearly a billion people out of poverty.

Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian

In an unprecedented history-making performance, the ACE Mentor team from Central Iowa again took home top honors for the second year in a row, being crowned National Champions in the thirteenth annual CIRT Design & Construction Competition. The three finalist had survived a grueling preliminary round that saw a record-setting 64 entries to vie against each other in the final presentation round during the ACE Mentor of America’s 25^th Anniversary Celebration and All-Affiliates Conference, at the National Harbor, MD Gaylord Resort Hotel, on May 14, 2019.  A distinguished panel of judges was headed by Thomas Gilbane, Jr. (Gilbane Building Company), included: Denise Ramsey (Haskell Company), Tim Faerber (HNTB Corporation), Tom Donnelly (BrightView Landscaping Development), and Scott Seltz (ENR).  At the gala dinner, before some 400 guests, CIRT President, Mark A. Casso announced the order of finish as follows:

• First Place and a prize of $5,000 went to: ACE Mentor Program of Central Iowa: for their Play Ground/Scape entry: “Unboxed;”
• Second Place and a prize of $3,000 went to: ACE Mentor Program of Greater New York (Team 30) for their Alleviate Urban Transportation Congestion entry: “Crosstown;” and
• Third Place and a prize of $2,000 went to: ACE Mentor Program of Hawaii for their Community Health Clinic entry: “War Natatorium Health Clinic.”

It took the judges two ballots to ultimately determine a winner after carefully analyzing the quality of the presentations as well as the underlying entry’s design/construction approaches within the project’s objectives while being fully responsive to the competition package elements in the challenge/option. In the end, the judges balanced the outcome on the basis of the two major elements: quality of presentation and competence of the overall entry. The winning entry exhibited an extraordinary versatility and responsiveness to the criteria of the challenge, while remaining within the limits of constructability and budget.

Six other teams were also recognized as either First Runner-Up ($1,000 prize) or Second Runner-Up ($500 prize) in each of the three different design challenges or options. Among this elite group were:

Play Ground/Scape Challenge (which had 22 entries): 1^st Runner-Up: ACE Mentor of Chicago/Team 5 for “Tamin’ the Damen/Kara Park;”  2nd Runner-Up: ACE Mentor Program of Central Florida for “Park n’ Rec Innovative Playscape;”
Alleviate Urban Transportation Congestion Challenge (which had 14 entries): 1^st Runner-Up: ACE Mentor of Greater Philadelphia/Team 10-WRT for “Artery Relief;”  2nd Runner-Up: ACE Mentor of Greater NYC/Team 8 for “L.I. City Auto-no-mous Rapid Transit;”
Community Health Clinic Challenge (which had 28 entries): 1^st Runner-Up: ACE Mentor of Chicago/Team 4 for “El Centro;”  2nd Runner-Up: ACE Mentor Program of San Diego, CA for “South Bay Community Health Clinic at SWHS”

The CIRT National Design & Construction Competition is a collaborative effort with the ACE Mentor Program of America and the Chicago Architecture Council. This year experienced not only a record number of entries but also equaled the highest number of ACE Affiliates/Chapters represented with a total of 607 students (from 200 schools) and 385 mentors and professionals (from 149 firms) participating. To watch the competition VIEW HERE.                     

The Construction Industry Round Table (CIRT), a national business trade association comprised exclusively of approximately 125 chief executives from the leading design and construction companies doing business in the United States and globally, has elected Paul A. Franzen, President of Barnard Construction, as Chairman of the organization for a term of one year. Franzen was elected during CIRT’s Annual Spring Conference last week in Washington, D.C., which also welcomed new directors.

“I am honored and humbled to have been selected to help lead CIRT, whose members include impressive leaders from well-respected companies in such an important and critical industry.”

In welcoming Franzen as the new Chairman, CIRT President Mark A. Casso, Esq., NAC noted, “Paul puts his full attention and heart into anything he commits to; he will bring a great deal of energy to promoting the interests of the design and construction industry’s interests.”

At CIRT's Membership Meeting, the following members were also elected as officers:

● Wassim A. Selman, Ph.D., P.E., ARCADIS, U.S., Inc., Atlanta, GA as Vice Chairman;

● Greg Cosko, President & CEO, Hathaway Dinwiddie, San Francisco, CA as Treasurer; and

● Charlie Bacon, CEO & President, Limbach Holdings, Inc., Warrington, PA will continue to serve on the Executive Committee as Immediate Past Chairman.

In addition to the executive committee elections, CIRT welcomed the following four industry leaders as new directors who will serve on the board through 2022:

● Mark S. Cain, President, Smoot Construction

● Dilip Choudhuri, P.E., President & CEO, Walter P. Moore & Associates, Inc.

● Blair M. Lavoie, P.E., President & CEO, MWH Constructors

● David J. Mahoney, P.E., Executive Vice President, Dewberry

“CIRT is fortunate to have a dedicated board of such highly regarded industry professionals. We offer congratulations to our new officers and directors; and thank all of our current and outgoing directors for their service to CIRT and its members as well as the design / construction industry,”

said Casso.

About Paul Franzen

As President of Barnard Construction, Paul Franzen is responsible for the company’s day-to-day operations. Mr. Franzen has 32 years of experience in the heavy civil construction industry. He joined Barnard in 1990 and was promoted to President of Barnard Construction in 2000. He oversees the management and development of Barnard Construction, from negotiating new contracts and developing and implementing long-range plans, to routinely visiting project sites, participating in Partnering meetings and constructability reviews, and interviewing potential new employees. He is closely involved in the Partnering process and Barnard’s relationships with project owners. During his tenure, the company has broadened its scope from recognition as a strong regional contractor to respect for their work across the nation and collaboration with firms and owners from throughout the world. Barnard’s areas of focus during its first 25 years were in heavy civil and municipal construction. Over the past decade, Barnard has also built a strong presence in underground and tunneling construction, as well as in challenging marine work and electric transmission.

In addition to serving as Barnard’s representative to CIRT, Mr. Franzen is a founding member of the Construction Industry Safety Initiative (CISI), and has led Barnard’s participation in Safety Week, the Construction Industry Safety Summit, and the Incident & Injury-Free (IIF) Executive Forum. Under his leadership, Barnard has been recognized for safety achievement by owners and industry organizations. In just the past three years, Barnard has received 12 safety awards, including three consecutive Construction Safety Excellence Awards from the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America.

Founded in 1975 by Timothy Barnard, Barnard has operated for 44 years as a privately held, debt-free company. Barnard is a heavy civil contractor that has built a reputation on skill, innovation, reliability, safety, and the ability to complete projects on budget and ahead of schedule. Barnard has extensive experience in all aspects of construction, including environmental efforts, dams, reservoirs, hydroelectric power, tunnels and shafts, utilities, pipelines, power transmission, and oil and gas.

For more information about CIRT contact, Mark Casso, 202-466-6777; or visit our website at www.cirt.org.

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”

Lou Holtz, legendary football coach, author
[2019 Competition Inspiration] 

CIRT is very pleased to announce that the three finalist teams to compete for top honors in the 2019 CIRT National Design & Construction Competition have been selected.  In its thirteenth year, the competition is a collaborative effort among CIRT,  ACE Mentor Program of America, and the Chicago Architecture Center. Each year the competition has grown, with the intensity amplified by the quality of the submissions. To reach their decision, the preliminary round judges poured through a record 64 entries from across the country in an extremely difficult head-to-head knock-out process to identify this year’s FINALISTS as follows:

• ACE Mentor Program of Central Iowa for their Play Ground/Scape entry: “Unboxed”  [Congratulations for returning to the national finals two years in a row];
• ACE Mentor Program of Greater NY/Team 30 for their Alleviate Urban Transportation Congestion entry: “crosstown;” and
• ACE Mentor Program of Hawaii for their Community Health Care Clinic entry: “War Natatorium Health Clinic.”

These teams will have an opportunity on May 14, 2019 at the ACE National 25^th Anniversary Celebration and All Affiliates Conference at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD (just outside of Washington, DC) to make presentations before a panel of distinguished judges composed mostly of CIRT members. Besides bragging rights, the top team will be awarded a prize of $5,000 (with $3K/$2K going to second and third place). In the final round, the judges will analyze the team presenter/spokesperson’s ability to make a coherent, well thought-out, clear presentation on the design/construction approaches within the project’s objectives while being fully responsive to the competition package elements in the challenge/option. In sum: the presentation round will be judged on two major elements: quality of presentation and competence of the overall entry to be fully responsive to the challenge.

In addition to the finalists, six other teams were recognized as either First Runner-Up ($1,000 prize) or Second Runner-Up ($500 prize) in each of the three different design challenges or options:

Play Ground/Scape Challenge (which had 22 entries):

Alleviate Urban Transportation Congestion Challenge (which had 14 entries):

Community Health Clinic Challenge (which had 28 entries):

Congratulations to the finalists, runner-ups, and to all the ACE Mentor Program teams who participated in this year's competition!

We are very pleased to announce that economists Arthur B. Laffer and Stephen Moore are confirmed as our headliners for the opening session of CIRT's Spring Meeting on April 30, 2019.  Laffer & Moore will offer well-informed insights into President Trump’s approach to trade, taxes, employment, infrastructure, and other economic policies as described in their co-authored book, Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy. Moore and Laffer served as senior economic advisors to Donald Trump in 2016. They traveled with him, frequently met with his political and economic teams,worked on his speeches, and even represented him as surrogates. Currently, they sit as members on Trump’s Advisory Council; still regularly meeting with him. Moore & Laffer will offer their unique insider’s view on how Trump operates in public and behind closed doors: his priorities, his passions as well as his greatest attributes and liabilities.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has announced the new political contribution limits for the 2019-2020 election cycle.  According to a recent report by Venable LLP, the individual limit has gone up by $100. For candidates up for election in 2020, individuals may now give $2,800 per election or $5,600 per candidate per election cycle (with the primary and general considered separate elections). This means that individual contributors who had previously maxed out to candidates for 2020 primary and general elections at $2,700 per election may now give those candidates another $100 per election.

The FEC also raised the limits on individual contributions to “party committees” and “non-multicandidate PACs:”

• Individual contributions to the main account of the national party committees were increased by $1,600 from $33,900 per year to $35,500 per year.
• Each of the special accounts of the party committees – presidential nominating conventions, legal and election recount expenses, and building funds – were increased by $4,800 from $101,700 to $106,500 per year. Thus, individuals may give three times as much per year to each of these special accounts as they can contribute to the main account.