ACEC CEO Linda Bauer Darr Addresses Board of Directors

ACEC's Fall Conference kicked off this morning in New Orleans with a meeting of our Board of Directors, during which President and CEO Linda Bauer Darr delivered remarks on the state of the Council and the engineering industry.

Darr began her remarks with a nod to the ACEC Louisiana team for their hugely successful Engineering and Public Works Roadshow event, which was held Saturday at the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex in the New Orleans metropolitan area. She noted the topicality of the project, which serves as a barrier to help protect low-lying areas around New Orleans from the impacts of catastrophic weather events. Pointing to the horrific scenes that have dominated airwaves in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Darr stated that the engineering industry will play a critical role in rebuilding those ravaged communities and creating solutions that will save lives and property in the future.

"That's what our industry does," she said. "Roadshow events like the one yesterday enable us to tell that story, to tell your story."

Darr went on to discuss the upcoming election, acknowledging the widespread anxiety on both ends of the political spectrum as we await the national verdict on the direction of our country. "That anxiety is real, and it's raw," Darr said. But whomever is in the White House in 2025 will take on issues of fundamental importance to our industry. From taxes to the looming expiration of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the priorities and policies of the next Administration and Congress will reverberate throughout our firms and industry.

Darr pointed to recent wins achieved through ACEC's Minuteman Fund, which is charged with helping our MOs mount campaigns on state-level issues. These victories - even those surrounding issues that are uniquely local - serve to create a climate in which engineering firms can thrive. They have, she said, "implications that can spill beyond state lines."

Darr closed her remarks by pointing to ACEC's members as "the propellant that pushes the Council forward." As the Fall Conference general sessions begin Monday morning, she stated that much of the focus will be on cataloging ACEC's successes and how the Council can build on them. But, Darr stated, "Those discussions will be predicated by the acknowledgement that the people in this room are the reason ACEC is successful."