Christie DeLuca, AECOM Grow, increase, expand. These concepts form the foundation of a company’s strategic goals. Although not all strategies require entering new markets, at some point, firms must expand beyond existing clients or geographies to achieve significant growth. Whether you’re on the executive team or serve in the business development space, answering these questions honestly can help your team determine where your company should focus its resources to achieve realistic and meaningful growth.

Construction employment declined in 110 out of 358 metro areas between December 2015 and December 2016, was stagnant in another 65 and increased in 183, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that the disappointing new jobs data coincides with data showing a drop in most infrastructure spending in 2016 and comes out as a broad coalition of business, labor and transportation interests from across the country urged President Trump to deliver on his promise to rebuild the country’s aging infrastructure.

Matthew Lee, Young Contracting Have you ever had to sit through a presentation where you spend the entire time checking you phone for emails and messages even though you know you haven’t received any new ones? At some point in your career, whether you are in business development, sales, marketing, management, or otherwise, most of us will have to get up in front of a group of people and make a presentation. Here are FIVE tips that may help you give a meaningful presentation.

he Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) sent a letter to all members of the new 115th Congress urging that it get off to a productive start and show the American public that its intention to make good on campaign pledges to work together in the best interest of the country by completing action now on a fully funded FY 2017 transportation appropriations measure. The letter points out that many state DOTs are unable to put their full list of construction projects out to bid because Congress has only approved FY 2017 funding for highway and transit programs through April 28, 2017. In addition, because the DOT funding is currently part of a continuing resolution to fund the entire government at FY 2016 levels, the highway and transit programs are funded at 2 percent below the level authorized in the one year old FAST Act. You are urged to also contact your Congressional delegation and urge them to complete action on this important funding bill. A message is available for you to send through the Hardhats for Highways site and can be accessed here. http://hardhatsforhighways.org/

Plan on participating in a National conference April 4-6, 2017 in Sparks, Nevada on, "Advancing Best Practices in the ART of Partnering." AGC of America, AGC of Nevada, and Las Vegas Chapter AGC are working with the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in this initiative emphasizing the need for partnering; highlighting the top two or three state of the art partnering practices; and, showcasing how these recognized leaders are supporting and advancing the use of partnering on highway construction projects.The conference is targeted at state DOT officials, contractors, chapter staff, and FHWA. AGC members are encouraged to participate to bring the contractor perspective to the issue of partnering. Further information, including registration and hotel details is available here.

The Senate Commerce Committee held a confirmation January 11, 2017 for President-elect Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Transportation, Elaine Chao. Ms. Chao – who previously served as the Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush and the Deputy Secretary of Transportation in President George H.W. Bush’s Administration – is expected to help shape an infrastructure plan that has been promised by President-elect Trump. Secretary-Nominee Chao offered no specifics of what a Trump infrastructure plan would include but she did acknowledge that the challenges with any plan lie in how it is paid for. During the hearing she expressed the belief that both direct federal spending and private financing will be a part of the incoming administration’s proposal. She went on the say that seeing a fix for the Highway Trust Fund – which will again be facing insolvency in 2020 – will be a “top priority” for the Department.

The federal highway Administration (FHWA) issued final rules on performance measures for congestion and freight movement that include requirements for states to measure and report CO2 (Greenhouse Gas- GHG) emissions from on-road vehicles for projects receiving federal funding. AGC and numerous other groups and Members of Congress advised FHWA in formal comments on the proposal that it lacked authority to expand into CO2 emissions but FHWA said it didn’t agree. In a separate action, the Department of Transportation (USDOT) released updated implementation procedures for states to use to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Not only did USDOT rush these procedures out for publication with limited (21 days) for comment, the document adds a new level of oversight to the environmental review process. This undermines efforts by Congress in the past three transportation authorization bills and previous administrations to streamline environmental review and shrink the time it takes for project approval.

$8 Billion in Federal Real Property Up for Consideration Last week, the President signed into law the AGC-supported Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act. This bipartisan law will shrink the federal footprint and streamline the disposal of excess or underutilized federal buildings. AGC has long been involved in pushing for federal real property reform and strongly supports these efforts.

Talking Points Can be Found at www.HardhatsforHighways.org While Members of Congress are back home for the remainder of the year, the AGC co-chaired Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) is urging our members to contact their Members of Congress – either in person or via email – and encourage them to permanently fix for the Highway Trust Fund. A new Congress and administration could provide the opportunity to fix the trust fund either through tax reform and/or an infrastructure package (as promised by President-Elect Trump).

Congress overwhelmingly passed and the President signed into law the AGC’s supported Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act. AGC successfully urged Congress to include in the WIIN Act the best provisions from the House and Senate Water Resource Development Act (WRDA) bills, passed earlier in September. WIIN authorizes 38 projects valued at $15.9 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers. The WIIN Act includes the Water and Waste Act of 2016 which makes changes to the Safe Drinking Water Act and Solid Waste Disposal Act. It gives $100 million in subsidized loans and grants through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, and $170 million in federal aid for Flint, Michigan. WIIN also authorizes the EPA approve state coal ash disposal programs.