As we close out 2023 and welcome in 2024, I decided to pause and take a moment to reflect on this past year as well as look towards the future. As an industry, we are fortunate that we finished yet another strong year in infrastructure investment and private and commercial development. Most of us are old enough to have experienced the last economic downturn as professionals. While we can expect another downturn eventually, most indicators forecast another strong year for the consulting community. Another positive indicator is that most firms that I have spoken to are struggling to fill open positions. This next year will certainly bring new challenges along with some uncertainty with the elections, but I am confident that the state of our industry is strong and has a bright outlook. I hope all of you will have prosperous and successful 2024.
Assembly member Josh Hoover represents the people of the 7th District. Josh earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and public policy from UCLA and a master’s degree in public administration from USC.
Prior to his election to the Assembly, Josh served as a school board member in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District (FCUSD). Josh is a passionate advocate for California families. He serves as the Vice Chair of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy where he works to support small businesses and bring great jobs to our region. He is also Vice Chair of the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials committee as well as a member of the Education, Natural Resources, and Joint Legislative Audit committees.
Assembly Member Josh Hoover will discuss what is going on at California’s Capitol and Sacramento area legislative issues of today.
On November 15, the Sierra Chapter was pleased to welcome Maria Lehman as our guest speaker at our membership dinner. Maria is the ASCE national past-president and currently serves as Infrastructure Market Leader for GHD. Maria has held leadership roles in both the private sector and government including Commissioner of Public Works for Erie County (NY) and Acting Executive Director of the New York State Thruway Authority. Maria gave us an exciting presentation of the civil engineering market today and glimpses of where our industry is headed. ASCE’s 2024 priorities include Climate/Hazard Mitigation, Cybersecurity, Energy grid, Transportation, Water Infrastructure, Water Resources, and Workforce and education. Current federal legislation of interest to our members include the National Dam Safety Program Reauthorization Act, Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, and the fiscal year 2024 appropriations. ASCE and ACEC have also been collaborating at the national level to raise awareness for infrastructure needs. This includes participating in programs such as the Engineering and Public Works Roadshow that has been held in multiple locations nationwide to highlight successful public infrastructure projects. Of special concern from Maria’s talk was the projected deficit for civil engineers in the next generation.
ASCE has a new initiative called Future World Vision that includes reimagining Cities of the Future by taking a non-traditional approach to development in order to take a more sustainable path. It was fascinating to hear from someone that has a more national look of our industry.
Another highlight from our meeting was the robotics demonstration provided by Citrus Circuits from Davis. Citrus Circuits is also a group that your Chapter annually supports. This is group of high school students that design, build, and compete each year with a different robot. This year’s challenge was to design a robot that could pick up objects such as a traffic cone. It was amazing to the robot in action. We were all impressed by the demonstration which was followed by a slide presentation from the group. I am sure I speak for many of those in attendance when I say that seeing such passion in young people with engineering focused projects gives me even more hope for our future professionals.
The orange safety cone was no match for the Citrus Circuits Robot.
By Erik Fanselau, President
During the Covid-19 restrictions we will be conducting General Membership and BOD meetings virtually at no charge. Under normal circumstances, the in person General Membership and BOD dinner and lunch meetings are typically held at the Hilton Sacramento Arden West.
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As we close out 2023 and welcome in 2024, I decided to pause and take a moment to reflect on this past year as well as look towards the future. As an industry, we are fortunate that we finished yet
another strong year in infrastructure investment and private and commercial development. Most of us are old enough to have experienced the last economic downturn as professionals. While we can expect another downturn eventually, most indicators forecast another strong year for the consulting community. Another positive indicator is that most firms that I have spoken to are struggling to fill open positions. This next year will certainly bring new challenges along with some uncertainty with the elections, but I am confident that the state of our industry is strong and has a bright outlook. I hope all of you will have prosperous and successful 2024.
