One word comes to mind this month: growth. Regardless of the many goals DBIA sets for itself each year, such evolution is a necessity, and we are trying to deliver that within these pages each month.
On the heels of last month’s Design-Build for Water/Wastewater Projects Conference in Atlanta — and on the eve of the 2008 Design-Build for Transportation Conference April 16-18 in Louisville, Ky. — we’re not only encouraging growth throughout DBIA, but we’re trying to set examples from within. Through our conferences and education programs, as well as our Designated Design-Build Professional™ program, we want DBIA members to pursue excellence with a vengeance.
Lisa Washington, DBIA chief operating officer, is the latest example. In addition to her tireless efforts at DBIA in Washington, she also found time to achieve Certified Association Executive (CAE) status. At a minimum, it’s 75 hours of specialized education. But it’s not an end in itself. As the American Society of Association Executives states, “Professionals holding the designation pledge to continually advance their knowledge and achieve higher levels of excellence in association management. CAEs must also actively advance, support and promote association membership and the association profession as a whole.” DBIA credential holders demonstrate similar knowledge and skill levels when it comes to design-build.
DBIA staff — just as DBIA credential holders — seek excellence in their fields.
As DBIA is dedicated to continuing education, we encourage your efforts as well. The next big chance for you is next month’s conference. Please visit www.designbuildtransportation.com to take advantage of this great opportunity. Here at DATELINE, we also try to embrace growth, highlighting the successes and challenges for design-builders everywhere.
This month we focus on transportation, with feature stories that include a new commuter rail project in progress at Yankee Stadium. In addition, we head west and examine an ongoing 10-year highway construction project in Oregon in which design-build is perhaps the only approach that will allow the project a timely finish. We also have found the way to San José, Calif., through a design-build construction project that is making Norman Y. Mineta International Airport the gateway.
Finally, we take another big leap and examine the many unique aspects and successes of working design-build in a union environment, primarily revealing that despite some resistance to legislation, unions and design-build are an excellent fit.
We’re growing at DBIA, but we don’t just want you along for the ride. We want to put you in the driver’s seat, and hopefully this is a good start.
Christopher Prawdzik
Editor, Design-Build DATELINE