2019 Directory

27 T he SFX continues to meet monthly via conference call, and the workgroups also meet monthly. All groups have an active membership and continue to focus on small firms. The Influence workgroup, of which I am the group co-leader, is working on establishing a national database that addresses the small firm and its members. We are also working to find ways that small firms can band together to get affordable health insurance for their employees. There are a few components that have been able to do this, but we are trying to establish a national program. SFX continues to work on lien rights for professionals and is also working to make sure AIA Contract Docu- ments are affordable and easily accessible for small firms. We are working with national staff to set up a dialog with the contract documents people to get our message across – small firms do not like the current cost or format that deliv- ered contract documents are using. We are also talking with other national software companies like AutoCAD, MasterSpec, and Bluebeam to try to get better rates for small firms. We are reaching out to our components through quarterly reports, newsletters, and social media to let small firms to know what information is available to them and where to find it. SFX has been trying to expand how we get information out to the members. We are on both Facebook and Twitter and have the AIA Kinetic app. Through these media, you can link to AIA Trust, which has a wealth of information available for small firms. The mission of SFX is three-fold: 1) Advo- cate for small firms, 2) promote leadership, and 3) facilitate and support our local components. b State and Local Government Network Annual Meeting (SLGN) BY MIKE POTTER , AIA S tate Government Network changed its name this year to reflect better who it is. It is now State and Local Government Network. SLGN works to keep architects in- formed of legislation and trends that affect the way we practice. AIA recently adopted a report titled “Disruption, Evolution and Change: AIA’s vision for the future of Design and Construc- tion which deals with climate change, build- ing codes, and the effect of architecture on health, safety, and welfare. Other issues dealt with over the past year have been Business Transparency, which is legislation introduced in several state legislatures. It deals with a software program that tracks the amount of time that is spent working on publicly funded projects. It has not passed in a single state but keeps coming back. The only benefit to this legislation and software program is to the seller of the software. Other legislation introduced dealt with contractors and devel- opers wanting to be able to design and build townhouses without an architect’s involvement. SLGN continues to monitor what is going on locally and at the state level to make sure we do not get blindsided or steamrolled with legislation that affects the way we conduct our business. SLGN met in Providence, Rhode Island, this past July. There were State policy dinners dealing with School safety, AIA Contract Documents, Professional Licensing, Hous- ing, Incentives to build more resilient and sustainable, the 21st century City Architect, and Expanding business opportunities for architects. I attended the school safety dinner. The biggest take from this is we all want secure schools, but no one wants prison environments for our children. Thursday and Friday morning were spent in sessions that dealt with policy issues and objec- tives. I attended the sessions on School safety and design, Housing access and affordability, and Energy efficiency in new and existing buildings. These sessions were beneficial and provided more information than I can present in this short timeframe. An evening session featuredMayor Mick Cornett, Mayor of Oklahoma City from 2004 to 2018. He discussed how, under his administration, Oklaho- ma City was transformed from a place that people couldn’t wait to leave to a city that was revitalized and people-friendly. Highways and streets were rebuilt, relocated and transformed into friendly places; buildings were repurposed, renovated and brought back to life. He showed what can be done to a deteriorating downtown if enough time, effort andmoney is put into play. b Small Firm Exchange (SFX) BY MIKE POTTER, AIA