APWA AZ Newsletter 2017 Sep
| NEWSLETTER SEP 2017 |
September 8, 2017 September 20, 2017 September 20, 2017 September 21, 2017 September 28, 2017 2017 NEWSLETTER SPONSORS
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Welcome to September! The end of summer means its back to school throughout Arizona. In addition to being aware around schools for back to school safety, this brings a special opportunity for all of us to promote our industry. I would like to encourage you to reach out to your local elementary, middle, and high school principals, guidance counselors, and teachers to offer your time as a guest speaker. There are many opportunities for this, including career days, and in STEM, AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), and CTE (Career & Technical Education) classes. Now more than ever is an important time to let our students know about all their options in the public works industry. Here are some resources available on the APWA Website.
Discovering the World of Public Works introduces children (K-5) to the multifaceted and exciting world of public works. Since its release, more than 33,000 copies of the workbook have been sold to date. Outreach to 6th-8th grades
Outreach to 9th-12th grades (High School) Shaping the World of Public Works seeks to educate high school students about public works functions and careers. These materials build on the foundation established by APWA with its elementary and middle school educational programs by offering resources for helping high school students understand the scope of public works in their communities and the opportunities they have to be part of this vital workforce. Sincerely,
APWA Luncheon Program: Sep 20th from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm Topic: Deconstructing Proposals to Creatively Respond to RFP's. Don't miss our upcoming events including our Networking Mixer!!
Communications Committee The main goal of this committee is to enhance communication with membership via monthly newsletters and various social media. We are always interested in ideas for future newsletters so feel free to share with us if you…
Sandy Niebel and Scott Kirchhofer are co-chairs. The committee meets the first Tuesday of each month from 9:00 to 10:00 am via conference call. If you would like additional information about the communication committee or would like to attend a meeting, please contact Sandy at sniebel@woodpatel.com or Scott at skirchhofer@achen.com New Member Spotlight
Name and Title: Christopher Wanamaker, Flood Control Section Chief With APWA Since: June, 2017 Describe your job responsibilities: I oversee Pinal County's Flood Control Section which currently has a staff of five and an annual budget of $3 million. Our team currently performs a variety of functions including the floodplain management, stormwater management, capital improvement project management, and the operation and maintenance of more than 30 stream flow and precipitation gauges. What was your favorite project to work on in the last 10 years? I really enjoyed working on getting Pinal County into the Community Rating System which recognizes communities for programs that exceed the minimum federal standard for floodplain management. This was a very challenging yet rewarding project which required years of effort to accomplish. Ultimately, our efforts resulted in a 15% discount on flood insurance premiums for residents living within the Special Flood Hazard Area. Where have your travels taken you? I've visited 21 US states mostly in the south and southwest. Name one thing not many people know about you: I've gone skydiving at the facility in Eloy.
2017 Statewide Conference Wrap Up Story by Conference Co-Chairs Christy Sipos (Civiltec Engineering) and Scott Kirchhofer (Achen-Gardner Construction)
We would like to thank all of the committee members, attendees, sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers for making the Arizona Chapter APWA 2017 Statewide Conference a big success. We had some big shoes to fill after previous co-chairs Arno Leskinen and Robin Bain stepped down and we weren’t sure we could match or exceed their efforts. In fact, we needed a little push from Loretta Flick (Arizona Chapter APWA President) to convince us to do it. We are glad she had faith in us because even though it was challenging, we feel that we provided everyone with a quality event and we did a lot to organize conference committee activities to hopefully make future planning more efficient. We are leaving the conference website live at https://azapwaconference.com/ so you can refer back to conference details, access the final program, see the list of award winners and follow new conference information as it becomes available.
Those who attended the opening session with JJ Birden, former NFL wide receiver and now leadership and opportunity trainer, will never forget his motivational words and valuable stories. Even those that were not interested in football were glad they attended and gained a lot from his message. He is an excellent speaker and a real down to earth guy. Thanks to everyone who attended his presentation on “How to Lead and Perform at the Highest Level” and stayed after to meet him and buy his book (which he ran out of) “When Opportunity Knocks, 8 Surefire Ways to Take Advantage!”
This year we had 63 booths which is an increase from last year. It was a good mix of engineering and construction firms, equipment/material suppliers, and other industry-related firms. We would like to thank all of the exhibitors and all of the sponsors for helping to make this a great event. Without your support, this conference would not be possible.
Thursday’s “Fun Night” was well attended and a ton of fun. A storm was rolling in so we were going to move everything indoors but thankfully the skies cleared and we were all able to have our luau indoors and outdoors. The steel drum music by the Jovert Steel Band was a huge hit (check out the video of them playing George Michael’s Careless Whisper on the APWA Facebook page), the lawn games were fun and brought out the competitive side of attendees, and by all accounts everyone really enjoyed the food. A special thanks to the Conference Site Committee for planning this wonderful event. We look forward to continuing the themed fun night tradition and giving attendees a relaxing event to look forward to each year. Please visit our Facebook page for more photos and videos of Fun Night. https://www.facebook.com/Arizona-APWA-221528281205625/
Friday’s programming was also a big hit! More than 150 people attended the economic development panel offer insights on “How Economic Development Leadership is Elevating Arizona Communities” and time to interact with owners, project managers, and decision makers from 20 different Arizona municipalities/agencies. The networking event was something that we’ve never tried before and the feedback from attendees and agency representatives was very positive. I’m sure we will repeat this program next year and make it bigger and better. Speaking of feedback, we asked attendees to fill out an online survey and 48 of you responded. Other people chose to tell us directly what they liked and didn’t like. Please, if you have any comments about the conference, feel free to contact us. We would like to know your thoughts and how we can make the conference better next year. Christy Sipos csipos@civiltec.com 2017 Conference By The Numbers
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