Engineering Inc. - September/October 2009 - 32

ONE ON ONE Michael Baker CEO on Climate Change, Sustainability, QBS and Political Action Bradley L. Mallory is president and CEO of Michael Baker Corp. in Moon Township, Pa. Q. Your firm for decades has provided services to the energy, pipeline and utility industries. what do you foresee as the potential opportunities and challenges facing our industry in the climate change legislation currently before Congress? A. Q. I believe our skills will be in high demand to help our customers in these industries adapt and build in the necessary resiliency, beginning with scenario-based planning. The most critical challenge for us and our customers will be minimizing the cost of adaptation and infrastructure resiliency while meeting the intent of the legislation. And, of course, finding the capital necessary to fund the adaptation. ficulty there is that it would require additional sources of revenue, which the Obama administration and many members of Congress apparently believe would further tax an already ambitious agenda. It would appear the time has come to at least begin to debate the replacement of the gas tax, probably with some type of vehicle usage fee, as well as public-private partnerships and tolling. An 18-month extension of SAFETEA-LU may be the best we can do at this point. If so, ideally some modest cost escalation should be built into it. In no event can we afford a series of continuing resolutions, which would have the effect of bringing the nation’s transportation programs to a virtual halt. Q. Your company has worked closely with ACEC over the years to address liability issues relative to work with federal agencies. what are the key issues in your view, and how important is it for the industry to confront these challenges in a unified way? A. Q. how has Michael Baker Corp. embraced “sustainability” as part of its business strategy? Q. We appreciate the support ACEC has provided, in particular its involvement in the amicus brief associated with ACEC/Metro Washington. This suit could have a significant impact on Michael Baker Corp., as well as many other Member Firms that support FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program. The issue of levee liability looms large, and only a unified approach by the industry will be able to convince Congress that a solution is required. Q. Engineers. We should have an awards and recognition process for such efforts, both on the federal and state levels. Second, we need to rally a coalition to support these efforts in Congress. Third, we need to develop a method for rapid procurement of A/E services. Our customers’ procurement departments are stretched way too thin, and they often don’t have time to follow what appears to be a long and cumbersome QBS process. We need to offer a more streamlined solution. Michael Baker Corp. is among a few firms in the industry that has its own political action committee (PAC), which coordinates well with ACEC/PAC. how important is a proactive political program to your business? A. what do you believe is the best approach to solving the nation’s funding crisis for surface transportation? A. 32 Clearly, the best approach is timely passage of the next Surface Transportation Assistance Act. The difENGINEERING INC. Our mission clearly states that we “deliver innovative and sustainable solutions” to our customers. We accomplish this through our internal company practices, such as office recycling, and work with our clients to incorporate sustainable solutions into all of our planning and design work where it is feasible and costeffective to do so. what needs to be done to protect and expand the use of Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), both at the federal and state levels? A. A. We see challenges to QBS coming from many directions. First and foremost, I believe the industry needs to aggressively support agencies that have core engineering expertise and regularly follow the QBS process, such as the U.S. Army Corps of We are, by nature, a relationship-based business. It is important to us that we help elect and retain legislators at the state and federal level who understand and vigorously support infrastructure-related issues. One way of doing this is to provide financial support to their campaigns, which we do through our PAC. This serves to involve our employees in the electoral process and helps to build and strengthen the relationships we have with the individuals we support. n SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2009

Engineering Inc. - September/October 2009

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