Despite several challenges including a difficult economy, workforce shortages, and ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACEC Political Action Committee (ACEC/PAC) enjoyed another triumphant fundraising year in 2022.
Thanks to the hard work of many volunteers, ACEC/PAC achieved $1,277,645 in donations—an all-time record.
ACEC/PAC is the nation’s only political organization looking out for engineering firms and their legislative interests. ACEC/ PAC is regulated by the Federal Election Commission and overseen by a committee of PAC Champions made up of engineering firm executives from ACEC Member Organizations.
The political committee plays a key role in the success of ACEC’s advocacy program, supporting federal candidates on a bipartisan basis who support the engineering industry’s business agenda in Congress. ACEC/PAC is currently the largest PAC in the design industry and ranks in the top 3 percent among all association PACs.
The 2022 ACEC/PAC campaign achieved record growth in both dollars raised and member participation, despite “member firm employees remaining historically busy executing the business of engineering and delivering value to the marketplace while solving complex problems,” says Derek Clyburn, president at ECS Southeast LLP, and ACEC/PAC vice chair.
With an average of two open jobs per available employee, member firm employees were frequently too busy to participate in fundraising initiatives, Clyburn says. “Kudos to our PAC Champions across the country for asking early and often for contributions to the PAC and for producing off-hour educational events held at engaging venues,” he says.
The proudest moment of 2022 was surpassing $1 million in ACEC/PAC giving on the way to a record-setting year, says Jason Matson, principal at Kimley-Horn and Associates and ACEC/PAC chair.
$1,277,645Total receipts for 2022
$1,151,518Total receipts for 2021
32 Capitol Club Members ($5,000)
64 Chairman’s Club Members ($2,500+)
269 Millennium Club Members ($1,000–$2,499)
3,043 Unique contributors
$815,900 raised from the four PAC sweepstakes programs, with 5,606 entries
16 member firm federal PAC contributions totaling $54,400
Giving the max contribution of $5,000 were: Michael Baker, Black & Veatch, CDM Smith, Hanson Professional Services, Huitt-Zollars, KCI Holdings, Terracon, and TranSystems
Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. – $71,511
HDR – $20,035
HNTB Corp. – $19,580
BGE, Inc. – $17,000
Gannett Fleming – $13,600
WSP USA – $13,135
Chen Moore & Associates – $12,450
Terracon Consultants, Inc. – $12,445
Thomas & Hutton – $12,200
Burns & McDonnell – $10,775
46 states achieved their PAC goal
California raised the most ($113,886), and Illinois had the most contributors (272)
Indiana was the first state to achieve its PAC goal and raised 232 percent over their goal
California and Texas achieved their goals for the first time
“On the advocacy side, our members should be pleased with the level of engagement by ACEC staff and members, allowing ACEC to have a seat at the table as it relates to the passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; continued efforts on Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness; creative solutions to our workforce challenges via science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education priorities; and encouraging the lifting of limitations on green card allotments,” Matson says.
Many people are responsible for this year’s success. “We owe it to our network of ACEC/PAC Champions, their respective state executive directors, as well as Member Organization leadership who continue to trade best practices and lessons learned for our fundraising and advocacy efforts,” Matson says.
The energy and enthusiasm among the larger states in competition for PAC bragging rights for highest contributing Member Organization has been exciting to experience firsthand, Matson says. “The fact that 2022 could finish with multiple states approaching or exceeding $100,000 in giving is remarkable,” he says. “So special thanks to New York, Texas, Illinois, and California for their competitive efforts to land our national PAC in seven-digit territory in 2022.”
Member Organizations incorporated a lot of creativity to engage members in PAC giving during the COVID-19 pandemic, says Dawn Cartier, managing principal at CivTech Inc. and ACEC/ PAC vice chair. “Prior to that, most activities were in person, allowing constant communication with members about the importance of giving to the PAC,” she says. “I really enjoyed Arizona’s PAC Smackdown, which engaged firms in competition with each other to help drive higher participation during the pandemic.”
Challenges remain ahead for ACEC/PAC, but the organization is prepared to take them on. Engaging member firm staff outside of the executive level is the biggest challenge, Clyburn says, as many executive-level staff will be exiting the industry as the baby boomer generation reaches retirement. “ACEC/PAC must continue to grow the base of its next generation of contributors,” he says.
The National PAC Team “has done a great job in providing tools and resources to increase synergy and member involvement in ACEC/PAC,” Clyburn says. “In addition to the messaging of ACEC/PAC activities, improved ease of giving due to enhancement in the giving portals and the encouragement of use of the ACEC townhouse for fundraising events are examples of effective efforts from 2022.”
“Our board of directors has been very supportive.”
TONY ROOSACEC/PAC CHAMPION FOR ACEC OREGONPRINCIPAL ENGINEERKITTELSON & ASSOCIATES
“The record-setting year was made possible through an industry team effort from our PAC Champions, Member Organization executives, and member firm contributors,” says Dave Bender, ACEC vice president of political affairs.
With many of the larger donors retiring from the industry, “this creates a need to get our younger engineers involved in the PAC and engaged in the political process,” Cartier says. “Our goal is to increase the number of individual donors, especially those newer to our industry.”
“We know as a leading PAC in Washington, D.C., that we must broaden the contribution base to a diverse, sustainable level,” Matson says. “So, I’m pleased the number of unique contributors continues to increase in many of the Member Organizations. We have learned that the likelihood of a first-time contributor to repeat their PAC engagement annually is high.”
The PAC experiences ongoing impacts to both its membership and its participation levels with increased merger and acquisition activity of member firms, Matson says. “We need to ensure as firms get larger through these activities that we overcome the erosion of PAC involvement and ensure larger firms are doing their part,” he says.
Various ACEC/PAC state organizations around the country launched campaigns to achieve their goals in 2022.
ACEC Texas had record-setting PAC fundraising, according to Lee Lennard, ACEC/PAC Champion and president and CEO of BGE Inc.
For the first time in its history, the Texas PAC exceeded its goal and raised more than $100,000, leading the fundraising among the state ACEC/PACs. “This was a team effort of many that raised awareness and engagement of Texas member firms,” Lennard says. “It was the culmination of a vision created in 2020 by ACEC Texas leadership that has Texas becoming deeply involved in and integrated into the overall political strategic plan of ACEC National.”
Texas significantly increased member participation in the National PAC, Lennard says. ACEC Texas President Peyton McKnight and members of the board toured the state as part of an “ACEC Texas Road Show” and shared a new “Roadmap to Member Engagement” plan and website.
“We owe it to our network of ACEC/PAC Champions, their respective state executive directors, as well as Member Organization leadership who continue to trade best practices and lessons learned for our fundraising and advocacy efforts.”
JASON MATSONACEC/PAC CHAIRPRINCIPALKIMLEY-HORN AND ASSOCIATES
The effort addressed some of the misconceptions held by members that political engagement is an activity limited to a few, Lennard says. “Instead, we led a grassroots effort with peer-to-peer recruiting, resulting in members getting in the game,” he says. “The program was a tremendous success, led to the success we see today, and provides momentum into the future.”
Texas member firms have for many years contributed to national candidates and incumbents through a robust direct giving program, Lennard says. “ACEC National is on a path to integrate and coordinate direct giving with the PAC,” he says. “When this is fully realized, ACEC will enjoy a multiplying effect in its advocacy and influence at the national level.”
In this future model, ACEC “will further leverage relation-ships with key elected officials using PAC dollars as seed money and member firm direct giving to contribute significantly to our friends in Congress,” Lennard says.
“This creates a need to get our younger engineers involved in the PAC and engaged in the political process. Our goal is to increase the number of individual donors, especially those newer to our industry.”
DAWN CARTIERACEC/PAC VICE CHAIRMANAGING PRINCIPALCIVTECH INC.
“ACEC/PAC must continue to grow the base of its next generation of contributors.”
DEREK CLYBURNACEC/PAC VICE CHAIRPRESIDENTECS SOUTHEAST, LLP
In Connecticut, ACEC-CT members have been committed to supporting the ACEC National PAC for decades, says Kevin Hussain, associate vice president at AI Engineers and ACEC/ PAC Champion for ACEC-CT.
“Originally, our Member Organization’s fundraising efforts featured a holiday party with gift baskets as a giveaway,” Hussain says. “This fundraising event was an opportunity to bring the members together to celebrate accomplishments while raising funds for the PAC so that ACEC could continue to have a strong voice in Washington, D.C. Educating our members as to the importance of supporting federal legislators who understand the issues impacting engineering not only in Connecticut but across the country is key to the success of our industry.”
ACEC-CT has transitioned the holiday party to a scholarship fundraiser to reward hardworking students who are looking to attend college and major in an engineering-related field, Hussain says.
Interest and support for the PAC has grown over the years, and ACEC-CT added a golf tournament as another fundraising event. “The annual golf tournament has become so successful that foursomes have sold out for the past three years,” Hussain says.
ACEC-CT first met its PAC goal in 2006, and its targeted amount has grown over the years. “We continue to not only meet our annual goal but surpass it,” Hussain says. “As chair of the ACEC-CT PAC committee, I am incredibly proud of our organization’s commitment to ACEC’s efforts on the national level. ACEC-CT members are looking forward to adding more PAC fundraising events that allow for the opportunity to educate our members and federal legislators about the important issues facing the engineering profession.”
“Educating our members as to the importance of supporting federal legislators who understand the issues impacting engineering not only in Connecticut but across the country is key to the success of our industry.”
KEVIN HUSSAINACEC/PAC CHAMPION FOR ACEC-CTASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTAI ENGINEERS
ACEC Oregon focuses on several major events each year to reach its goals. In January, it holds a Spring Sweepstakes in which each of its board members is assigned a list of prior contributors to contact, says Tony Roos, principal engineer at Kittelson & Associates and ACEC/PAC Champion for ACEC Oregon. The board president sends a letter to each of the prior year contributors to thank them, and major donors get a personal call from the board president.
In the spring, the PAC has its annual business meeting and hosts a giveaway, which counts toward the National Sweepstakes.
In the summer, ACEC Oregon hosts a PAC golf tournament. “Sponsors fund the tournament for us, and participants contribute to the PAC,” Roos says. Sponsors of the event are encouraged to send a young professional to play in the tournament at a reduced entry fee.
“Instead, we led a grassroots effort with peer-to-peer recruiting, resulting in members getting in the game. The program was a tremendous success, led to the success we see today, and provides momentum into the future.”
LEE LENNARDACEC/PAC CHAMPION FOR ACEC TEXASPRESIDENT AND CEOBGE INC.
In the fall, the organization holds an Oregon Fall Conference, which features another giveaway opportunity with tickets costing $200 each.
And in the winter, the board finishes the year with another round of calls to prior year contributors. In addition, major contributors ($1,000 or more) automatically get a ticket in each giveaway and to the golf tournament, Roos says.
Oregon has made its annual PAC goal for at least the past 10 years, Roos says. The PAC committee has grown to three members. “We started with a small ask of $100 per contributor and have slowly increased it to $200 per contributor. Our board of directors has been very supportive.”
Bob Violino is a business and technology writer based in Massapequa Park, New York.