South Carolina Society of Professional Engineers

2016 Annual Meeting Minutes

by

South Carolina Society of Professional Engineers

Board of Directors / Annual Meeting

June 23, 2016

Embassy Suites Charleston Area Convention Center

Call to Order: The SCSPE Board of Directors meeting was called to order at 10:35 A.M..  The following were present: David Rykard, PE, Andrew Rogers, PE, Jason Vaughn, PE, George H. McCall, PE, Randy Cottrell, PE, Paul Christopher, PE, Marty Mobley, PE, Warren Maddox, PE, Tom Sinclair, PE, John Mistak, PE , John L. Robinson, PE, Don Hallman, PE, Al Lopez, PE, Frank Iwankicki, PE, Kristen McIntire, PE, Marshall Norris, PE, Jerry Carter, PE , Mike Gearhart, PE, Seth Kiser, PE, Alan R. Thomas, PE, MK Baldwin, PE, W.G. Gever, PE, Mike Surratt, PE, Joe S. Jones, and Adam B. Jones.  A motion was made, seconded and passed to approve the minutes from the May 6, 2016 SCSPE Planning Retreat.

President David Rykard, PE then introduced himself and had those in attendance introduce themselves.

Financial Report: Secretary Treasurer Andy Rogers, PE gave the June Financial Report.  Rogers said currently SCSPE has an income of $89,224.82 versus expenses of $79,855.08, with a net income of $9,369.74.  Jones said that we have two more dues deposits coming from NSPE, and there will be some end of year expenses associated with the conference.  A motion was made, seconded, and passed to accept the Financial report as given.

At this time all Board business concluded and the Annual Meeting was called to order.  A motion was made, seconded and passed to approve the Annual Meeting Minutes from June 11, 2015.

President’s Report: President David Rykard, PE thanked all in attendance and thanked them for supporting the SC Engineering Conference & Trade Show.

Rykard gave the following year in review of SCSPE:

  • SCSPE continued the membership campaign that allows members get to come one of three PDH seminars if you recruit a new member or join as a new member.
  • Adopted new 3 Strategic Plan created by VP Angela Musselwhite and committee focusing on
    • Member Value ,Member Engagement, Professional & Leadership Development, & Advocacy
  • Joint legislative reception
    • Held it in Columbia, SC at the Palmetto Club on January 19, 2016 with ACEC-SC, AIA-SC, and Carolinas AGC
    • Over 200 Engineers, Architects, and Contractors / 50+ legislators and elected officials
  • Meetings:
    • Fall Symposium
        • Held in Greenville on November 18, 2015 with 76 attendees
        • Held in Charleston on November 19, 2015 with 46 attendees
      • Winter Meeting held in Columbia, SC on February 17, 2016 with 72 attendees
    • Disaster Preparedness held in Columbia, SC on May 1, 2016 48 attendees
  • All meetings came out with a net income
  • Legislation
      • S.685 The Engineers & Surveyors Practice Act : passed, term engineer protected
      • H.4661 PVC Pipe Preference bill : defeated, expected to come back next year
  • Chapters
    • Moved newly licensed engineering ceremony’s to chapters
    • Revived Spartanburg Chapter
    • Aiken Chapter hosts MathCounts at Bridgestone
  • National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE).
    • SCSPE had 3 people in Seattle at 2015 Annual Meeting
      • Member Skip Lewis won the Distinguished Service Award
    • Had NSPE Southeastern Regional Director attend a board meeting
    • Had NSPE President attend planning retreat.
    • SCSPE had 3 people attending annual meeting in Dallas
    • Spartanburg Director Carlos Gittens, PE sits on NSPE Professional Engineers in Private Practice(PEPP) Board, is on NSPE Membership Committee, and will be on the NSPE Board of Directors this year as the Chair of PEPP.

Rykard then gave a quick review of what SCSPE did at the annual planning retreat.  He said NSPE President Tim Austin, PE joined SCSPE for the retreat.  The retreat was lead by Vice President Angela Musselwhite, who was not present as she was at the NSPE Annual Conference, and she plans on growing the membership, strengthening the relationship between National and State and State and Chapter.    Rykard said he thinks Musselwhite will be a great president and is confident that SCSPE will have a successful year under her leadership.

Rykard closed asking attendees to mark their calendar for the next board meeting on September 2, 2016.

Treasurers Report:  Secretary Treasurer Andy Rogers, PE gave the SCSPE Year End Financials.  Rogers told attendees there will still be some dues income this year, as well as expenses from the conference, but as of June 4, 2016 SCSPE has income of $89,224.82 versus expenses of $79,855.08, with a net income of $9,369.74.  Rogers then presented the 2016-2017 SCSPE Proposed Budget.  A motion was made, seconded, and passed to approve the budget as published below:

SCSPE Educational Foundation Report: SCSPE Educational Foundation Vice President Marshall Norris, PE gave the following report on the Educational Foundation.

  • Two $1,000 scholarships were awarded to rising juniors/seniors in qualifying undergraduate engineering studies in South Carolina. The scholarships are going to: Matthew Brett Alford of Clemson University and Tyler Chin of Clemson University. An alternate for each scholarship was drawn in case the winners are unable to submit the required information. The Checks will be issued directly to Clemson University.
  • The Foundation provided financial support to State MATHCOUNTS and to the South Carolina team at the National Competition. The exact amount of funding provided to MATHCOUNTS will be determined, upon receipt of all associated income and expenses. As always, Marguerite McClam did an outstanding job at the State and National competitions. The Board of Trustees extends its most sincere thanks to Marguerite and to all those who volunteered and helped sponsor the 2016 MATHCOUNTS.
  • The officers for 2015-2016 are: Michelle Motchos – President, Michael Sheu – Vice President, Marshall Norris – Treasurer and Frank Iwanicki – Secretary.
  • Trustees for 2015-2016 are Mark Boland, Gary Dorfler, Frank Iwanicki, Michelle Motchos, Marshall Norris, David Rykard, Michael Sheu, Ola Skeie, Alan Thomas, John Schwartz, and Marguerite McClam, Ex-Officio, MATHCOUNTS Coordinator.

 

Executive Directors Report: Executive Director Adam B. Jones said it has been a busy year for SCSPE.  Jones said they started working on legislation early in the fiscal year with the newly started off season lobbying effort.  Jones said he and Joe S. Jones spent most Wednesdays on the road visiting legislators in their home districts.  He said at these visits SCSPE members joined them to talk about the issues engineers were facing during this legislative session.  Jones said he thought this helped as when they met the same legislators once the session started because they knew what the engineering community’s issues were.    This was also reinforced by the “Engineers at the State House” where and engineer would join the lobbysits at the State House.

He said it was a good year to have a tag team approach at the State House.  With two bills moving at the same time there were days when Joe Jones was working the House while Adam worked the Senate and vice versa.  Jones said engineers were vital to stopping H.4661, known as the “Pipe Bill”, but he was certain they’d be fighting it again in 2017.  S.685 the Engineers / Surveyors Practice Act passed and was ratified.  The controversial parts (QBS/Brokering) were stripped out, but the term engineer was able to be protected.

Jones said that all of the continuing education seminars SCSPE held in 2016 -2017 were all successful, and that both the Fall Symposium and the Disaster Preparedness had record attendance.

Jones went on to say NSPE was making some changes.  Among these changes is a new Association Management Software that has created some problems but hopes to resolve problems in the long run.  Jones informed the attendees that NSPE is in the process of working on a new logo that they hope SCSPE will adopt.  Lastly he told attendees that NSPE has hired a consulting firm to help them with growing the membership. One item the consulting firm is considering is a nationwide dues structure.  Jones said he’s does not like this idea as he thinks it will cause SCSPE to lose dues revenue.

Jones concluded his report thanking the membership for being a part of a great organization and for volunteering their time.

Tellers Committee Report:  The 2016 -2017 Tellers committee, C. Frank Lewis, PE and Michael F. Sheu, PE, gave the following report:   A bylaw change was necessary this year to do away with term limits for State Directors.  90 SCSPE Members voted Yay for this change, with 13 Nay votes.

The following are the results of the 2016 -2017 Slate of Nominees

2016-2017 Officers

President:                             Angela Musselwhite, PE                                                     100     votes

Vice President:     Andrew “Andy” Rogers, PE                                                97      votes

Sec/Treas:                             Jason Vaugh, PE                                                                    99      votes

NSPE House of Delegates Representative 2016-2018

NSPE HoD Representative: Martin “Marty” Mobley, PE                                                98   votes

2016 – 2019 SCSPE Directors:

Director:                                James M. “Mike” Surratt, PE (Catawba Chapter)             97     votes

Director:                                Carlos Gittens, PE  (Spartanburg Chapter)                       100    votes

Returning Directors:

  • 2015 – 2018
    • Randy Cottrell, PE (Columbia Chapter)
    • Frank Iwanicki, PE (Charleston Chapter)
  • 2014-2017
    • Ola Skie, PE (Piedmont Chapter)
    • Robert “Bob” Bellamy, PE (Coastal-Pee Dee Chapter)

After this report,  Joe S. Jones installed the officers and director for 2016 -2017.  Andy Rogers, PE then gave President David Rykard his plaque and thanked him for his service.

The next Board of Directors meeting is September 2, 2016 at AECOM in Columbia, SC and the next Membership Meeting will be at the ACEC-SC / SCSPE Winter Meeting in February in Columbia South Carolina.

Respectfully Submited by:

Adam B. Jones

SCSPE

Executive Director