“We can do better. We will do better. All of you at this Conference
and the thousands of members who could not attend deserve
better,” Daniel remarked. “And together, we will make this happen.”
“We need to keep our people in mind,” Jeff noted as he returned to
the stage. “Whether it is the public, the users of our services or our
members, our purpose is what we do for our profession. We improve
people’s quality of life through infrastructure development.”
Celebrating Our Successes
Jeff acknowledged that our members have had a big part in the
development of transportation systems, clean water systems and the
ability to bring electric, natural gas and oil products to homes and
businesses. Additionally, our members continue to be part of the
maintenance and rebuilding of roads, rail projects, electric, water
service, pipeline systems and more.
He went on to discuss the value we bring through our education
and credentialing programs, such as the World CLIMB, which
was presented by the Partnership for Infrastructure Professional
Education (PIPE) Committee. In the past five years, PIPE has
been integral in obtaining 41,064 course participations and in the
production of seven new courses.
IRWA credentialing remains strong as well. In 2016, Past President
Mary Anne Marr, SR/WA, and Right of Way International
Education Foundation (RWIEF) President Carol Croft, SR/WA,
collaborated to create the 40 for 40 program. Under this program,
the RWIEF provided scholarships totaling $185,000 for 40 IRWA
members to obtain their RWA or RWP designations.
In September 2018, the IGC agreed to pause the Association’s
Governance Project and created a Governance Task Force to review
the process. This task force is on track to complete their work for
presentation at the IGC meeting in September.
Finally, Jeff congratulated IRWA’s Young Professionals for officially
becoming IRWA’s newest committee. On that high note, Jeff thanked
everyone for their attendance and invited them to have some fun.
Special Guest
To conclude the event, the Opening Ceremony speaker was none
other than Captain Larry Brudnicki, who commanded the Coast
Guard ship that performed two dramatic rescues during the worst
weather in over 100 years. His tale inspired a New York Times Best
Seller and the blockbuster movie, “The Perfect Storm,” starring
George Clooney.
PORTLAND 2019
