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District Development #9- This covers the weeks from February 10 -March 9th, 2018. It provides a recap of the major events happening in each district that we feel the members need to be aware of/kept up to date. This article covers Baton Rouge, the Southwest District (Lafayette & Lake Charles), New Orleans, and the Northwest Region. BATON ROUGE: The Baton Rouge District recently held a meeting with DOTD, the Engineering community and AGC members to discuss the Design Build process. The meeting was held to have an open discussion on the pros and cons of the Design Build process. The Department is potentially looking to let several projects using Design Build in the future and AGC was very encouraged to have a voice to discuss the issue. AGC walked away from the meeting feeling very optimistic about the Design Build Process. As we look to the next few weeks Louisiana AGC has a lot of ways for Baton Rouge members to get involved. On Tuesday the 13th, we are holding a Roundtable discussion between DOTD and our Highway Division. The meeting is at 10:30 and will be held at our temporary office. Next Thursday, March 15th, the Baton Rouge District is holding a luncheon meeting at 11:30 to discuss the 2018 Legislative Session. Lastly, we invite you to help support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation by participating or sponsoring our upcoming golf tournament. Please be aware that we are having to push the tournament back two weeks to April 9th. The tournament is nearly sold out so take the time to register today. For additional information please contact Michael Demouy at: 225-344-0432 or email: michaeld@lagc.org LAFAYETTE: Lafayette: The date has been set and we’re ready for a great crawfish boil. Mark your calendars for Thursday, April 12th. The boil will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Scott, La. again. Things get kicked off at 6 P.M. To register, go to lagc.org and click on the Crawfish Boil Page underneath the Events Tab. Hope to see you all there. For additional information please contact David Landreneau at davidl@lagc.org LAKE CHARLES: Plans are under way to hold a Jambalaya Cook-Off to benefit the McNeese Women’s Softball team. We are looking at Wednesday, May 9th, but that date hasn’t yet been set in stone so stay tuned for the official announcement. But before that we have planned our annual crawfish boil. We are set for Thursday, April 26th at Prien Lake Park. Everything will kick off at 6 P.M. The weather was gorgeous last year and we had the biggest AGC boil in the state so let’s try to grow this to an even bigger event this year. For additional information please contact David Landreneau at davidl@lagc.org NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans District Meeting; March 27 We have a district meeting scheduled for the end of this month with guest speaker Marcie Edwards, from the Sewerage and Water Board. She will provide insight into the effects of her leadership to date during her tenure at the Board. Also, we will inquire of the status of this organization once she surrenders her post later this summer. • SWB Construction Review Committee; March 8 After not having projects for review recently, the CRC will reconvene on Thursday, March 8 to set participation goals on upcoming SWB contracts Response to City Business Article Ten days ago the New Orleans City Business published an article highlighting the area’s Top Ten Construction projects. There were a number of misleading statements City Business quoted the Director of Public Works. I have attached the response that is prepared to be sent to the editor. In the interest of maintaining a working relationship with the City of New Orleans so that you all may do your work, this letter is currently stalled. Pending a consensus and greenlight from Ken, LAGC CEO, this letter will be sent to Mr. Traweek at City Business to voice our position. Response to CNO’s Disparity Study Below are the links to the initial findings from the Disparity study. A response to this is being formulated and will be provided to the Keen group and the City Council to ensure a complete picture of the construction climate in New Orleans is being conveyed. 2018 City of New Orleans Disparity Study (draft summary report) 2018 City of New Orleans Disparity Study (draft full report) Transition Team Update We are in constant conversation with Madame Mayor-Elect Cantrell’s team and are adamantly voicing our concerns to the team and to the incoming administration directly. Although the team is under a Non Disclosure Agreement, we will invite our contacts there to hear from us and carry back our concerns in the coming days. Also, our June District Meeting will host the new mayor as our guest speaker. Jefferson Parish The other busiest parish in the New Orleans District has experienced some shuffling in key positions. Starting with the Council meeting this evening, AGC will tour the offices with former Director of Purchasing, current Councilmember Impastato’s chief of staff, Brenda Patel, and provide information regarding industry developments throughout Jefferson Parish. Crawfish Boil Please mark your calendar for our annual Crawfish Boil to be held April 18 at Southport Hall. Information regarding registration will be forthcoming. For additional information please contact Andre Kelly at andrek@lagc.org Northwest Region: Includes Shreveport, Monroe, and Alexandria Districts SHREVEPORT: Since our last meeting in February, the merger between the Shreveport chapter and Louisiana AGC has been ongoing. Through several meetings, this has been a smooth transition and promises to be of great benefit to all members of the Shreveport District as well as the LAGC as a whole. As we finalize this merger, everyone please mark your calendars for the upcoming District meeting on March 21st. This meeting will be a 401k luncheon, and will be held at Ralph and Kacoo’s instead of the Shreveport office. Our 401k representative, Steve Ellsworth, will be in attendance to give a presentation on the many benefits associated with the 401k southwest plan as well as answer any questions members may have. You will not want to miss this luncheon! A few other events to keep in mind are the Crawfish boil being held at the Shreveport office on April the 5th, and the Gold tournament being held on April the 30th at Southern Trace Golf Club. Don’t forget to go online and register for these events! Please contact Wes Mouk at wesm@lagc.org if you have any questions! For additional information please contact Wes Mouk at: wesm@lagc.org MONROE: Monroe District looks forward to a busy spring. The first quarterly meeting of the year will be held on march 22nd at catfish cabin. This meeting promises to be informative with our 401k representative coming in to give a report on the status of our 401k program. Last week marked the 100 year anniversary of the AGC of America, where they held the annual convention in New Orleans. This convention held great attendance, and the Louisiana AGC through the CETF was able to send 12 students from the University of Louisiana Monroe as well as Louisiana Tech to the convention. These students were able to attend educational seminars as well as participate in other great networking opportunities! In other news, the 23rd annual golf tournament is scheduled for April 23rd at Calvert Crossing Golf Club. This is always a sellout event so make sure to visit the Louisiana AGC website to Register your team. For additional information please contact Wes Mouk at: wesm@lagc.org ALEXANDRIA: Alexandria Members, the year started out strong and we at LAGC look forward to keeping this trend going! As we put the first district meeting behind us, please mark your calendars for the upcoming Crawfish boil at the Farmers Market on April the 19th. Registration can be found under the events tab on the Louisiana AGC website. This is always one of the largest events hosted in the area, and we look forward to a great turnout. On the heels of the crawfish boil will be the second district meeting in May. Please contact Wes Mouk at wesm@lagc.org if you have any questions! For additional information please contact Wes Mouk at: wesm@lagc.org