Happy New Year From CMA!
Happy New Year From CMA!
January 1, 2020
News
CMA Donates to Adopt-A-Family
December 20, 2019
News
CMA sponsored a young family of four living in Palm Beach County, as part of the Adopt-A-Family program. Adopt-A-Familys mission is to strengthen families with children in their efforts to achieve stability and self-sufficiency by providing access to all-encompassing services. Since 1983, Adopt-A-Family has grown into the largest service provider for homeless families in Palm Beach County — providing access to services for more than 2,000 families with children per year.
CMA Staff Participates in Broward United Way Day of Caring
December 18, 2019
News
CMA continued our tradition of helping those in need this holiday season by participating in the Broward United Way Day of Caring event on December 18 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise. Our team included Jennifer Smith, P.E.; Johanna Zona; Megan Schmidt; Jazmin Cruz; Safiya Brea, P.E., LEED AP; Charmaine Emanuels, E.I.; and Rex Robinson. The team assisted in preparing oatmeal package meals. The event prepared over 300,000 food packages and boxed meals that will be delivered to local food banks and feeding pantries through United Ways Project Lifeline program. The days event packaged over 300,000 meals! Thanks to the CMA Community Service Committee for coordinating the event! For more information, please visit http://www.unitedwaybroward.org/
SunSentinel Mention
December 16, 2019
Blog
December 13, 2019
Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP
President, Chen Moore and Associates
Last week: Last week, Florida TaxWatch celebrated its 40th annual meeting at the Breakers. It was a fantastic event with speakers including former Senator LeMieux, former Governors Martinez and Graham, Congressman Mast and Governor Desantis. While the many accomplishments of Florida TaxWatch were highlighted, the focus on the meeting was the inextricable link between the environment, and resiliency, to Florida’s economy was the larger overall theme. Floridians wants, and deserve it all ﾖ jobs, the environment and a great place to live!
Looking ahead: For those in South Florida, it sometimes goes unnoticed that the last Legislative Committee Week wrapped up Friday. I don’t know about anyone else reading the SF#100, but there are dozens of bills impacting my business. From potentially eliminating my professional license, to changing the thresholds allowable for public agencies to hire professional services and a bill allowing a separate license for structural engineers, there are big changes possible for those that don’t get involved. I’m looking forward to an exciting session in the coming new year!
CMA Annual Holiday Party Celebrated in Fort Lauderdale
December 13, 2019
News
Our CMA annual holiday party was held on December 13 at the Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. The evening included a welcome speech from Peter and a year-in-review slide show, reliving both firm and employee milestones throughout 2019. A photo booth with holiday props was also available for everyones enjoyment. Thank you to the Social Activities Committee for planning the event!
(Click on the image to the left for a larger view)
SunSentinel Mention
December 9, 2019
Blog
December 6, 2019
Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP
President, Chen Moore and Associates
Last week: Last week there was much discussion about a Constitutional Amendment in Florida about raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Let me be clear, all my employees already make more than this rate, but I think government impacting business decisions is bad policy. Currently, the $8.46 hourly rate is nearly 17% higher than the Federal rate, and just moving is to $10 would be another 18% higher. Preliminary numbers show about 200,000 jobs would be lost if implemented, but factoring in indirect jobs, this would be over 500,000 jobs which will disproportionately impacting the most needy.
Looking ahead: Billions of dollars in federal fundingﾗalong with congressional representationﾗare at stake for Floridians in the 2020 census. While children aged 0-5 have been a historically hard to enumerate population, children can also play a critical role in explaining the importance of the census to their parents and other relatives. This rings especially true for those who live in immigrant households, as children and teens can help mitigate fear and mistrust of the census that has permeated immigrant communities. With an estimated 2.5 million people becoming Florida residents since 2010, we must achieve nothing less than a complete count!
CMA Sponsored the FES Broward Legislative Breakfast
December 4, 2019
News
CMA sponsored the FES Broward Legislative Breakfast at the Tower Club in Fort Lauderdale on December 4th. State Representatives Dan Daley and Chip LaMarca from districts 97 and 93, respectfully, attended to discuss key issues for the upcoming 2020 Legislative Agenda. The topics discussed included defending the practice of engineering, CCNA, Floridas Transportation Infrastructure, Water Infrastructure, Environmental Issues, Energy and Technology, and Florida Statutes 471. The event was organized by CMA President Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP and Associate Engineer Vince Locigno, E.I. and attended by CMA Chairman of the Board Dr. Ben Chen, P.E., BCEE and staff members Jose L. Acosta, P.E., F.ASCE, Safiya Brea, P.E., LEED AP, Daniel Davila, P.E., Charmaine Emanuels, E.I., Teresa Lewis, E.I., Diego Jara Li and Rex Robinson.
CMA Reps Attended Florida Tax Watch
December 4, 2019
News
CMA President Peter Moore P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP; Vice President Jose L. Acosta, P.E., F.ASCE; CMA Board of Directors member Ray Monteleone; and CMA Board of Directors member John Zumwalt attended the Florida Tax Watchs 40th Anniversary celebration, conference and meetings at the Breakers in West Palm Beach on December 2nd through the 4th. Jose completed their Citizenship Institute Program. Peter and Ray also serve as trustees. John Zumwalt received an award for being a past chairman.
SunSentinel Mention
December 3, 2019
Blog
November 22, 2019
Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP
President, Chen Moore and Associates
Last week: Earlier this week, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, a short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown through mid-December. While short-term spending measures are by no means ideal, the good news is the bill included an allocation of $7.3 billion to the Census Bureau so the agency has the resources needed to achieve a complete count in the 2020 census. This funding could not come at a better time, particularly in light of newly-updated reports showing the Census will impact the distribution of $1.5 trillion dollars, up from previous estimates of $880 billion. #GetCounted!
Looking ahead: Kudos to the Broward County Commission, County Administration, and Office of Economic & Small Business Development (OESBD) for consistently proactive efforts to include our entire community in the benefits generated by the penny transportation surtax. When the County Commission voted to place the surtax referendum on the ballot, there was unanimous approval for a 30% small business participation goal. This means hundreds of millions of dollars being pumped into our small businesses over the course of 30 years. Broward’s small businesses are the backbone that drives our economy forward, and they’ll continue to do so well into the future.
SunSentinel Mention
December 3, 2019
Blog
November 29, 2019
Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP
President, Chen Moore and Associates
Last week: Last week, HB 707 was filed that essentially sunsets all licensure in Florida that is run through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). In rolling groups over five year, every profession will have licensure eliminated unless the legislature takes action to continue the license that benefits the public safety, health and welfare. As a citizen of Florida, I’m in favor of removing needless barriers to entry for some professions, but as a Licensed Professional Engineer, I sincerely hope that the Legislature recognizes the importance of engineers to the public’s well being.
Looking ahead: For the past 40 years, Florida TaxWatch has led the way, serving as the eyes and ears of Florida’s taxpayers. TaxWatch has made Florida a better place to work, live, play, and run a business by shaping some of the most significant policy reforms on businesses, residents, and the Sunshine State’s quality of life over these past four decades. Next week, TaxWatch celebrates those 40 years at the 40th Annual Meeting to be held at the Breakers. I’m certainly looking forward to celebrating those unsung heroes.
