CMA staff members Jose L. Acosta, P.E., F.ASCE and Cris Betancourt, PLA, AICP attended the Inaugural Miami Dade County Parks fundraising event on February 23. The event featured a First Annual Community Champions Awards ceremony where the County representatives gave awards to every county commissioner. The event was held at the Westchester Cultural Center, a recently completed CMA project, where CMA provided landscape architecture services led by Zyscovich Architects. CMA served as an event sponsor.

On Saturday February 11, CMA staff Jose L. Acosta, P.E., F.ASCE, Dominique Bethel, Charmaine Emanuels, E.I., Patrick Kaimrajh, P.E., Kobie Lynch, Yulet Miguel, P.E. and Ashley Quijada attended the annual Miami-Dade ASCE Field Day at Zoo Miami. Participants played a series of tailgating games and enjoyed a picnic lunch. CMA was a sponsor for the event, which raised funds for the annual Miami-Dade ASCE scholarship program.

On February 14, CMA Principal Engineer Thomas Gardner, P.E. spoke to the University of North Florida Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Club about what a consulting engineer does.

CMA Principal Landscape Architect Eric Harrison, PLA and Senior Landscape Architect Tanya McCormick, PLA, AICP attended the UF DCP Industry Expo Construction Management Design and Planning event on February 6 & 7 at the University of Florida. The career fair provided the opportunity to meet and interview students interested in landscape architecture design among other disciplines. This is the 5^th consecutive year that Eric and Tanya have attended this event together.  They see familiar faces, and meet new possible recruits each year.  https://dcp.ufl.edu/career-fair/student/

CMA staff attended Race for Relevance at the Autobahn Indoor Speedway in Jacksonville on February 2. Hosted by the Northeast Florida Chapter of FES, the race is a fundraising event created to help support the future of the engineering profession by encouraging youth to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The funds raised from the event go towards the Chapter’s scholarship fund.  CMA attendees were Jose L. Acosta, P.E., F.ASCE, Brad Wilson, P.E., Freeman Bass, P.E., Jimmy Carr, Tommy Gardner, P.E., Phuoc Nguyen, Floyd Fasking, P.E., Chris Gearhart, P.E., Alexander Farfan, Derrick Smith, CFM, LEED AP and Austin Reheiser. https://www.fesr4r.com/

CMA Director of Water Resources Brent Whitfield, P.E., ENV SP led the Joint Professional Societies Annual Legislative Breakfast today ‘Planning for a Resilient Florida’ at the Marriott Hotel in Palm Beach Gardens.  CMA would like to extend a special thank you to our Florida State Representatives, Senators and Assistant County Administrator for listening to our fellow engineers and sharing your legislative goals prior to this year’s session: Rep. Katherine Waldron, Rep. Kelly Skidmore, Rep. Jervonte ‘Tae’ Edmonds, Senator Lori Berman, Senator Bobby Powell and Assistant County Administrator Todd Bonlarron.  CMA also served as a sponsor for the event and our other staff members who attended included: Jose L. Acosta, P.E., F.ASCE, Suzanne Dombrowski, P.E., ENV SP, Shahin Hekmat, P.E., Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, FACEC, and Nilsa Zarcarias, AICP.

CMA staff members attended the FES Miami Legislative Breakfast on January 31. The event, held at the Biltmore hotel, hosted over 80 attendees including seven legislators. CMA Executive Vice President and FES Miami Chapter President Jose L. Acosta, P.E., F.ASCE and Director of Quality Assurance Shahin Hekmat, P.E. were on the planning committee for this event. Other CMA staff members who attended were Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, FACEC, Gregory Mendez, P.E., Yulet Miguel, P.E. and Laura Vogel, Ph.D., P.E., ENV SP.  CMA would like to extend a special thank you to our Florida State Representatives and Senators for listening to our fellow engineers and sharing your legislative goals prior to this year’s session: Rep. Daniel Perez (District 116), Rep. Vicki L. Lopez (District 113), Rep. Juan Fernandez-Barquin (District 118), Rep. David Borrero (District 111), Rep. Alina Garcia (District 115), Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez (District 40) and Senator Alexis Calatayud (District 38).

CMA staff members Mike Bell, P.E., Ben Lehr, P.E., Jason Sutton, PLA, CA and Brad Wilson, P.E., attended the 4^th Annual Northeast Florida Construction Career Days Clay Shoot on January 26 at Jacksonville Clay Target Sports.  CMA served as a silver sponsor for the event that also includes an educational outreach program on February 28–March 2. CMA staff members Freeman Bass, P.E., Derrick Smith, P.E., Jennifer Smith, P.E. and Brad Wilson, P.E. will attend and volunteer as chaperones. The program is designed to introduce high school students to the wide range of career opportunities available to them in the construction industry in a hands-on environment. Home – Construction Career Days (nflccd.com)

CMA staff members Madeline Batey, E.I., Charmaine Emanuels, E.I., and Justin Tagle, P.E., LEED AP attended the ASCE Multi-Regional Leadership Conference (MRLC) January 20-21. The event, held in Charlotte, NC, allowed upcoming leaders a chance to gain Society and Region knowledge, interact with students, younger members, section, branch, and institute leaders, while gaining personal leadership training. https://regions.asce.org/region5/multi-region-leadership-conference