July 17, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week: Last week, the governor announced $8.6 million in funding to strengthen Florida’s electric vehicle infrastructure. With this funding, 74 additional DC fast chargers will be installed statewide. Combined with the chargers FDOT is installing along the Florida Turnpike, a total of 104 DC fast chargers will be installed along over 1,200 miles of highway, covering the most traveled corridors in the state. Each of the 34 locations will have at minimum two chargers each. This represents an approximately 50% statewide increase in publicly available DC charging stations. Let’s keep it going!

Looking ahead: Next week is the Florida Environmental Network (FENI) Environmental Permitting Summer School. This annual event is a heavy hitter in the development, environmental and engineering circles. One of the few events still intending to be held in person in our industry is always a great source of information on overall trends in the state. I hope all my friends in attendance learn a great deal and stay safe!

July 10, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week: Last week the mayor of Seoul, South Korea went missing and was found dead and the Supreme Court ruled that half of Oklahoma was a Native American reservation – including the City of Tulsa. Those were two pretty important pieces of news that were drowned out by the coverage of COVID-19. Do I think being safe is important? Of course. But like the relentless drum during hurricane season, we only need to report the same news every so often. The hurricane is still coming and COVID-19 is still transmitting. We get it.

Looking ahead: In the coming weeks, I think the biggest news stories will be the continued shutting down of businesses that we came to think of as household names. Last week was Brooks Brothers and Chuck’s Steakhouse. While I neither wore Brooks Brothers or ate at a Chuck’s (ok, I did once), I knew them. In the first month of the crisis, there were businesses that failed, but sadly if they failed that fast, they weren’t run well. When you hear established names starting to fall, we need to be prepared for Amazon and Walmart to take over in their place.

July 3, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week: With the budget (and the arguments over what was and wasn’t vetoed therein) being the headline grabber this past week, many of the accomplishments of the past legislative session came into being without any fanfare. I’m used to seeing discussion, victory laps and rebuttals each week as bills passed by the Legislature were packaged and processed through the Governor’s office, but thanks to COVID-19, bills about the environment and E-Verify largely went unnoticed. Getting signed into law is only the first step in a statute’s life. There needs to be continual debate and changes until it truly meets ours needs.

Looking ahead: In January, I flew 11 flight segments. With three trips planned to the D.C. area by early April, I thought that I’d finally be getting that long-coveted status on my airline. Instead, because of an “attend in person” meeting in the D.C. area next week and a company policy requiring seven days of isolation after a flight, I’ll be putting those miles on my truck. I was never a very frequent flyer, but at about 30 segments a year, I was a solid repeat customer. Airlines are critical. How will they survive this year?

June 26, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week: This past week, I watched the little cafeteria type business in my office building close. We’ve been in this building for 14 years, but I understand the owner was here for 3 years before that. We’re in a Class “A” office space with lawyers, computer programmers and finance folk. These businesses are still not back at work and that’s what is causing such a pause in other portions of the economy. I’m sure other downtown eateries and dry cleaners are feeling the same pinch. These are the lasting impacts to COVID-19.

Looking ahead: I’ve read about impending restrictions from the Trump administration on H1B and other high-tech visas for some time, and I expect that they will be enacted by the time this is printed. I can’t emphasize enough what a terrible idea this is. For the chosen few that have the time and talent to become a high-tech individual, it doesn’t matter where you were born. My firm loses people every year that don’t get to stay because of their immigration status. Why train these people at our top universities in our most sought-after jobs and let them go?

June 12, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week: After reading the statement made by NASCAR this past week, I’d like to think that they banned the Confederate flag from their events out of goodwill towards all, but ironically, I think it was capitalism that is taking the flags down. As NASCAR is one of the few sports able to open back up, the sports-starved ranks of our population can only watch so much Korean baseball and German soccer. The corporate sponsors know that they need wide appeal and always distance themselves from controversy. I’m happy to see capitalism work for this important social change.

Looking ahead: The next few weeks are an important time of year to my family. Within 11 days, we have my birthday, Father’s Day and my daughter’s birthday. Since we are being safe because of COVID-19, I’m OK with delayed or canceled celebrations for me, but how do you explain this world to a 3-year-old? I feel terrible for the seniors that missed the prom, but they are old enough to understand. What are the long term emotional stresses that all younger children facing and how will they face the future? I hope the next few weeks are kind.

June 5, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week: Despite every terrible thing that is going on here on Earth, SpaceX Crew Dragon delivered astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the international space station. Expedition 63 is kicking off with the accompaniment of another NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts. I’m not 100% how easy it is for everyone to get along so well in space and so poorly in person, but I think that the fact we’re on the 63rd international meeting of coordination is the definition of hope for a unified world.

Looking ahead: Governor DeSantis has a lot of work to do in the coming weeks. Most of the 191 bills that passed both chambers of our legislature have not yet been sent to the Governor to review. Based on the COVID-19 situation, that is understandable, but there are still a number of items of business that the governor must review.

May 22, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week:The provision of the $2M limit as far as a Safe Harbor from audit on the PPP Loans was a huge step forward in providing certainty to business owners in uncertain times. The IRS and SBA need to finalize their rulings on tax deductions and the Department of Defense needs to drops its request that these monies not be allowable expenses in overhead costs. PPP was supposed to be a lifeline, it needs to not be treated like a payment.

May 8, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week: I remember as a kid tracking Hurricane Andrew on my Publix Hurricane Map. You’d get the coordinates and graph the location of the storm. You’d hear on tv the storm might come or might not, but I didn’t interrupt my plans to attend Lollapalooza the day before I went to work the day of Andrew (yes, it was a Sunday). This past year, I was frozen with spaghetti model updates every three hours, answering to managers, employees and my family as our preparations for Hurricane Dorian advanced. The COVID-19 updates feel like spaghetti models coming out all the time.

Looking ahead: I’m a fan of Bayern Munich who plays in the Bundesliga (German Soccer League). Next week, they will join Korean Baseball as some of the few sports available to watch as a distraction from the COVID-19 updates and murder hornet stories. We have a lot of lessons to learn from Asia and Europe as they are ahead of us in the recovery from the onset of the virus. After 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and other tragedies, we looked to sports as both a distraction and sense of normalcy. Dolphins, Heat, Marlins, Panthers and beloved Gators, please save our sanity soon.

April 24, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week: This past week I’ve heard from friends who received funds for their business from the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) and I’ve heard from friends that were shut out and they are hoping for a second round of funding. A few things have jumped out at me, though. There are accusations of large banks prioritizing larger clients and making billions off of loans. I know the processes varied from bank to bank, requiring different levels of documentation and yielding different results. Loaning small business money saves more jobs than corporate donations or individual stimulus checks. I hope they get this right.

Looking ahead: The next great debate is when to “reopen”. Whether it be a beach or a business is where the suggestions vary. Let’s be clear, the potential for exposure to COVID-19 exists regardless of when these various places reopen. There will be more infections. We need to continue to be cautious and prepared. Our business is considered essential, but we sent most of our employees to work remotely before the mandatory closures and we’ll keep them working remotely after things reopen. If things reopen, will you consider staying in an extra day, week or month? It just might benefit you.

April 20, 2020
Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP
President, Chen Moore and Associates
Last week: What is “allowed” to be talked about in media these days? Clearly, 99% of the coverage is about COVID-19 and various government responses (and commentary positive and negative on those responses), but are we even allowed to talk about anything else? I have several friends that own a nationally recognized engineering firm that published in a trade journal a merger this past week that made their firm even better. Are we allowed to talk about the future when the present is so overwhelming? Personally, I’m happy to hear about anything that imagines a happy future.

Looking ahead: Look at the dolphins in the canals in Venice and now we can see the Himalayas from India – very popular images on social media. Honestly, I really like to think there is a silver lining to this viral cloud, but when it starts getting applied to Florida and the clarity of our canals, there is another cause. We need to thank (or blame) a lack of rain in March for the improved water quality in our canal system because a number of pollutants are pushed by rainfall. March was one of the driest on record, we’ll need some rainfall soon.