Timberline Forum

Thursday, the Valley of the Sun Construction Financial Management Association held its monthly luncheon. Street Transportation Director for the city of Phoenx, Wylie Beaurup was the guest speaker.

He spoke to a packed house for more than 30 minutes about the city’s use of Construction Manager at Risk with Price Competition used by the state to dole out federally funded projects.  Beaurup is responsible for executing nearly $6 billion, 5-year capital improvement program.

Beaurup explained in order to be able to take advantage of the millions of dollars assigned to Arizona by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, state legislators had to change the language which outlines Requests for Proposals in Arizona.  In 2000, the state began using Construction Manager at Risk guidelines which do not allow for a project to be awarded by price.  It must strictly be awarded through qualifications.  S0, recently the state came up with the Construction Manager at Risk with Price Competition in order to begin using federally-funded stimulus projects.

Someone wanted to know if BIM requirements are going to be considered anytime soon when it comes to qualifying General Contractors for projects.  Beaurup’s answer was not really. At this time BIM knowledge might be advantageous but there are many more qualifications to be considered.  So at this time lack of BIM will not be used to disqualify those bidding for projects.

Bearup expressed his satisfaction with the Construction Manager at Risk model stating it ensures the most qualified contractor is chosen, not the cheapest.  It creates better relationships among team members, the contractor is involved for the duration of the project and makes for true value engineering.

 When asked if there were soon to be any RFP’s for Stimulus jobs, Beaurup told the crowd not anytime in the near future.

Need help enhancing your cash flow? Wanna know more about the ins and outs of bankruptcy? Dying to find out if this economy is REALLY going to turn around? Looking to add more CPE credits to your name?

Why not sign up for the Contractors’ Strategic Boot Camp here in Phoenix? It might sound like it’s going to be hot and sweaty and strenuous but really you’ll be in a nice air-conditioned building and you’ll get a really nice lunch not to mention the mental work out and a wealth of information.

Valley of the Sun Chapter of Construction Financial Management Association has a great line-up waiting for you this June 23. There is still some room left so why not sign up, get out of the office for a day and pick up some really useful information you can use to improve the bottom line of the company you work for?  They’re even holding it on a Tuesday so you can get your Monday on as usual!

It’s centrally located at the Phoenix Airport Marriott, next to the 202,  to help keep your travel time to a minimum!  For more information go here.