Author: aspe19stlouis

To all in our Construction Community –

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and the teams who participated in our ASPE St. Louis Metro Chapter 19 Scholarship Trivia Night, our Chapter was able to award not one, not two, but FIVE scholarships this year.

Winners included: Lydia Juengling, a senior at the University of Kansas about to complete her education in the Architecture program; Kyle Wesoloswski, a senior due to graduate this winter from SIUE with a degree in Construction Management; Maggie Dimler, a junior at UMC studying Industrial Engineering; Trenton Foster, a junior at UMC with a dual major of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Nicholas Rose, a sophomore at UMC studying Mechanical Engineering.

All the young people who applied for our scholarship are very bright. Our Chapter Board Members who reviewed all the applications we received were amazed at how many balls all these students juggle to achieve their education. The “balls” include extracurricular school activities, various jobs and internships, tutoring other students, athletic endeavors, volunteering for charities of all types, serving in the Illinois National Guard, serving on Student Councils, and more – all while maintaining high GPA scores. We are sure their future will be as bright as they are.

We plan to hold our next Chapter Scholarship Funding Trivia Night in the Fall and hope to see you there. We are proud to help these students with a little financial cushion.

Be sure to check our website https://aspe19stlouis.org/) in October for our Chapter’s next year’s scholarship requirements and applications to be due by December 9, 2022.

You can also check that website or ConstructForum’s newsletters for upcoming meeting announcements.

John Smith, President

Everett Myers, 1^st VP

Mary Rotter, 2nd VP

Cyndi Walker, Secretary

J. Stukenberg, Treasurer

What does “Veracity” mean in our Construction Industry?

First, what is the definition of “veracity”? The dictionary definition is “conformity to facts: accuracy”. Some synonyms are: honesty, integrity, truthfulness, candor, trustability and reliability.

As an owner or a contractor don’t you want to work with a company and an individual that has those qualities?

Our organization has a Code of Ethics with nine canons as guidelines on how estimators are to conduct themselves to achieve veracity and all the synonyms associated with that word. My favorite canon is #3 which I have copied from the National ASPE website and shared below.

Canon #3 Professional estimators and those in training shall conduct themselves in a manner that will promote cooperation and good relations among members of our profession and those directly related to our profession. 1. Treat all professional associates with integrity, fairness, tolerance and respect, regardless of national origin, race, sexual orientation, religion, gender or age. 2. Extend fraternal consideration when giving testimony that may be damaging to a member of our Society, as long as it does not violate this Code of Ethics and the laws governing the proceedings. 3. Accept the obligation to assist associates in complying with the code of professional ethics. The professional character of our society is dependent upon continuing mutual cooperation with one another. It is an essential element of our continued success. 4. Recognize the ethical standards set by other professionals, such as architects and engineers, directly related to our industry and extend to them the common courtesies they deserve. 5. Act honorably, both in personal and professional life, by avoiding situations that may erode public respect.

To be successful in our construction industry owners and contractors must be able to rely on professional estimators who act in these manners. Veracity and ethical behaviors are key to your success.

Being granted the term “Certified Professional Estimator” (CPE) – a nationally recognized program – by The American Society of Professional Estimators (ASPE) is an acknowledgement of having estimating proficiency with a continuing commitment to the construction industry, to furthering one’s education, to follow ethical practices and to be motivated for personal growth.

Ten reasons to consider earning a CPE designation:

*Reflects personal achievement and motivation

*Improves opportunities and advancement

*May provide for greater earning potential

*Improves skills and knowledge

*Prepares you for greater on-the-job responsibilities

*Builds self esteem

*Grants you a nationally recognized professional status and credentials

* Demonstrates your commitment to the industry and the estimating profession

* Recognition as a qualified and competent individual

*Ensures that the recipient keeps abreast of construction industry changes

Steps to take to earning your CPE status – have 5 years of experience, take a General Estimating Knowledge Exam (GEK), take a Discipline Specific Test (DST) and submit a 2,500 + word Technical Paper (based on your discipline). The CPE Program is offered in an open cycle format that allows candidates to progress at a self-guided pace. Contact our Chapter Certification Chairman, Fred Waldrop, FCPE (waldropfred718@gmail.com)  or visit our website https://aspe19stlouis.org for more information.

During the Chapter’s 2019 – 2020 year we followed the guidelines of the National Awards Criteria. This helped us better our Chapter and helped our industry. We held regular board meetings to keep our Chapter moving forward, provided five scholarships to deserving students after holding a very successful Trivia Night to fund our scholarship program, started an endowment at Rankin Technical School, provided monthly meetings of interest to our community, and awarded a Chapter Estimator of the Year to Jason Emerick (Hallmark Stone) for his multiple contributions to the Chapter. (Jason serves as our social media guru for website, blogs, EventBrite meeting announcements, etc. and he was our representative at the ASPE Central Region Conferences.) We retained over 90% of our membership from the previous year and added new members for the Award year as well as adding the five scholarship winners to our Chapter’s roster.
We are proud to have received the second highest award for our efforts to keep our Chapter involved with the community and benefitting our industry.
In addition to our Chapter Silver Award, one of our longstanding members, Frank Kutilek, FCPE was presented with the President’s Award from the National ASPE office. Frank has been very active for over 40 years in ASPE (locally and nationally) and has received the President’s Award three times – 2007, 2009 and 2020.

• Cyndi Walker 11/19/20