Message from the 2019 AIA Oregon President

Seth Anderson, AIA
2019 AIA Oregon President

Hello. My name is Seth Anderson and I am your 2019 AIA Oregon President. I have lived and worked in Bend, Oregon for 15 years. I moved from Idaho as a young professional looking to further my career and expand the project types I could work on and found that opportunity during the boom of the early 2000s. I maintained employment through the Great Recession and in 2012 decided I wanted to try my hand at being an owner of a firm. Around the same time, I was looking to expand my professional network and connect with other architects in the central Oregon community and beyond.

For that reason, I joined the AIA and immediately became an active member as a board member of AIA Southwestern Oregon Chapter and a delegate to the AIA Oregon Council. I served in those roles until 2014 when I was asked by Alene Davis, 2016 and 2017 AIA Oregon Council President, if I would be interested in serving as AIA Oregon Council President-Elect and help facilitate the transition to a single state chapter. Having been involved in most of the process, I was excited about the potential that a unified AIA in Oregon could provide, so I willingly accepted. And what a rewarding experience it has been!

From the beginning, the guiding principal behind the unification of our state was to provide all members in the state with equitable access to quality programming and other member services. The leaders from across the state that discussed, analyzed, planned, and eventually voted for a single state chapter knew that it would be a difficult reorganization, but in the long run this was the best way to ensure the future of AIA in Oregon and be able to improve on the great work already being done. 2019 has been a year of transition and major change – from the official merger and its related adjustments to Executive Vice President Robert Hoffman’s “retirement” and return to professional practice – but we’ve made great strides towards unification and the betterment of our organization.

I would like to share just a few of the successes we’ve had in 2019.

• The 2019 Oregon Design Conference was held at Salishan in April. More than 140 people attended a three-day event that included dynamic speakers on the current and future state of our profession.

• Curt Wilson was hired as interim Executive Vice President and had agreed to serve in this role into 2021. Curt has shown exceptional leadership and commitment to the organization and we are all better for it.

• Two strategic planning sessions were held identifying our strategic initiatives for our single state chapter and the implementation of Strategic Initiative Groups to implement and achieve those goals.

• Creation of the chapter-wide Programs committee to evaluate and make recommendations on the programming happening in our state.

• The AIA Oregon Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion held the Future Vision 2019 symposium in September to discuss topics about equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), their importance relative to the health of the industry, and develop tools necessary to promote equity in the profession.

• AIA Eugene recognized six of our building-sector partners with Craftsmanship Awards, acknowledging the work that the building industry does for our projects and our clients.

• At the AIA Portland Architecture Awards, a jury of architects from Montreal, Quebec selected 10 project awards; energy data collected from project submissions helped to determine two Architecture 2030 Awards; and the AIA Oregon Executive Committee selected 3 Professional Achievement Awards from those nominated.

• Continuation of programming, continuing education, and social activities statewide.

• Recruitment of new board members and committee chairs willing to serve our members.

• Our success in the 2019 Oregon Legislative Session included collaboration with our public sector partners to modernize the Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) for procurement of architects and engineers on public-sector projects, alignment of the definition of Substantial Completion between contracts and legal standards, improvements to the Green Energy Technology (aka 1.5% for Renewal Energy) program, and creation of a state-wide safety-assessment program.

As the year comes to an end so does my term as president, and it’s time to pass the torch. I couldn’t be happier that the board has elected Amy Vohs to take the helm. Amy has been highly engaged in the AIA Oregon Council as Treasurer since 2016 and as a member of various AIA Portland committees. Amy also assisted with the transition to a single state chapter, helping to vet the financial benefit of the merger. Her clear vision for the future of our Chapter, organizational skills, and concern for our members, allied partners, and sponsors give me great confidence in her ability to continue the progress that we have made as an organization. Here’s to an amazing 2020!

Message from the Legislative Affairs Committee Co-chair

Kim Olson, AIA

AIA Members:

My name is Kim Olson, and I’m an Associate Principal at Mahlum in Portland. Alongside my day to day work, I’ve been involved with the AIA in varying capacities since 2015 when I joined the board of AIA Portland as a Director. I’ve found involvement in the AIA to be both personally and professionally fulfilling, and have continued to look for ways to be involved and serve this profession. Recently, my interests have brought me to serve as part of the steering group for the Legislative Affairs Committee.

The state AIA council was formed in the middle of the last century to coordinate legislative advocacy between the local chapters (this is the group we called “AIA Oregon” prior to our restructuring). The primary committee of the council was the Legislative Affairs Committee (LAC). The current operation of the LAC dates back a few decades. In the early days, our legislative advocacy was focused on firm-centric issues, such as Qualification-Based Selection, encroachment on the practice of architecture, coordination with the Board of Architect Examiners and Building Codes Division. Starting in the early 2000s, the focus increased to include built environment advocacy, including energy reach codes, and sustainable rating system requirements. More recently, this has included the creation of the Oregon Resiliency Offer, and funding requirements for green energy technology. In 2019, the committee worked to pass bills related to expanding the triggers for substantial completion and was an active participant and advocate for the profession in the Modernization of Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) – driving the conversation towards value-based components. Additionally, we worked for the successful adoption of the Oregon Safety Assessment Program. As with all our committees, these achievements required the work of a dedicated group of people within the AIA.

Looking forward to our next legislative session, we’ve organized our committee to focus on three key areas:

1) Sustainability and Resiliency:

On September 16th of this year, the AIA introduced the “Where We Stand: Climate Action” plan, making the climate crisis the top priority of the institute. Recognizing the effect the built environment has on greenhouse gas levels and the resulting negative impacts, as well as our ethical obligation to the health, safety, and welfare of building occupants, we realize the significant responsibility we have to drive forward measures that support sustainability and resiliency. This subgroup of the LAC will focus on these issues and work to influence associated policy at the state level.

2) Code:

Our initial focus will be on expanded training opportunities and possibly code discussion groups, and if successful, we intend to expand our effort to address the ICC code adoption process.

3) Business Policy, via the Firm Roundtable:

As architects, we are exposed to many different requirements via the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS). These items affect areas such as our professional liability, contractual verbiage, and how we can pursue work, etc. Our Firm Roundtable meets at regular intervals to discuss issues that we see impacting the business side of our profession and works to establish revisions to the ORS that better supports our profession.

I am joined in these efforts by several talented and dedicated colleagues. The steering committee members include Chris Forney, AIA, Joe Pinzone, AIA, Jay Raskin, AIA, Eric Sandoval, AIA, and Curt Wilson, AIA.

The work of the Legislative Affairs Committee has a deep impact on the work we do as Architects. We can have a tremendous amount of influence on the world in which we live and practice – but it takes being proactive and it takes being involved. If you are interested in being part of the change, please contact me at Kolson@mahlum.com. I’d love to add your energy to our committee!

Message from an AIA Oregon At-Large Director

John R. Flynn, AIA
Member since 1991

Hello, Colleagues –

My name is John Flynn and I’m serving on AIA Oregon’s Board of Directors in an At-Large capacity with a focus on Communications.  I’ve been active as a Board Member for the past several years, contributing my efforts as the state-wide AIA structure has transitioned to a single-state chapter entity with multiple Sections.  Reconstituting ourselves as a single state Chapter has emphasized the need for improved communication across all membership and increased member involvement in committees, programs, and professional outreach.

Members from across the state recently gathered in Portland for a day-long work session focused on several strategic initiatives for the coming year.  These initiatives stem from our reorganization and a self-imposed challenge to improve the value of membership for all within AIA Oregon.  We are a member-driven institute and we want the best experience that we can give ourselves.

Previous Thursday messages have mentioned the four strategic initiatives that were developed and in today’s communiqué, I’d like to update readers on the latest actions that the initiative groups have advanced.  (And give a shout-out to the member volunteers who are leading the charge.) 

Strategic Initiative 1 – Elevate the Member Experience
Group Leader – Colin Dean, AIA (Eugene)
Board Liaison – Jim Satzinger, AIA (Bend)

One of the great benefits of AIA membership is the sharing of knowledge among design professionals.  Our single state chapter presents a great opportunity to provide continuing education to members in every Section – comprehensively and simultaneously!  As part of our commitment to members and member-services, the group leading Strategic Initiative 1 is focused on the necessary steps to have Sections host continuing ed webinars that are available to all members throughout the state.

The first of these simulcasts is scheduled for January 10, 2020 at noon.  “2109 OSSC Updates,” a two-hour class covering the latest building code changes, will make two continuing education credits available to AIA attendees in Portland (live) or at any other Sections’ remote class locations.  Event details, including registration, are available on the AIAO website. 

Strategic Initiative 2 – Enhance Professional Development
Group Leader – Chris Moore, AIA (Bend)
Board Liaison – Andy Owen, AIA (Southern Oregon)

One significant goal for this strategic initiative is to improve the operation of our committee structure to support state-wide relationships.  It’s clear that we accomplish a significant majority of our programs and development of knowledge content through the work of the committees.  And although many committees are locally situated, all are AIA Oregon committees.

AIA Oregon is actively coordinating committees throughout the state as they develop resources and content that can be shared by members.  This strategic initiative group has begun initial steps to coalesce resources that can be available on our website as a resource library for members.

 Strategic Initiative 3 – Improve Our Communities
Group Leader – Dana Ing Crawford, AIA (Southern Oregon)
Board Liaison – John Flynn, AIA (Portland)

This strategic initiative embraces the collective power of architects working together and looks to communicate that through outreach and advocacy for the profession.  Architects get engaged with their communities in many ways – through design, design advocacy, and civic involvement.  It’s important that the general public know who we are, what we do, and that we architects are making a difference in the issues that concern our communities.

The group has initiated several tasks that will communicate architects’ advocacy successes and identify opportunities for issues-based community enhancement activities.  The team will look to create outreach avenues that will promote the role of the architect in the betterment of our communities.

Strategic Initiative 4 – Adapt to the Changing Profession
Group Leader – Joseph Sis, Assoc. AIA (Southern Oregon)
Board Liaison – Daniel Roth, Assoc. AIA (Salem)

Architects lead the way in preparing for a better future.  Whether it’s forward-thinking design, leading-edge building technology, or environmental stewardship, we collectively hold a wealth of ideas and resources that can make an improved difference in peoples’ lives.

A specific action that this group is working on is identifying 12 “hot” topics that can be organized into a monthly resource posting on our website.  We foresee an exchange of knowledge and resources similar to the Knowledge-Based Communities sponsored by AIA National.  The group is developing ideas around how this “Resource Blog” can be integrated into our website.

As you can likely tell from the brief reports above, AIA Oregon is stepping up to increased communication, engagement, and activity.  Our organization needs members to bring their interests and energy to our strategic initiatives (and our committees, as well.)  If you’d like to get involved, contact any of the Strategic Initiative Team Leaders listed above directly or through AIAO staff.

Look to these weekly messages for future updates on Strategic Initiative progress!Thanks and don’t forget to attend your upcoming Section Holiday Party!