January 2004 ISSUE
CEA Spurs Change
TA 25th anniversary, an office move and the planning of another
celebration of member excellence have kept the Consulting
Engineers of Alberta worksheet full these days.
The 2004 Showcase Awards Gala will be held in Edmonton, this year, on Feb. 7
at the Ramada Edmonton Inn, featuring the theme Mobsters, Malls and All That
Jazz. Movers planted the CEA in new digs in the Scotia Building in Edmonton in
mid-December, making the association an APEGGA neighbour. And on Oct. 22, CEA
held a 25th anniversary party in Edmonton, attracting about 330 members and other
well-wishers.
CEA celebrated its anniversary as a well-structured, focused organization that
has earned the respect of government, clients and the consulting community in
Canada and beyond. The association has come a long way since 1978, when principals
from several consulting firms met in Edmonton to launch it under the Alberta
Societies Act, with Associated Engineering’s Jack O’Brien, P.Eng.,
as president.
The founding firms already belonged to the Association of Consulting Engineers
of Canada, but by the late 1970s it was apparent Alberta would benefit from consultants
speaking with a united voice to government and others.
Former CEA president Darrel Danyluk, P.Eng., explains: “CEA had a vision
of being recognized and of being influential with government and clients. We’re
there, we’ve established that identity.”
As the industry continues to evolve, expect CEA to pursue its role in educating
members and clients. CEA-sponsored seminars foster understanding of technical
and business issues?such as the environment, liability, taxation, marketing,
quality management and exporting.
“
It is very important to make clients understand the benefits
of quality-base selection of consultants,” says Allen Williams, P.Eng.,
CEA’s 1999-2000 president. Slated to assume the Association of Consulting
Engineers of Canada chairmanship in 2004, Mr. Williams is among numerous CEA
representatives who have contributed nationally.
Since 1997, CEA’s Showcase awards and magazine have celebrated and drawn
wider notice to CEA members’ achievements. These and other events, like
the annual golf tournament, demonstrate that CEA also finds ways to have fun.
For ticket or other information on this year’s Showcase Awards Gala,
call Kate Osler at CEA’s new phone number, 421-1852, or e-mail her at kosler@ceaca.
New address for the CEA is 511 Scotia Two, 10060 Jasper Ave., Edmonton, T5J 3R8.
New fax number is 424-5225.
Impressed by CEA’s quarter century of accomplishments, its founding treasurer
and former R.M. Hardy & Associates principal Harold Morrison, P.Eng., says: “CEA
is everything that any of us could have realistically expected.”