From Listening to Action
Aloha ACECH Members,
Earlier this year, I wrote about taking an approach of listening before leading. October has been a month to translate this into action — through member advocacy, Strategic Plan implementation, and the ongoing work of our committees.
Proposed SBA Changes
On the member advocacy front, we are fortunate to have an engaged membership that provided valuable feedback on the proposed SBA small business size standards, including a proposed revenue threshold increase for Engineering Services from $25.5 million to $252 million. Our members helped highlight concerns regarding the magnitude of the proposed increase and its potential effect on firms that have traditionally competed as small businesses in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.
ACECH’s feedback helped inform ACEC National’s comments and also grounded ACECH’s subsequent comments submitted directly to SBA. In our letter, we asked SBA to withdraw the current proposal and undertake a more deliberate process that allows industry stakeholders to better understand and provide input on the methodology, competitive impacts, and alternative approaches.
A copy of our letter is posted on the Member Resources page of our website. We encourage interested member firms to consider submitting their own comments to SBA and to use ACECH’s letter as a resource, as applicable.
Strategic Plan Implementation
October also marked an important step in moving our Strategic Plan from planning into implementation. Our Implementation Workshop brought together Board members, Strategic Goal leadership, committee chairs, vice chairs, and other ACECH leaders to better align committee work with the goals and strategies identified in the plan.
The workshop was another valuable listening opportunity, with cross-sharing among participants helping to translate tactics into specific actions and identify where additional coordination and sequencing may be needed. We’re using that feedback to further refine priorities and develop a more deliberate implementation sequence as we move forward.
A big mahalo to everyone who has dedicated their time and perspective as we translate the Strategic Plan into meaningful action.
Committee Spotlight: Risk Management Committee
This month’s featured committee is the Risk Management Committee (RMC), which continues to address a range of business and professional risks affecting ACECH member firms.
The RMC, chaired by Scott Hayashi with Kyle Kaneshiro serving as Vice Chair, meets monthly to discuss risk-related challenges affecting ACECH member firms. The committee continues to track proposed or enacted changes at the Federal, State, and local levels, as well as issues raised directly by member firms.
Recent discussions have included Federal changes affecting H-1B and student visas; suspension of the Federal CMMC Level 2 requirement; the impact of ADA requirements on deliverables to State and County agencies; professional licensure trends across the nation; and Hawaiʻi’s duty-to-defend threshold.
The RMC has also been engaging with the City and County of Honolulu to review potential revisions to its General Terms and Conditions for A/E professional services. Proposed changes focus on better aligning the City’s contract terms with the professional standard of care and available professional liability coverage, including proportionate indemnity, protections for consultant deliverables, and removing or revising construction-oriented requirements that are not appropriate for A/E professional services.
Recently, RMC members met with representatives from the City and County of Honolulu to discuss these proposed changes. Because the City’s standard terms apply broadly to many types of service providers, modifying them specifically for the engineering industry presents challenges. The discussion helped clarify the concerns these provisions present to A/E firms and potential approaches to address them, including using project-specific Special Conditions where appropriate. The discussion also reinforced the importance of identifying proposed Special Conditions early in the contracting process to allow sufficient time for review.
The RMC also collaborates with other industry organizations to help represent the interests of the engineering community. Recently, the General Contractors Association invited the RMC to provide comments on the City and County of Honolulu’s plumbing code and related guidance. RMC members will also meet with GCA and the Department of Planning and Permitting to discuss those comments and proposed modifications.
The next Risk Management Committee meeting will be held November 19, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. Members interested in participating are encouraged to contact Chair Scott Hayashi at shayashi@ssfm.com or Vice Chair Kyle Kaneshiro at kyle@tlcghawaii.com.
Mahalo to Scott, Kyle, and all of our RMC members for the time and expertise they continue to contribute on behalf of ACECH.
And thank you to all our members who continue to participate—whether by responding to a survey, serving on a committee, attending a workshop, or simply raising an issue that deserves ACECH’s attention. Your engagement is what allows us to move from listening to meaningful action.
Mahalo,
Kealohi Sandefur, P.E.
President, ACEC Hawaiʻi