From ASME San Francisco Section Sept/Oct 1997 Newsletter:

Small Business Report: September 1997
by Eric E. Worrell, P.E., Small Business Committee Chair, ASME Region IX and San Francisco Section

This column, past editions, upcoming small business events, The Small Business and Consultants Referral List and more are on the web at http://www.ccnet.com/~eew/asmesfsb/.

The start of the 1997 to 1998 ASME program year finds me with two new challenges. For ASME, I've added Region IX Small Business Chair to my role as San Francisco Section Small Business Chair. In my working life, I'm an employee again, but in a much different role than before. As Lead Engineer and Manager of Business Development for Material Integrity Solutions, Inc., I'm working for a small business led by one of San Francisco Section's active members. The ASME role and the business role complement each other, as each brings me new lessons that I can apply in the other, and create challenges, as I try to juggle time and make everything I want to do fit into 24 hours a day.

As San Francisco Section Small Business Chair, my main goal for this year is to improve cooperation between all four Northern California Sections. By creating a Small Business Meeting-of-the-Month, hosted in rotation by the three bay area sections, Small Business Members can broaden their scope of contacts and have more topics that address their interests. With events for all four sections in each newsletter, greater geographical and topical choice will bring greater value to all members.

As Region IX Small Business Chair, my main job is to facilitate the flow of information and ideas. This helps volunteers throughout Region IX create better programs for Small Business ME's. Through feedback from this column, e-mail around the region, and other means, I try to ensure that our needs are communicated to ASME International and information on issues that concern us are communicated back to us.

The ASME Region IX and San Francisco bay area small business year kicks off with an ASME International Small Business Forum to be held Thursday, September 18 at Stanford University. The forum, titled "Where Technology meets Business", promises to be an exciting day. Featured speakers will be Jerry Yang, founder of YAHOO!, and Robert Koski, founder and CEO of Sun Hydraulics Corporation.

Another ASME International initiative is creation of a World Wide Web based consultants data base. As Small Business Chair, I'm the key Region IX contact coordinating our comments and suggestions. Check out www.aiche.org and www.occn.org for examples of what other organizations have done and let me know what you would like.

The big issue looming for many Small Business ME's in California is the sunset review of the Board of Registration of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. SB-828 is due to go to the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 20, and then on to the full senate. As of today, July 31, in addition to extending the sunset deadline for two years, this bill contains language expanding the industrial exemption to include ex-employees, contract engineers and consultants working for industrial firms. It is the opinion of many that this essentially deregulates the practice of mechanical and electrical engineering.

AB-969 is the Professional Engineers Act rewrite. If this two-year bill is not passed before the sunset deadline, the Board of Registration would be disbanded and P.E. registration would fall under an office in the Department of Consumer Affairs. If it does pass, major changes are coming.

Please educate yourself on these issues, and if you are concerned, please make your voice known. If you do nothing you may be surprised by what the political process creates. When I talked to her this morning, Marti Kramer, CEO of the California Society of Professional Engineers, was very frustrated that ASME and IEEE have not weighed in with a position on SB-828. It is difficult for ASME Region IX to take a position because opinions of individual members range from strong belief in professional engineer licensing and complete opposition to industrial exemption to strong disbelief in the value of professional engineering licensing in promoting quality engineering and protecting the public. Other organizations are weighing in strongly. For background information with opposing views, two good places to check are www.cspe.com and www.softwareindustry.org/csia/aa.html. For Region IX information and contacts, check www.primenet.com/~asmer9/.

If you have comments or input for small business activities, this column or the small business web site, please contact Eric E. Worrell, P.E., Material Integrity Solutions, Inc., 3254 Adeline Street, Ste. 200, Berkeley, CA 94703, (510) 594-0300, Fax 594-0333 or home, Phone/Fax (510) 689-4579, eew@eew.com.

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