It is with a heavy heart that we must share the passing of a dear friend and significant contributor to the Geoprofessional Business Association, numerous other associations, and the geoprofessions. On Friday, June 3rd., Woodward L. “Woody” Vogt, P.E., D. GE, F. GBA, F. ACI, F. ASCE, F. ASTM (Paradigm Consultants/CMT) passed away after complications associated with brain surgery that was performed in March. Despite his long list of professional licenses, and well-earned titles as diplomate and fellow, to everyone, he was simply “Woody”. Mr. Vogt was President of Paradigm Consultants, Inc. in Houston which was recently purchased by CMT Engineering Laboratories. He had more than 40 years’ experience providing geotechnical, construction materials and investigative and forensi...

You are cordially invited to join GBA’s President Tom Blackburn for a casual afternoon of information and social networking with friends and colleagues from across GBA. Tom will introduce you to friends as we wind down the week and toast the weekend  with a seasonal beverage. Please join us for a fun and informative hour. Date: July 9, 2021 Time: 5:00 PM Eastern Register: E-mail GBA Here Topics will include: Welcome Tom Blackburn, P.E., G.E., F.ASCE; F.ACEC (Blackburn Consulting) GBA President “Critical Success Factors for a Healthy Business” David Coduto (Terra Insurance Co) Terra Insurance Company is the highest rated professional liability carrier in the United States according to AM Best’s capital adequacy ratio analysis (BCAR). According to Best, our loss ra...

GBA is a volunteer organization. Almost all the resources we produce for our members, our contributions to the geoprofessional community, and our conferences are mostly driven by volunteer leaders. Each Spring, during our conference we recognize those that have contributed to GBA in a significant way. During the 2021 Spring Conference, awards were given to firms and individuals who exhibited extraordinary support and meritorious performance during our 2020–2021 fiscal year. Those recognized during the Annual Awards Ceremony were: CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION Each year we ask our Committees and Councils to provide us with the names of people that have contributed to our Association during the past year.  Based on this list, we have more people contributing to GBA at a level high...

Business Practices Committee A Member-Firm with multiple offices became the victim of foreign hacking enterprise. When an employee of the firm opened an email from an unsuspected contact, and clicked on a link, the hackers reached the Firm’s management systems. Once they got access to the systems, the infiltrators spent months learning about the operations, information storage and data, unbeknownst to anyone. After obtaining and securing all that they needed, they locked the access to the IT systems, including emails and files and demanded seven-figure sum of money to release the records. What happens next? Case Histories are real-life stories about GBA member-firm experiences. They provide background, problems, outcomes, and lessons learned. There is no easier way to learn expe...

Conference Program Committee Are you a dynamic and engaging speaker with valuable content to share with industry leaders that can help improve their businesses and elevate the profession? Are you an experienced professional and an outstanding leader? If you answered yes to any of the above then, the Geoprofessional Business Association invites you to submit an abstract for consideration for GBA’s Fall Conference scheduled for October 21-23, 2021 at the Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort in Henderson, Nevada. Reuniting at this conference will bring us back to the basics of what GBA does best. We will focus on business & educational resources, specifically risk management and business performance optimization for geoprofessional firms. Presentations by subject matter experts ma...

Emerging Leaders Class 4 GBA has a tradition of collaborating on issues that impact the geoprofessions. One of the ways we work together is by providing lessons learned through GBA Case Histories. GBA Case Histories provide unprecedented real-world learning examples related to project and business management. Learn where others went wrong, how they handled their problems, and how you can learn from their experiences to avoid the same problems in the future. Case Histories have been written and read for more than 30 years. Now, they are available as podcasts so you can download, listen, and learn from anywhere. Follow along as our narrator shares the highlights, engages with subject matter experts, and delivers the lessons learned to your headset. Case History #61 – Don’t Li...

GBA provides hundreds of highly effective resources  developed to satisfy the unique needs of geoprofessionals,  giving members essential tools for achieving success.  However, we also know that it can be overwhelming to sort through them all. To help, we have compiled a list of the top 10 GBA resources by numbers ordered in 2020. This is a great place to start your exploration of GBA’s resources, or to get acquainted with a publication loved by your peers and “new to you”. The list below is the top 10 GBA resources, in order by popularity. Topics cover a wide range of geoprofessional business issues, so there is certain to be something on this list that could help your business succeed. Select a title to learn more and order it today. CONTRACT REFERENCE GUIDE, FOURTH EDITIO...

GBA Council of Fellows Charles “Charlie” L. Head, P.E., P.G. (Sanborn, Head & Associates, Inc.) and Woodward “Woody” L. Vogt, P.E., D.GE, F. ASCE, F.ACI, F. ASTM (Paradigm Consultants) have been appointed to the prestigious Council of Fellows of the Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA). Charles “Charlie” L. Head, P.E., P.G. is a co-founder of Sanborn Head, and in his roles as CEO and Board Chair, he is focused on the successful implementation of the firm’s strategic plan.  Charlie received his bachelor’s degree in geology from St. Lawrence University, a bachelor’s  degree in civil engineering from the University of New  Hampshire, and a master’s degree in  civil  and  groundwater engineering from Colorado State University. Mr. Head served as GB...

Join GBA Now! Join the Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA) today to gain access to the essential resources, support, and connections that will enable your organization to succeed. As a GBA member, you will derive an outstanding ROI by taking advantage of benefits like: Risk management resources Business management resources Professional development for you and all of your employees Networking opportunities Employee recruiting and retention resources Contract language support Client communication and education resources Best Practices, Business Briefs, and Case Histories Important industry trends For over 50 years, GBA has been committed to helping you and your clients confront risk and optimize performance. We are...

What Are You Downloading? These are the most frequently downloaded reference documents this year! If you are not reading them, you are missing out. Important Information About This Geotechnical-Engineering Report GBA has updated one of its most frequently, all-time best-selling resource – Important Information about This Geotechnical-Engineering Report. Some of the language and sections have been modified and updated, including a new section about understanding the geotechnical engineering services. Literally millions of copies of the previous versions are in print or virtual print. Only GBA-Member Firms have the right to insert the document “as-is.”.  And members get them for free.  Stay current and get your copy now! Download Important Information about This Geote...

GBA’s 2019 Fall Conference videos and presentation slides are now available on our website for “on-demand” viewing.  Watch 2019 Fall Conference Videos:  HERE Now you can review the presentations on your time and share what you learned from these speakers with your colleagues.  They make great lunch-and-learns for professional development of small groups or your entire staff. ________________________________________________________ As a reminder, our 2019 Fall Conference lineup was: EMBRACING BIG DATA AND DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION Patrick Schwerdtfeger (Business Futurist) ADVANCED DATA ANALYTICS IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING Nick Machairas (New York University)  DELIVERING REAL-TIME RESULTS:  THE FUTURE OF LABORATORY OPERATIONS James “Jim” Murphy (Stra...

FA19-01 Embracing Big Data and Disruptive Innovation This ...

SYNOPSIS The Association of Soil and Foundation Engineers (ASFE) is an association of consulting geotechnical engineering firms. Established in 1969, ASFE has developed a variety of professional liability loss prevention programs and materials. By using these programs and materials, members of ASFE have gained what reportedly is the best professional liability loss prevention record of all U.S. design professionals. In the year of ASFE’s formation, geotechnical engineers had the worst liability record of all U.S. design professionals, a situation which threatened the continuance of consulting soil and foundation engineering as a distinct practice. INTRODUCTION The Association of Soil and Foundation Engineers (ASFE) is, perhaps, the most successful of ...

The Fall Conference agenda has been finalized and this will be an incredible gathering. The theme for the conference is "Committing to Continuous Improvement" which supports our members' daily effort to build stronger, smarter, more successful businesses. Conference speakers will help you to build a high-performance culture, communicate your brand clearly to employees and clients, stay current with new technology, and in GBA's unique way, learn from the mistakes of others as we explore several case histories from our members. Join us in Music City, Nashville, Tennessee — November 1-3, 2018 Keynotes include: Principles for Building a High-Performance Culture Brent Gleeson — Former Navy SEAL combat veteran, Brent Gleeson, turned his discipline and battlefield lessons to t...

What are your Peers Reading? GBA’s Most Downloaded Resources in 2017 GBA provides hundreds of highly effective resources developed to satisfy the unique needs of geoprofessionals, giving members essential tools for achieving success. However, we also know that it can be overwhelming to sort through them all. So, to help, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 GBA resources by numbers ordered in 2017. This is a great place to start your exploration of GBA’s resources, or to get acquainted with a publication loved by your peers and “new to you”. GBA’s CASE HISTORIES were very popular downloads with over 1,100 downloads of updated Case Histories during the year. The list below is the top 10 GBA resources, in order by popularity, with the most ordered resource at the t...