ASFE/The Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA): An Invitation from the President

Dear Friends of the Geoprofessions:

I invite you to take a closer look at ASFE/The Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA). We are a not-for-profit organization whose 300 Member Firms provide geotechnical, geologic, environmental, construction-materials engineering and testing, and related geoprofessional services that are essential to the welfare of our society and economy. Value is derived from the wise deployment of geoprofessional expertise where below-ground (“subsurface”), ground-surface, and ground-surface-connected conditions, structures, or formations present challenges and opportunities. GBA specializes in helping our members and their clients confront risk and optimize performance in order to maximize geoprofessionals' importance and value to the marketplace. I am honored to serve as GBA’s president during the organization’s May 2013-April 2014 year.

Why should nonmembers give GBA a closer look? Whether you are considering membership, or represent an allied or client organization, you benefit from our more than 40 years of dedication to the geoprofessions. Here’s why we can make this claim so confidently:

• We are the only organization dedicated to the business and professional practices of geoprofessionals. Our key concern is business excellence and, to help our members achieve it, we have developed more than 700 contractual, financial, and operational tools, materials, and programs to help define, evolve, and sustain the practice. GBA innovations like limitation of liability, peer review, and alternative dispute resolution, along with our extensive library of case studies, have served to influence and improve the practice.
• GBA’s advocacy, educational activities, and collaborative outreach help shape the marketplace. Through outreach to organizations of allied individuals and firms, as well as organizations of clients and those who influence client decisions, we are a leading voice on value-added service and professionalism. We have helped create a far better climate for business between geoprofessionals and their clients by confronting and turning back threats to the application of professional judgment, reinforcing the process for establishing standard of care, stressing the importance of licensing and certification, and addressing adverse legal precedents.
• GBA’s many publications, seminars, webinars, and conferences, along with the Fundamentals of Professional Practice (FOPP) course and our acclaimed Peer Review program, are resources that help Member Firms and their clients not just survive, but prosper. Many of our Member Firms have used these resources to earn the trust and respect required to function as their clients’ trusted professional advisors, enhancing their own and the geoprofessions’ reputations in the process.

Membership benefits geoprofessional firms of all sizes: from those best described as “solo practitioners” to organizations that are among the largest of their kind in the world. This diversity underscores the effectiveness of GBA’s unique practitioner-focused approach. GBA membership is also open to geoconstruction firms and geoprofessional educators, students, and practitioners employed by client organizations, government, and industry, among others with an interest in business and practice issues.

Why should members give GBA a closer look? Member Firms that put the most into GBA get the most out of GBA. Those that regularly take advantage of our services and materials, attend meetings, and participate in our committees commonly describe GBA as one of their best resources for professional development of staff, peer-to-peer networking, and business problem solving.

By applying GBA resources, Member Firms enhance their ability to become valuable and important members of project teams. Collectively, active Member Firms have discovered that this results in improved morale, self-image, and performance. GBA’s educational materials – literally hundreds of items – are available in unlimited quantities at no cost to Member Firms.

A thriving future for the geoprofessions cannot be taken for granted. So much depends on our ability to pass on the value of our practices to future generations of geoprofessionals and their clients. Fortunately, our commitment to expanding geoprofessionals’ importance and value to the marketplace resonates with many of the emerging leaders of our Member Firms. For that reason, we are dedicated to helping Member Firms nurture their emerging leaders by offering many pathways for their active participation in GBA, a commitment that gives emerging leaders tremendous opportunities for establishing professional mentorships and friendships that serve as catalysts for exceptional careers.

Join us in doing more to fulfill our purpose: Help geoprofessionals maximize their importance and value to the marketplace, achieve business excellence, and manage risk. And by all means, give GBA a closer look. Browse the GBA website and return frequently; we update often. Attend our Fall and/or Spring Conference. Follow us on Twitter and join us on LinkedIn. And whenever you have questions, simply contact GBA by telephone (301/565-2733) or e-mail (info@asfe.org). We welcome your participation and the opportunity to serve.

Best Regards,

Kurt R. Fraese

Kurt R. Fraese, L.G.
President, 2013-14