Articulon News and Announcements

YMW Partner to Teaches on Medical Malpractice Litigation

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Lori Meyerhoffer, a partner and physician with litigation firm Yates, McLamb & Weyher, will be featured lecturer of a continuing education program on medical malpractice litigation at Duke University. The program is designed for doctors and lawyers to discuss healthcare and malpractice reform, as well as other areas where their two professions intersect.

“Medicine is a highly-regulated industry and is becoming ever more so. Physicians and their advisors need to explore together the clinical and legal implications of the way our society governs and pays for healthcare,” says Meyerhoffer.

Dr. Lori MeyerhofferDrawing from her experiences as both an attorney and physician, Meyerhoffer will discuss four areas including:

  • Requirements for expert opinions before a suit is brought
  • Standard-of-care requirements
  • Supervising physician liability for errors of their staff
  • What to do when facing a claim

Presented by the North Carolina Bar Association, the class will take place on June 15, 2012, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additional information can be found at www.ncbar.org.

About Yates, McLamb & Weyher, L.L.P.: Formed in 1983, Yates, McLamb & Weyher represents civil litigation defendants in cases focusing on medical malpractice, professional and general liability, construction litigation, products liability, insurance coverage and auto negligence. Founding partners Dan J. McLamb and Barbara B. Weyher shared a vision and built a firm characterized by legal expertise and skill, tenacity in defense of their clients’ interests, and civility and professionalism in the practice of law. Today the firm has 29 lawyers. Visit www.ymwlaw.com for more information.

 

FMI Releases Business Development Strategy Survey

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The economic climate of the last few years has done more than impact the bottom line of many contractors; it has been the catalyst for changing the industry’s approach to business development. FMI, the largest provider of management consulting and investment banking to the engineering and construction industry, and the Associated General Contractors of America have collaborated to release the “2012 Business Development Survey.”

The report captures how the business development efforts of contractors have changed. Beginning with the recession and continuing through the recent months of slow economic expansion, the report takes a concentrated look at the business development function, as well as firm performance and strategy.

Survey Insights:

  • Going forward, business development is becoming more central to the overall business plan of many firms, with some contractors holding firm on business-development spending even as work becomes scarce.
  • Providing incentives for customers to maintain loyalty is a strategy being employed by the upper echelon of profitable firms. Margin leaders, looking to extract value from client relationships, are experiencing a correlation between the growth in repeat business and firm profitability.
  • Across all contract types, bid-hit rates for mid-sized firm ($100 – $500 MM) are lagging behind their industry counterparts. It is also the segment where the largest percentage of respondents (42 percent) spend less than 1 percent on business development.

To download a copy of the full report click here. For reprint permission or to schedule an interview with the author, please contact Sarah Avallone at 919.785.9221 or savallone@fminet.com.

About FMI: FMI is the largest provider of management consulting, investment banking and research to the engineering and construction industry. We work in all segments of the industry providing clients with value-added business solutions, including:

  • Strategy Development
  • Market Research and Business Development
  • Leadership and Talent Development
  • Project and Process Improvement
  • Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Consulting
  • Compensation Data and Consulting

Founded by Dr. Emol A. Fails in 1953, FMI has professionals in offices across the U.S. FMI delivers innovative, customized solutions to contractors; construction materials producers; manufacturers and suppliers of building materials and equipment; owners and developers; engineers and architects; utilities; and construction industry trade associations. FMI is an advisor you can count on to build and maintain a successful business, from your leadership to your site managers. Visit www.fminet.com.

About AGC of America: The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) is the leading association for the construction industry. AGC represents more than 28,000 firms, including 6,000 of America’s leading general contractors, and more than 9,800 specialty-contracting firms. More than 11,000 service providers and suppliers are associated with AGC through a nationwide network of chapters. Visit www.agc.org.

Lauren Joyce of HPG to Speak at Green Plus Breakfast

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Hughes Pittman & Gupton, LLP, one of the largest CPA firms headquartered and staffed in the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina, announces today that Lauren Joyce will be presenting a keynote address on the benefits of going green to the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce Green Plus™ Recognition Breakfast on June 7. HPG was the first accounting firm to achieve Green Plus certification from the Institute for Sustainable Development. In 2011, the firm was named Biggest Green Plus Mover of the Year.

Joyce’s keynote will address the benefits of going green from a networking and marketing perspective. This will include how being a Green Plus organization has created opportunities to grow HPG. She will also discuss how HPG became a Green Plus certified company through the development of a paperless methodology for completing key accounting activities and how the firm measures, monitors and reduces resource usage, including energy and water.

The growing Cleantech practice group has 15 employees and provides industry knowledge and the financial experience necessary for business success. HPG is a supporter of the CleanLinks Forum by the CED. The forum offers practical business advice to cleantech entrepreneurs.

About Hughes Pittman & Gupton, LLP (HPG): HPG is one of the largest CPA firms headquartered and staffed in the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina, as ranked by the Triangle Business Journal. More than just an accounting firm, HPG assists clients in looking beyond the bottom linesm by being the right people, right value and right firmsm to achieve each client’s definition of success. HPG is a member of CPAmerica International and affiliated with the Crowe Horwath International alliances of firms, with offices worldwide. The firm leverages this to provide national and global accounting resources to its clients. HPG offers a wide array of business accounting, auditing, corporate tax and management advisory services. Specialties include serving owner-managed, investor-backed technology and life science organizations, healthcare services, real estate development, manufacturing and distribution businesses, as well as providing ERISA audits, family wealthcare services and Sarbanes-Oxley internal audit services.

HPG has remained committed to advancing a thriving Triangle community since its founding in 1983. In recognition, the firm is the recipient of two Pinnacle Business Awards by the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce: the 2009 Large Entrepreneurial Business Award and the 2010 Integrity in Business Award. Additionally, HPG has been certified Green Plus by the Institute for Sustainable Development for integrating environmental sustainability efforts into company culture, and has been named one of the top 100 Best Accounting Firms to Work For in the country by Accounting Today. Visit www.hpg.com for more information.

Month 5: Articulon Celebrates National HIV Testing

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Meet the Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolinas Staff

Get Real. Get Tested.

It has been 31 years since the initial description in a Center for Disease Control (CDC) report on what we now know as HIV/AIDS. As recently as 2009, the CDC has indicated that the southern region of the U.S. has the highest new infection rate, North Carolina tops the list. What’s more is that women account for 30% of the new HIV infections, with more than 80% of them being black or hispanic.

Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolinas (AAS-C) has been providing free HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and support services across the Triangle for 12 years. The organization has expanded its public service to include testing and treatment of other sexually transmitted diseases. Since January 2012, the Raleigh office of AAS-C testing site has identified 13 new HIV infections, 20 cases of gonorrhea and 38 incidents of chlamydia.

In addition to testing at their offices, AAS-C has an on-going community program of making free testing available wherever people are — churches, public festivals, as well as teen and young-adult gatherings. In 2011, outreach efforts beyond the test sites reached 1,375 people.

To offset the cost associated with free testing, the Articulon team offered a cash donation, visited the administrative and testing staff to learn about the programs, and toured the headquarters in Ralegh.

Did you know the cost of a single test kit starts around 50 bucks? And, testing is only a portion of the services provided by AAS-C. They also assist individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and their families with food, clothing, stable housing, counseling and the identification of available medical and financial resources. This is a great service to our community.

100 CEOs Discuss the State of the Engineering & Construction Industry

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One hundred top executives from some of the largest architecture, engineering and construction companies gathered in Washington D.C. recently to discuss the state of the nonresidential engineering and construction industry. The markets addressed included:

  • Federal & environmental
  • Transportation & power
  • Water & wastewater
  • Commercial & governmental facilities

A half day was devoted to discussion of the State-of-the-Industry report prepared by FMI and Alan Farkas. The report was based on a thorough analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau construction spending data, results of the Engineering News-Record Design 500 survey and 45 in-depth interviews with industry leaders. Key takeaways included:

  • U.S. design and construction markets are still waiting for the upturn
    • Design markets remained flat
    • Construction markets fell 2 percent
    • Breaking the trend is the power utility market
      • Power design gained 4 percent
      • Power construction increased 14 percent
  • 2012 appears poised for a mixed recovery
    • The power market should continue to grow
    • The facilities market should begin to grow
    • Transportation and water infrastructure will likely remain flat
    • Remediation will decrease slightly
In addition to the state of the U.S. construction industry, forum conversation included the U.S. political landscape with Larry Sabato talking about the 2012 election and The Honorable Gene A. Cretz, Former U.S. Ambassador to Libya, discussing the global economic outlook. The two-day forum also included workshops on emerging markets, funding and industry innovations.
This was the 18th annual gathering of this group, which represents 61 percent of all engineering and construction spending in the U.S. FMI, the largest provider of management consulting and investment banking to the engineering and construction industry, hosted the event established in 1994 by Farkas Berkowitz & Company. For more information about the forum or the State-of-the-Industry report, contact Lee Smither, FMI managing director, at 919-785-9243 or email at lsmither@fminet.com.
About FMI: FMI is the largest provider of management consulting, investment banking and research to the engineering and construction industry. We work in all segments of the industry providing clients with value-added business solutions, including:

  • Strategy Development
  • Market Research and Business Development
  • Leadership and Talent Development
  • Project and Process Improvement
  • Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Consulting
  • Compensation Data and Consulting

Founded by Dr. Emol A. Fails in 1953, FMI has professionals in offices across the U.S. FMI delivers innovative, customized solutions to contractors; construction materials producers, manufacturers and suppliers of building materials and equipment, owners and developers, engineers and architects, utilities, and construction industry trade associations. FMI is an advisor you can count on to build and maintain a successful business, from your leadership to your site managers. For more information, visit www.fminet.com.