ASPE ELECTS FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT IN SOCIETY HISTORY

In a recently held national election for the membership of the American Society of Professional Estimators, Paulette R. Rutlen, CPE, CEP was voted in as national president. Ms. Rutlen’s term will run from 2008-2009. (MORE)

Paulette holds the distinction of being the first woman president of this fifty-two year-old, male dominated organization. She first joined the Society in 1982 as one of very few female members of the Society.

Paulette has been very active in ASPE since being granted the status of Certified Professional Estimator in 1990.  Active in her local chapters of ASPE since becoming a CPE, she was appointed to the National Certification Board in 1994 and reappointed for five successive two-year terms, serving as chairperson the last five years.  Ms. Rutlen successfully ran for third vice president of ASPE in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006.  She served as second vice president in 2006-2007 and as first vice president in 2007-2008. 

Ms. Rutlen is the resident Chief Estimator for The Austin Company’s Irvine, CA office, where she develops, oversees and presents cost estimates for all phases of design and design/build projects, conceptual through construction documents, establishing budgets, performing value analysis studies, constructability reviews, change order and claims analysis.  Ms. Rutlen has been with The Austin Company since 2000.  Ms. Rutlen’s varied experience in estimating and project management as a consultant, design-build contractor, claims consultant, construction manager, general contractor, concrete subcontractor and builder’s hardware material supplier has given her a broad range of experience and knowledge from which to draw.

Ms. Rutlen successfully participated in the beta testing of AACE’s Certified Estimating Professional exam this spring, giving her yet another credential.  She was a panel member at the Groundbreaking Women in Construction 2007 conference.  She received ASPE’s 2004 President’s Award, in recognition of her years of service on the National Certification Board, and the Total Quality Management Award, while working for Sverdrup Facilities, in recognition of her efforts on projects for which clients recognized and singled out her contributions.  She served as an instructor for ASPE’s online estimating classes, and also taught an introductory estimating class in a classroom setting.  Ms. Rutlen’s technical paper on Design Phase Estimating was published in ASPE’s national monthly magazine Estimating Today.  Ms. Rutlen served as a panel member of the American Arbitration Association for fourteen years.

Ms. Rutlen began her experience in the construction industry in Minneapolis selling builder’s hardware in 1971.  After graduation from Minneapolis’ Dunwoody Industrial Institute in 1981, she went to work for general contractor Kraus-Anderson of MN, as an estimator.  She worked for a concrete subcontractor in the Washington, D.C. area from 1984-1989, before moving to southern California in late 1989.  Since moving to CA, Ms. Rutlen has worked for firms such as Heery International, Perini Construction, and Sverdrup Facilities.

Ms. Rutlen’s Plans for ASPE

We face so many challenges in the next few years; rising costs, shortages in the labor force, developments in the use of technologies such as BIM, the greening of American business, to name several. All of these factors will create both difficulties and opportunities for our industry.  Will BIM really deliver all that we hope it will?  What other fascinating developments in technology await us?  How will we reduce or off-set our carbon footprint?  How will we cope with the rising cost of oil?  These are the challenges we must conquer in order to survive.

ASPE needs to position itself to be seen as a leader in addressing the challenges of the future.

ASPE will continue to reach out to organizations such as the Building Smart Alliance, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Green Building Council, and others, in order to position ourselves to have a voice in the development of the systems that are going to have a profound influence on the construction industry.

Our industry is suffering from a severe shortage of qualified individuals in all areas.  ASPE offers estimators education and certification to help them be the best in the industry.  The ASPE Estimating Academy offered to the industry is considered to be one of the best educational events in the country.  Our online estimating classes grow in attendance every year and I see this as a tremendous value to those with a desire to advance their careers.  We will continue to expand the classes offered in both of these programs.

Our certification program is unique in the industry.  We are the only national association offering certifications in building construction estimating by discipline.  We currently have certifications available in all of the major trades.  Every year we continue to expand the number of trades for which we offer certification.

ASPE is able to offer itself as a source for speakers and presenters to the industry.  We have a tremendous depth of talent in our organization that we can draw upon.  We should be regarded as the premier organization to turn to for determining construction costs.

Some of our local chapters are involved with encouraging students to pursue careers in the construction industry.  We need to develop a national campaign to recruit young people, to instill a passion for what it is that we do, and to mentor them in their careers.  We are planning to revive our National Scholarship Program to assist students in construction related programs.

Despite the vagaries of the economy, ASPE’s future is bright.  We have spent the past fifty years positioning ourselves to be the experts, setting the standards for construction cost estimators in the U.S.A.  We have the ability to provide the industry with what they need most; estimators trained to a standard of professionalism second to none.