Fellow Southern Region members;

School's out for the summer in most Districts in our Region, meaning construction projects are in full swing as school districts take this opportunity to complete new facilities, upgrade engineering systems or technology, and more, before students and staff return to campuses in August. Many Regional Chapters will continue to meet over the summer and I hope you have a chance to attend those programs and connect with your peers.

I want to thank Daniel Perez, SHW Group, for his leadership of a very successful Southern Region Conference in San Antonio in April. More than 200 attendees met to share information on best practices, recognize outstanding facility design, and network. Alan Albers, Round Rock ISD was deservedly named the Southern Region's Planner of the Year during the Fiesta gala at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Alan has been a tremendous leader in our industry, managing billions of dollars in educational facility design and construction for the fast-growth RRISD, while also being a key volunteer and dedicated leader for the Central Texas North Chapter and the Southern Region of CEFPI. Be sure to congratulate Alan when you see him. If you missed this outstanding conference, plan now to attend the 2012 SR Conference in Houston – details will be coming soon.

The Texas Legislature is wrapping up a difficult 82nd Legislative Session in which lawmakers struggled to deal with a statewide budget deficit. The impact on school maintenance and design/construction is sure to be significant, and is not yet fully understood. House Bill 51 and House Bill 628 were the most significant bills to pass related to educational facilities. If not vetoed by the Governor, HB 51 would create energy efficiency and conservation standards for the design, construction, and major renovation of instructional facilities that school districts may adopt or use, but would not be required to use; HB 628 would combine construction delivery method legislation currently found in 3 different statutes into one statute in the Government Code. Thanks to Gary Marek, TEA, for keeping our Chapters and Region apprised of the latest legislative news.

In July, the SR Board of Directors and Chapter Presidents will meet in Irving for a strategic planning retreat. Some of the issues to be addressed include Chapter development, the SR Foundation's new structure and purpose, and the 2012 regional conference. If you have ideas or issues you would like to add to our agenda, please contact me prior to July 1.

Finally, we are looking for members to serve on the Southern Region Board of Directors. Watch for the Call for Nominations coming soon for more information. Hope to see you in Nashville for the 2011 CEFPI Annual Conference, September 14-17.

Regards,

Doug Thompson
Southern Region President

	CALENDAR OF EVENTS
7/13/11	Central Texas North Chapter Meeting – Round Rock High School Tour
7/14/11	South Texas Chapter Meeting – Madison HS AgriScience Facility
7/15/11	2011 School Planning & Architectural Exhibition Annual Awards Registration Deadline
8/10/11	Central Texas North Chapter Meeting – Killeen ISD
9/15/11	2011 CEFPI Annual World Conference & Expo
	Event Calendar

Southern Region President Doug Thompson, Yates Construction, welcomed attendees to the Southern Region Conference in San Antonio. SOUTHERN REGION CONFERENCE RECAP By Daniel Perez, SHW Group, Conference Chairperson The Southern Region Annual Conference was held from April 14-17, 2011, in San Antonio at the Grand Hyatt. Total attendance was 225, including 70 individuals from school districts around Texas and Louisiana. The conference opened with a Superintendent's Panel facilitated by Joe Irizarry with Raba Kistner. The panel included John Kelly, Boerne ISD, Richard Middleton, NEISD, and Jesus Chavez, Round Rock ISD. Each superintendent spoke on the topic of School Finance and the effect on their district and school districts in general. There were 24 presentations made and every session was well attended. A total of 45 school projects were on display and 42 vendors exhibited. The Sporting Clay Shoot and the Golf Tournament also had great participation. Below are the winners of those events. I also just returned from the Pacific Northwest Conference and although their region is larger than the Southern Region rest assured our conference is superior in many ways. I do want to thank everyone that served on the Conference Planning Committee, along with Carla Terian from International and all the sponsors and exhibitors for putting on a successful conference. Golf Tournament Winners 1st PLACE: Ken Hutchens, Tom Wells, Alan Patrick, Jeff Windsor 2nd PLACE: Peter McElwain, Bill Stice, Scott Walker, Larry Goodrich 3rd PLACE: Irene Nigaglioni, Wayne Reynaud, Scott Layne, Larry Williams LONGEST DRIVE: Daniel Kershner CLOSEST TO THE PIN: Tom Wells Chapter versus Chapter Golf Tournament Winners Daniel Kershner and Jeff Young (South Texas Chapter) Sporting Clay Tournament Winners 1st PLACE: DBR Engineering 2nd PLACE: RWS Architects 3rd PLACE: Bay Architects MEN'S TOP GUN: Doug Gregory WOMEN'S TOP GUN: Irene Nigaglioni I SHOULD HAVE GONE FISHING AWARD: King Cook RAFFLE WINNERS: Dirk Butler, Terry Bell, Matt Gullo Gala Raffle Winners IPad: Jill Hallmark, Midland ISD Laptop: Sean Connor, Pfluger Architects NEW MEMBERS Please take a moment to welcome the new members in your region. New members as of June 2011: Brian McKay, Marketing Manager, Weatherization Partners, Ltd. Catherine Bell, Education Market Manager, Crestron Frank Fuller, DuPont Tyvek Commercial Specialist, Weatherization Partners, Ltd. Hudson Huff, Keller ISD Lisa Bengfort, Marketing Director, Teague Nall and Perkins, Inc. Malcolm Mulroney, Construction Coordinator, Keller ISD W. Keith Douglas Senior, Mechanical Designer, Kalmans Marshall Engineering, Inc. Brady Smyth, Project Manager, Cadence McShane Construction Christus N. Powell, Principal, Archi*Technics/3, Inc. Dalane Bouillion, Associate Superintendent, Spring ISD George Watanabe, cre8 Architects Jimmy Jones, Chief Operating Officer, Custom Sports Surfacing Jules A. Lagarde, MPC Manager, CSRS, Inc. Martha Buckner, Assistant Superintendent for Ancillary Services, Humble Independent School District Michael B Graham, Principal, Element Architects Oscar J. Peraza, Executive Sales Engineer, Johnson Controls, Inc. Quanah Martin, Account Executive, Automated Logic - Houston Robert Alford, President, Amtech Building Sciences, Inc. Stein Hansen, cre8 Architects Stuart Snow, Associate Superintendent for Business & Finance, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Tim Host Floyd Luster, CSRS, Inc. Kevin Carpenter, Energy Engineer, CLEAResult Kevin Putman, Senior Program Mangaer, CLEAResult Mike Brooks, Manager - Facilities Services, Texas Association of School Boards Tod Spears, Texas Regional Sales Manager, Musco Sports Lighting Jason Hukill Mike Simpson, Assistant Superintendent, Ponca City Public Schools Amy E. King, Owner, SUNDT Chris Lechner, PCMA of Texas Diana Castillo, Asst. Custodial Foreman, North East ISD Erica Gagne, Business Development, JQ San Antonio Katherine McGuyre, Director, Facility Programming and Consulting Maria Perez, Director of Health Services, North East ISD Ron Clary, Exec. Director of Facitily Maintenance, North East ISD Stephanie Silva, Director of Marketing, JQ San Antonio Brandon Boyter, Construction Manager, Frisco Independent School District Ed Mullins, Project Manager, Sundt Construction Jorden M. Dial, Director of Business Development, Lee Lewis Construction, Inc. Kyle Sims, Construction Manager, Frisco Independent School District Stuart Campbell, Bay Architects, Inc. Devin Williamson, Business Development Professional, Raba-Kistner Consultants, Inc Gregory J. Patch, Vice President, LJA Engineering, Inc. John R. Dunn, Senior Project Manager, Bartlett Cocke General Contractors Christy Rhone, Business Development Professional, Raba-Kistner Consultants, Inc John Gutz, Architectural Systems Mgr., CertainTeed Joseph A. Irizarry, Business Development Manager, Raba-Kistner Consultants, Inc Lucas Motycka, Johnson Controls, Inc.