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Of all the accommodations considered reasonable under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), perhaps the most frustrating is when an employee requests additional time off after their 12 weeks of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave ends. This is particularly true since the ADA, unlike the FMLA, provides no statutory or regulatory parameters indicating the amount of additional leave employers must provide. However, a federal appeals court has just handed employers a milestone victory in one such legal battle that might ease the frustration levels for some.

Jenny Grounds, BOUDREAUXThe idea of performing market research can often feel like a burden for small marketing groups. The everyday tasks already on your to-do list can easily fill up a 40-hour work week. Where do you find the time to research, compile, and analyze piles of data on top of everything else? Market research doesn’t have to be complex or require robust, expensive studies to be effective. By breaking it into small, manageable pieces, you can gather information that will directly benefit your A/E/C firm without overtasking your teams.

On November 30, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) appealed a Texas judge’s decision to toss out an Obama administration rule that would have nearly doubled the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) salary threshold for exemption from overtime pay. The Trump administration DOL is defending its authority to create an overtime rule, but not the salary limit set by the Obama administration. The agency filed its notice to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and once docketed, the agency — through the Department of Justice — will file a motion to hold the appeal in abeyance while the DOL undertakes further rulemaking to determine what the salary level should be.

Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between September 2016 and September 2017, while 26 states added construction jobs between August and September as some state employment levels were impacted by recent hurricanes, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data released today. Association officials noted that construction employment in many parts of the country would have been higher if more qualified workers were available.

In order to ensure that the �鶹��ý Business Development Forum is fulfilling its mission to advise �鶹��ý members of new market opportunities, follow and report on trends in the construction market, and advise members on the techniques and tools of BD, the Steering Committee has developed a brief electronic survey. To submit your suggestions and ideas, please click on the following link or copy and paste this link into your browser’s address field: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PBVZTKX.

The Steering Committee is an active group-meeting 8-10 times a year via teleconference and in-person twice a year in conjunction with other �鶹��ý events. The current objectives of the Business Development Forum Steering Committee over the next few years are to: Write and share BD Best Practices Develop WebEd Content for Membership Engage the Forum Activate Member Sharing

The Steering Committee is an active group-meeting 8-10 times a year via teleconference and in-person twice a year in conjunction with other �鶹��ý events. The current objectives of the Business Development Forum Steering Committee over the next few years are to: Write and share BD Best Practices Develop WebEd Content for Membership Engage the Forum Activate Member Sharing

The Business Development Best Practices are an ongoing effort by the �鶹��ý Business Development Forum Steering Committee to bring more BD resources and best practices to the �鶹��ý membership. Written and developed by industry experts in Business Development, these best practices cover a wide range of topics, from relationship building and sales to marketing and proposals. This month, the Business Development Forum Steering Committee highlights: Companies spend significant resources on online marketing only to be left wondering why it’s not working. It’s not surprising. Gaining traction through content alone is not easy—especially if you want to do more than build awareness. In her article, “First Contact: Using Incentives and Automation to Spur Web Visitors to Action”, Ida Cheinman, Substance151, walks you through her strategy to nurture your website visitors so that they are ready to be engaged prospects.

�鶹��ý’s 2017 BuildCon brings together leaders, owners and peers of the industry to share, learn and discuss vital business topics so you can compete and excel in today’s market. This year's programming focuses on lean practices and prefabrication and looking at implementation from multiple perspectives. Session highlight: The Practical Applications of Lean: Find out how lean principles were applied to planning and building a 930,000 square foot, $1.2Billion, hospital in the heart of San Francisco, CA. Learn how the use of On-Boarding Videos, Big-Room collaboration, Team Building, pre-fabbed duct assemblies, modular plumbing kits, pre-manufactured porta-potties and many other innovative ideas uncommon to traditional construction made for a safer, under-budget and cutting-edge project.

California & Oregon Have Biggest Job Gains for the Year, Iowa and Missouri Have Largest Declines; Monthly Changes Reflect Hurricane Impacts, as Texas Adds the Most Jobs but Florida Has Huge Loss