For 75 years, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota has been going to bat for consulting engineering firms across the state. Today, the association represents more than 125 member companies and 7,500 employees.
Jonathan Curry has been ACEC/MN’s executive director for five of those years. He came on board in October 2019, just a few months before the pandemic hit.
“I really came to ACEC at an interesting time with COVID, but now we’re on the other side of that,” Curry said. “It’s been great to work with a lot of the organizations and businesses here across the state of Minnesota.”
One of the top issues for those organizations is attracting and retaining workers. A couple of years ago, to address that concern, ACEC/MN established the Engineering Education Foundation of America, a nonprofit dedicated to education and workforce development.
Among other initiatives, the foundation makes “charitable investments in education to promote careers” in engineering and supports STEM education for students from kindergarten through high school “to inspire future generations of engineers,” according to its website.
In this interview, Curry talks more about the foundation and the engineering industry’s need for talent, among other topics.