Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 6

36 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 6 Pennsylvania, for example, a lot of road projects were suspended but that only lasted about a month and a half. What we’re hearing from our members is either that their volume of work is already at pre-pandemic levels or it will be within 12 months. “For CMAA, the pandemic accelerated our digital strategy on almost every front. One of which was making events such as our national conference into virtual events. This September we’re planning a hybrid event – simultaneously face- to-face in Philadelphia and virtually, as well.” BVM: Five years from now, how do you see the industry and CMAA evolving? Rutledge: “There are things that are going to change construction management. They have a lot to do with resilience, owner expectations, financing, and the use of technology, particularly analytics. I think all of those are going to change the way projects are designed and delivered. Where I believe CMAA continues to provide support and value to members is by forecasting and scanning the environment. In the association space we call it foresight – to anticipate and identify what those early adopters are and introduce the concept to the members. Essentially, letting them know about what’s coming. “One of the temptations around technology and innovation is to teach people how to use specific programs. But what we really need is to provide people with a skill set or framework for evaluating the technology options they have available and choosing the right one for the job. There is a lot of work and opportunity in education around making decisions. One of the opportunities we have is to help people learn to use the skills they learned in school to address the problems at hand. And to work together to find solutions.”