ASLA Top Honors

Last month, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) officially announced EDAW AECOM as the recipient of their Firm Award. Simultaneously, the society announced Joe Brown, chief executive of AECOM's planning, design + development business line, as the recipient of their ASLA Medal. The Firm Award is the highest honor the society gives to a practice while the Medal is the highest honor given to an individual. The Firm Award recognizes 70 years of influential work culminating in a practice that is today the world's leader in land design + planning. The ASLA Medal recognizes Joe's contributions to the profession and to society, specifically his efforts to raise the profile and expand the scope of landscape architecture. A new microsite highlights EDAW's work and some of the many places we have influenced, while this video features some of Joe's reflections on the profession. (Photo by David Lloyd, Jinji Lake, Suzhou, China)

Eastern Europe

In May 2009, Savant joined AECOM, bringing 600 professionals and a wealth of experience providing project, cost and construction-management consultancy services to private and public clients throughout Europe. The partnership expands AECOM's reach particularly in Eastern Europe and Russia. Within months of the juncture, we have launched projects with John Deere out of our Moscow office and General Electric (GE) out of our Prague office. We're helping John Deere develop small manufacturing facilities while we're working with GE to consolidate their offices into a single space. Mark Ballard, Vice President of Program + Construction Management based out of Arlington, VA, noted, "We had been trying for some time to arrange partnerships such as these, but until Savant joined us, we did not have a foundation in the region. Now that we do, we can be very responsive to market needs in Russia and Eastern Europe." ( Photo by Cary Simmons, "Prague Castle")

Leading Resource

ERA AECOM has released its annual Attraction Attendance Report for 2008. The report, a leading resource for the entertainment and leisure markets, provides visitation totals for top theme parks and water parks worldwide. Produced in collaboration with TEA (Themed Entertainment Association), the leading international trade alliance for the creators of compelling experiences and places, the report is relied upon by journalists, professionals in the attractions and tourism industry, and the investment community. "Each year we expand the number and type of facilities we examine, many of which are, or will be, included in major AECOM projects," said John Robinett, Senior Vice President at ERA AECOM.