PMCC Wins Repeat Training Business for Army Corps of Engineers - Omaha District PMCC has been awarded a contract as the repeat provider of training for PMP Candidates at the Omaha District, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The training will consist of the new five-day “Preparation for the PMP Certification Examination” course revised and updated for the 2005 edition of the “Guide to the PMBOK®” and for the new “Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct”) to prepare a class of 16 PMP Candidates to successfully take and pass the PMI certification examination. Milt Jones will deliver the session 23-27 April 2007 in Omaha.
PMCC Wins Training Business for Army Corps of Engineers - Galveston District PMCC has been awarded a contract as the provider of three days of training for PMP Candidates at the Galveston District, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The training will consist of a one day condensed version of the flagship course “Results-Oriented Principles of Project Management” followed by two days “PMP Certification Examination Preparation” (both courses recently revised and updated for the 2005 edition of the “Guide to the PMBOK®” and for the new “Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct”) to prepare a class of 25 PMP Candidates to successfully take and pass the PMI certification examination. Milt Jones will deliver the session(s) 08-10 May 2007 in Galveston.
PMCC Consultant speaks at Salisbury University Milt Jones, PMP was invited back to guest lecture at Salisbury University (Perdue School of Business) in late February for the third time in an ongoing series of business community outreach efforts. The audience was made up of senior-class business and management majors who are students in Professor John Hickman’s “Small Business Consulting” class. The objective was to bring the basic precepts of project management to the students so that they were better-equipped to perform their independent projects where they are employed by local businesses to come up with entrepreneurial business proposals (treated as projects) and then carry them through to acceptance by the Sponsor and eventually, implementation. Milt especially stressed the planning, life cycle, scope, WBS, stakeholder relationship, risk, communications and team building aspects of project management and indicated the direct relationship between the students’ general management curriculum and “best practices” as it relates specifically to project management.
PMCC President invited to speak at Edmonton Alberta conference Ben Voivedich, president of PMCC, has been invited to speak to the PMI Northern Alberta Chapter conference in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. The annual conference which will feature over 40 sessions each day will be held on May 7 and 8 of 2007. Ben will give a one hour presentation each day. His two presentations will be on “Project Kickoff Meetings- Getting past Kumbaya and other Campfire Songs” and “Getting it right the first time: Focus on scope and risk before Cost and Schedule.” For more information on the conference, please go to www.pminacconference.com
PMCC invited back to speak to AGC of Wisconsin Based on the successful one day seminar done by PMCC in the fall of 2006, the Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin have invited PMCC back in the spring of 2007! On Thursday, April 19, 2007, Ben Voivedich, president of PMCC, will present two half day seminars.
The morning session will entitled “Using Project Plans for Profit”. Most contractors must produce a project plan as part of the bidding process. Instead of viewing the plan as just another contract requirement, contractors should view this document as “the plan for profit”. Ben will discuss the best practice elements of a project plan and how they can be used to successfully control the project and mitigate the impact of changes.
The afternoon session will be on “Managing Project Risks with a Risk Register”. Most contractors discuss cost and schedule on a regular basis as a means of justifying or explaining the scope and performance of the project. Equally important should be a rigorous and regular review of the project risks and opportunities. Voivedich will present a process for identifying risk events and transferring them to a project risk register that is then updated and reviewed frequently.
For more information on the AGC of Wisconsin and this event, please visit their website at www.agcwi.org.
PMCC Wins Repeat Training Business for Army Corps of Engineers – Dallas Headquarters Following up on its recent (August 2006) and September 2005 successes, PMCC has been awarded a contract as the provider of three additional days of training for Project Managers and some PMP Candidates at the Dallas District Headquarters, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The training will consist of PMCC’s flagship “Results-Oriented Principles of Project Management” (recently revised and updated for the 2005 edition of the “Guide to the PMBOK ®”) and is intended to enhance the Project Management readiness of a class of 23, some of which will receive the instruction via remotely televised hook-ups. Milt Jones will deliver the session 10-12 October 2006 from the USACE Southwest District Headquarters building in Dallas.
PMCC Wins Repeat SAIC Training Contract PMCC has been chosen to repeat its November 2005 PMP developmental training for SAIC employees by providing its newly-developed two-day “Risk Management for IT Project Teams” course to SAIC/Entergy attendees in New Orleans. Last year, Milt Jones conducted a two-day Earned Value seminar for SAIC/Entergy in November which was itself a continuation of various basic PM, PMP certification and continuing professional development courses that have been conducted for SAIC/Entergy by PMCC since 2000. Milt Jones will deliver the “Risk” session 13-14 September 2006.
PMCC Wins Training Business for Army Corps of Engineers - Omaha District PMCC has been awarded a contract as the provider of five days of training for PMP Candidates at the Omaha District, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The training will consist of three days “Results-Oriented Principles of Project Management” followed by two days “PMP Certification Examination Preparation” (both courses recently revised and updated for the 2005 edition of the “Guide to the PMBOK ®”) to prepare a class of 16 PMP Candidates to successfully take and pass the PMI certification examination. Milt Jones will deliver the session(s) 25-29 September 2006 in Omaha.
PMCC wins repeat business for PMP Prep Training PMCC has been chosen to repeat its September 2005 success in providing our PMP Certification Exam Prep course to the U S Army Corps of Engineers (COE) in Dallas. Last year,, Milt Jones conducted an intensive one-day PMBOK Guide ® and Project Life Cycle review followed by our standard two-day PMP certification exam review course. The results of the 2005 class were such (24 of 25 Candidates passed the exam at the first try) that the USACE has awarded PMCC a contract to repeat the process for a class of 28 in Ft. Worth, TX 21-23 August 2006. Attendees will be drawn from several Districts around the Dallas Region, including Ft. Worth itself, Dallas, Omaha (NE) and Little Rock (AR).
PMCC VP achieves PMI certification as OPM3 Assessor and Consultant “Milt Jones, VP of PMCC’s Washington/Baltimore Metro Area Operations, was recently certified by PMI ® at both the Assessor and Consultant levels in PMI’s ® OPM3 (Organizational Project Management Maturity Model) Product Suite. Milt received his certification as a result of the successful completion of a rigorous five-day course of instruction and the passing of two exams administered by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) for PMI 19-23 June 2006 in the Washington area (Herndon).
This was the first commercial certification class conducted by PMI/DNV after two pilot courses were conducted in Atlanta, GA and London (UK) and represents a significant increase in PMCC’s rapidly-growing ability to provide its clients with a best practice assessment standard for their project management organization. Once the assessment is complete and gaps are identified, PMCC can provide a range of services to assist with organizational change (e.g. training, consulting, mentoring).
PMCC mentoring Oil Field Service company on organizational change projects PMCC has been asked to assist on a couple of organization change projects for a major oil field service company. Burt Campbell will serve as the mentor and assist the existing project manager and team in identifying the scope and risks associated with the global projects. The duration of the project is planned for a year and involves operations and processes at operational and manufacturing plant sites all over the world.
Burt Campbell joins PMCC as VP of Operations Burt Campbell has joined the staff of PMCC as VP of Operations. A long time PM practitioner and business owner, Burt will oversee the staffing of PMCC personnel on client projects and handle the day to day running of the PMCC offices and customer relations. Burt has a Master’s degree from George Washington University and over 25 years of “hands on” project management expertise. Additionally, he is a well known project management trainer and has served as a mentor to oil companies and oil field service firms on a wide variety of projects.
PMCC providing assistance on major petrochemical capital project PMCC is providing project controls assistance for a major capital project at the Shell Geismar plant. William “Keen” Jackson will serve on as the project controls manager for Shell on an EPCM project in excess of $10 million that involves demolition, revamps to an existing unit, and tie ins to other existing plant operations. The project is schedule to complete in 2007.
PMCC gets contract award for 2005 training classes from Bollinger Shipyards In an ongoing effort to continuously improve project performance, Bollinger Shipyards has awarded PMCC a new contract under the Louisiana Incumbent Worker Training Program (IWTP) to provide project management related training classes to its workers, front line supervisors, and management personnel. PMCC has worked with Bollinger over the last five years to provide best practice training in project management based on the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) PMBOK® and Construction Industry Institute (CII) standards. PMCC’s results driven training classes are “very impressive and will benefit me personally” stated Dwayne Martin, a program manager for Bollinger Lockport New Construction, LLC who recently attended the PMCC Negotiation Skills course.
PMCC awarded teaming contract for West African Pipeline Project PMCC has been selected by a major international pipeline company to provide project mentoring and project controls assistance on their $100 million plus project in West Africa. The two year EPC project will involve the construction of multiple facilities and the laying of pipe in four West African countries. PMCC won the contract over several other vendors because of its familiarity with the challenges posed by large lump sum international projects and its reputation for delivering best practice project management services as evidenced by three industrial and professional awards for PMCC in 2004.
PMCC receives congratulations for one day seminar for electrical contractors Ben Voivedich, president of PMCC, received congratulations from the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) Forum #11 for a recent one day seminar that he did on Change Management. The IEC is a national organization of electrical contractors devoted to improving the overall professionalism of its members. Ben has spoken at three previous IEC events and “he is always insightful and entertaining” according to Don Sharkey, the IEC forum coordinator. “He has a wealth of experience and offers very down to earth suggestions on how to apply project management principles on small electrical contracting jobs.”
PMCC Project Collects Third Major Award The “Mississippi River Crossing” project completed by Entergy in late April of 2004 was awarded “Project of the Year” honors by the Greater New Orleans Chapter of the Project Management Institute at the membership dinner meeting on Wednesday 8 December 2004. Milt Jones from PMCC served as Construction Manager for this innovative project that was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.
PMCC Wins Second Major Award The Entergy “Mississippi River Crossing” project was awarded “Project of the Year” honors by the Greater New Orleans Business Roundtable at a breakfast ceremony on Thursday, 2 December 2004. Milt Jones from PMCC served as Construction Manager for this highly-visible and successful project.
“We don’t want no STINKING Project Management” New Orleans presentation a big success! On a night when New Orleans was celebrating St. Patrick’s day (and the PMI chapter competing with a major sporting event), one of the larger crowds in the local chapter history turned out to hear Ben Voivedich talk about ways to overcome resistance to Best Practice PM within the corporation and the project team. One of the attendees was Bruce France who commented, “I'm a retired Navy CDR and had the opportunity while teaching at the Naval Academy to hear Colin Powell speak on leadership in the service for young officers… it struck me half way through Mr. Voivedich’s speech that he has the same talent as Colin Powell to deliver a flawless speech. I realized as he spoke that he has earned his stripes and I found myself nodding in agreement with the anecdotes and observations that he made on project management… it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and Mr. Voivedich can count me as a new fan.”
Tulsa Presentation on Change Order Negotiation draws rave reviews! Ben Voivedich, PMCC President, gave a presentation on Negotiating Change Orders to the Tulsa PMI chapter on April 7th. According to Lynne Kunkel, programs director for the Tulsa chapter, “Since the April 7th meeting we have had numerous requests for copies of Ben’s presentation. He did a fantastic job and we are looking forward to him making a presentation at a future Tulsa PMI Seminar.”
Business Roundtable Presentation by PMCC is a Success! On August 29, 2004 PMCC' s Milt Jones participated with Entergy Management in a joint presentation which related the background, rationale, planning and management of Entergy's recently completed and highly successful project to install high-voltage power cables under the Mississippi. The presentation explained the project from the viewpoint of the personnel actually directly involved with the planning, design and construction of the facility. Mr. Jones was assigned as Construction Manager for the project.
The innovative engineering solutions to technical and engineering challenges, the evaluation and treatment of the numerous risk factors, the business considerations, the extensive liaison with the many V.I.P. stakeholders and the solutions used to resolve field construction problems were treated in this one-hour presentation, which used a mixture of photographs, graphic slides and movie film clips to provide the attendee with an interesting and professionally broadening experience.
PMCC Participates in Greater New Orleans Chapter PMI 5th Annual Professional Development Day Milt Jones and Dave Bindewald represented PMCC at the Professional Development Day held by the Greater New Orleans Chapter of the Project Management Institute on Friday 15 October 2004 at the Lindy Boggs Conference Center at the Lakefront Technology Park in New Orleans. While Dave and Milt both covered the booth to answer Project management questions and talk about PMCC to the large number of visitors (there were over 120 paid attendees, not counting vendors and program participants), Milt also participated directly by delivering his latest paper “Making The Case For Front End Loading (FEL) and Constructability Reviews” which is now posted as a “white paper” on the PMCC website. The paper was very well received by the audience and drew many questions and favorable comments. It is also available in PowerPoint format upon request.