2019 marked 115 years of AIA Iowa. This exciting milestone gave us another opportunity to share the influential and important work of you, 

Iowa architects through our innovative Red Block Campaign.

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50 Red Blocks went up across the state sharing with the public how your work positively impacts them. From giving new life to abandoned eye sores to drastically reducing a family's energy costs, we spelled it out in big, BOLD letters.

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Thank you for celebrating with us this year!

What else have we been up to this year? 

Let's start with some numbers.

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110

Members
Volunteered

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50

Organizations
Represented by
Volunteers

80

Professional
Development
Hours Offered

115

Years Strong

and Counting

AIA Iowa's mission is to serve the AIA Iowa membership by being the voice of the profession of architecture,
promote the value of good design, and advocate for the health and safety of the public.

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You are the AIA, thank you for all the ways you contributed this year!
Listed below are a few of the accomplishments from 2019.

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2019 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Membership services

• Published 4 Addenda newsletters and 46 ARCH-E-NEWS newsletters with news articles related to the profession, including announcements, events, competitions, firm and member news, and more 

• Distributed multiple RFP’s and RFQ’s to AIA Iowa Firm Members and subscribers

• Served as a communication and resource link to five sections across the state 

• Sent Chapter representatives to AIA Grassroots, AIA State & Local Governance Network conference, and the AIA National Convention 

• Worked with Iowa Architectural Examining Board to facilitate communication between the profession and the Board 

• Diligently worked to provide programming state-wide 

• Worked on relationship building with affiliate organizations-some of them include the ASLA Iowa, APA Iowa, USGBC Iowa, Iowa School Safety Coalition, Iowa Women in Architecture, Iowa Environmental Council, and the Iowa Architectural Foundation

• Recognized 22 licensed members with Years of Membership Certificates 

• Recognized 17 newly licensed architects at the Annual Convention 

• Invited all firm members to host month-long displays in the Iowa Center for Architecture and to use the space to showcase the value of architects and architecture to the public 

• Hosted the “Art x Architects” exhibit and invited member artists to display their individual art work for one month exhibits at the Iowa Center for Architecture 

Media Relations & Social Media

• Successful in placing the Architectural Billings Index (ABI) with a tie to Iowa in both the Corridor Business Journal and the Des Moines Business Record each month  

• Multiple placements across the state on topics related to Citizen Architect Program, AIA Iowa Design Awards, New Board Members, Convention Workshops, as well as the ABI 

• Increased following on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter 

• Increased use of Whova app that was utilized at the AIA Iowa convention reaching over 50% of attendees 

• Established and grew following of the Iowa Architect Magazine on Facebook & Instagram 

AIA National Awards in Iowa

​Jessica Terrill, AIA

AIA Young Architect 

Terry Allers, FAIA

AIA Fellow

OPN Architects 

AIA Justice Review Citation Award  

Committees

Awards

• Presented the AIA Iowa Young Architects award to Tonia Householder 

• Presented AIA Educator Award to Lynn Paxson 

• Presented 4 AIA Iowa Excellence in Craft Awards – 1 honorable mention, 1 merit, 2 honor; 3 firms/companies represented 

• Presented 4 Impact Awards- 1 honorable mention, 2 merit, 1 honor; 3 firms represented 

• Presented 12 AIA Iowa Excellence in Design Awards -4 honorable mention, 4 merit, 4 honor; 5 firms represented 

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Disaster Assistance 

• Embarked on a new partnership with Iowa Homeland Security and are continuing to work on a partnership agreement. 

• Accepted the responsibility to administer the B-SAFE Team Program 

• Engaged new committee co-chair- Jason Kruse, AIA

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Emerging Professionals 

• Hosted a student lunch at the AIA Iowa Spring Conference with a discussion panel with three Human Resources professionals from AIA Iowa Firm Members  

• Hosted a workshop at the AIA Iowa Convention titled Harassment Bystander Intervention Training 

• Held the 7th annual Emerging Professionals Breakfast at Convention, which brought in over 50 professionals for discussion 

• Increased social media presence through AIA Iowa Facebook page 

• Hosted the Annual EP Design Exhibition and Competition with $500 in prizes and 12 participating projects 

• Sponsored the ISU National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS) and AIAS to aid in funding their annual conference 

• Architectural Experience Program Committee (AXP) hosted 2 Des Moines area ARE study session throughout the month of November, which will continue throughout 2020 

 Government Affairs 

• Held 5th Legislative Roundtable with several AIA Iowa Members and Legislators in attendance at 6 locations across the state and over 50 participants

• Lobbied at the Iowa Legislature about issues affecting the built environment and practice of architecture, and those related to construction business 

• Monitored multiple bills and amendments 

• Led another successful Design Professionals Day on the Hill event in partnership with several Iowa organizations related to the design profession and engaged over 50 AIA Iowa Members in Design Professionals Day on the Hill 

• Engaged and built relationships with many Iowa Legislators 

• Sent two members to participate in the State & Local Government Network 

       Legislative Wins:  

• Disaster Response Volunteers – Provides immunity from civil liability to architects and engineers who volunteer in response to a disaster emergency

• SAVE Fund –  Extends the one penny sales tax for school infrastructure to January 2051.  Imposes additional requirements if SAVE funds are proposed to be used on athletic facility infrastructure projects.  Allows SAVE funds to be used for school safety and security infrastructure

• Professional Landscape Architect Licensure – Makes numerous changes in Iowa Code Chapter 544B relating to the licensure of professional landscape architects

• Construction Defects – Provides a mandatory dispute resolution process for construction defects to new property, originally brought as class actions

• Utilities’ Energy Efficiency Plans – Includes language that would prohibit the Iowa Utilities Board from allowing gas and electric utilities to adopt energy efficiency or demand response plans that exceed applicable annual cost thresholds 

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Professional Development 

• Continued the second year of the Professional Development partnership program and had 4 firms dedicate to sending
  1-3 of their employees to every standalone seminar in 2019. Thank you to Shive-Hattery, CMBA, substance, and BNIM.

• Held 9 AIA Iowa standalone seminars across the state

• Provided accreditation services for Iowa State University lectures  

• Provided accreditation services for Preserve Iowa Summit

• Provided GBCI credits during our Annual Convention through partnership with USGBC Iowa  

• Increase in continuing education credits offered through AIA Iowa standalone PD events, 31 total credits (up to 11 per attendee) offered at AIA Iowa Convention and 8.5 total credits (4.5 per attendee) offered at the AIA Iowa Spring Conference 

• Offered 80.5 combined hours of learning units held throughout the year to members and nonmembers across the state 

Public Relations 

• Hosted Architecture Month across the state in April 

• Partnered with the Iowa State Fair and sponsored the “Iowa Architecture” category as part of the state fair photography salon 

• Held another year of the Citizen Architect Program and grew the Advocacy Track participation to over 107 participants 

• Applied and received a Governor’s Proclamation for Architecture Month 

• Successfully executed the 4th AIA Iowa People’s Choice Award in celebration for architecture month driving large amounts of traffic to IowaArchitecture.org  

• Launched the Red Block Campaign 

• Redesigned and launched the brand new IowaArchitecture.org website which creates a better user experience for members and the public

• Hosted over 1,100 attendees

• Held the 7th annual Emerging Professionals Breakfast with over 50 professionals 

• Offered 4 Keynote Speakers and 24 Workshops 

• Offered Expo Education Program
  (up to two free LUs per attendee) 

• Offered 30 total learning units
  (up to 11 per attendee) 

• Continued free convention registration for ISU Architecture students and faculty 

• 15 firms represented on the Convention Committee 

• Hosted the Annual EP Design Exhibition and Competition with $500 in prizes and 12 participants

Convention 2019

• Presented Certificates of Service and Years of Membership to Chapter members 

• Presented inaugural Impact Awards 

• Engaged in AIA Iowa Members in the annual business meeting 

• Offered 8.5 total learning units
  (4.5 hours per attendee) 

Spring Conference 2019

Allied Membership

• Held 4 Allied Member Business Meetings 

• Engaged 12 AIA Iowa Firm members on Firm Visits 

• Provided 30+ Dine & Discovers presented by Allied Members 

• Sponsored 3 AIA Iowa Socials across Iowa

AIA Central States Region

• Represented AIA Iowa at AIA Central State Region meetings 

• Mindy Aust, AIA elected as AIA Regional Representative 2019-2020 

• Kate Thuesen, AIA re-elected as AIA Young Architects Regional Director for a 2nd term 2019-2020 

• Matthew Gaul, AIA served as AIA Iowa’s Young Architect Representative to the CSR EP Committee 

• Jamie Craine, Assoc. AIA served as AIA Iowa’s State Associate Representative to the CSR EP Committee 

• Thomas Thatcher, Assoc. AIA served as AIA Iowas Representative on the Emerging Professionals Committee. 

• Produced 4 issues with a readership of over 15,000 people per issue 

• Continued to email a successful digital magazine version of the magazine 

• Increased advertising, subscription, and readership base 

• Implemented a successful social media plan that has garnered 744 followers on Instagram and 459 on Facebook 

• Continued to increase AIA Iowa presence in the magazine through ad campaign and advocacy pieces 

• Created media kit for advertisers for the 2020 year    

• Continued successful partnership to publish the magazine with Associations, Inc. 

Iowa Architectural Foundation 

• Supported Iowa Architectural Foundation (IAF) programming and initiatives 

• Participated in committees and on the IAF board of trustees 

• Worked to foster the relationship between the Chapter and the IAF

• Provided over $16,000 of in-kind and financial support to the IAF

AIA Iowa Sections

Thank you for a fantastic 2019!
We look forward to continuing to serve you in 2020.