Todd Cozolino Coordinates CMAA Southern California Facility Assessments Seminar – May 2015.

Todd Cozolino Coordinates CMAA Southern California Facility Assessments Seminar – May 2015.

As part of his role on the Education Committee of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) Southern California Chapter, Spire Associate Principal Todd Cozolino was responsible for planning and coordinating the recent seminar, “Facility Assessments – Why did you fund that project and not this one?” The session, held on April 30, 2015 at The Grand Conference Center in Long Beach, California, addressed how to scope, prioritize and defend identified projects in capital improvement programs.

William Wherritt, Chief of Staff for Facilities Services at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), served as the panel leader and moderator based on LAUSD’s industry leading approach to assessing, evaluating and prioritizing projects in its $25 Billion capital program. Topics at the seminar included:

• Methods of Facilities Assessment including what data to gather, format and tools
• Aggregating data regarding facilities into a useable database
• Identifying and weighting factors to evaluate the need identified in assessment
• Creating a useable tool to apply evaluation factors to data
• Generation of prioritized list of projects based on thresholds and funding
• Elected and Stakeholder communication, buy in and adoption
• Reporting and decision making output tools, use in communicating need

During the program, panelists from Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), The California State University System and The Aerospace Corporation discussed the needs assessment and project prioritization of their innovative programs and offered their perspectives on the best practices, challenges, needs and hot topics regarding the issue.

As a committee member, Mr. Cozolino helps develop seminar topics, identify and secure panelists, and facilitate the agenda and content. Other events that he has been responsible for include California Prevailing Wage and Labor Compliance Law and an upcoming joint program with the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) evaluating Design Build delivery from multiple perspectives. He has also served as an expert panelist for a recent program on Contractor Prequalification alongside LAUSD, the Port of Los Angeles, LACCD and Atkinson, Adelson, Loya, Ruud and Romo.

“We wouldn’t be able to achieve our goals without Todd,” commented Education Committee Co-Chair, Garrett Terlaak. “His understanding of current industry trends, network of high-level leaders, and commitment to quality programs provides valuable, career-enhancing content for our attendees.”