In January of this year, the NCPPP Board and Executive Committee adopted a Three-Year Business Plan. Goals for this year included:

• Increase membership by 35%;
• Raise the visibility and credibility of the NCPPP;
• Conduct two regional Conferences and one special event;
• Establish two institutes;
• Broaden Programs to include more state / local concerns; and
• Increase and diversify the NCPPP revenue stream.

To date, the Council has been successful in meeting a high percentage of these goals. Membership has grown by 28 percent (YTD), through the efforts of Vice President for Membership Ken Butler (CAPITAL PARTNERSHIPS) and the staff.

The visibility of the Council has been increased substantially through a wide range of efforts:

• Members and staff made nearly twenty (20) speaking engagements on behalf of the Council;
• Articles illustrating the value of partnerships are now appearing in major publications, such as Engineering New-Record and City and County;
• Insights was revised, offering improved content and produced at a lower cost;
• A revised Membership Directory has just been published (see Bits and Pieces);
• The role and content of the NCPPP web site has been expanded, resulting in a 50 percent increase in the number of "hits"; and
• Working relationships have been established with a number of key public interests groups.

While regional conferences are still in development, NCPPP did unveil its new series of Workshops. Three highly successful sessions were held, focusing on contract monitoring, financing of partnerships, and human / labor relations. In each, an outstanding faculty of experts from both the private- and public-sectors discussed key points in a format that is highly interactive with meeting participants. The result has been extremely high ratings on the value of these sessions, so much so that this series will be repeated in 2001, with additional sessions held outside of the Washington area.

This year also included a special event for Sponsor Members - the Leadership Dinner with Congressman Tom Davis. This informal setting allowed for a candid discussion between nearly 50 NCPPP members and the Congressman. Additional Leadership Dinners are being planned for later this year and next.

Another addition to NCPPP's programming in 2001 was the first Federal Executive Technology Partnerships Forum. Over two dozen senior people from NASA, DOD, NIH, USDA, and a host of other agencies participated in this day long exchange of techniques for developing effective partnerships in the area of technology development. The response to the meeting was so positive that a second forum will be held in 2001.

NCPPP is also a cosponsor of the up-coming Global Summit for PFI/PPP, to be held in South Africa in December.

Efforts to develop Institutes within the NCPPP have continued, with expectations that several (one for the water industry) could be formed within the next few months.

Committees also have become much more active over the past year. The government Affairs Committee prepared several positions papers for the Presidential Campaigns, and discussion options for programs for Congressional staff. Another group of members, with interests in the Water Infrastructure Network Report, have formed a WIN Response Group to develop common positions for presentation to the public and other people interested in the issue.

Throughout all of these activities, there has been a conscious effort to represent the broad range of interests reflected in the Council's Membership. Articles in Insights have included more information on state / local issues, as well as the improved coverage of federal issues. Speaking engagements have covered a range from housing or social services to emergency management or city planning. This effort will expand in the next year, as the NCPPP continues the process of rejuvenation of all of its programs.

As President-Elect Bob Hebert noted in his Board presentation, "the Council has laid an excellent foundation for a successful year ahead.