Interested in becoming a chapter sponsor or would like to sponsor other Southern Piedmont Chapter events? Reach out to our chapter president, Erica Powell, and we will get you connected to the right chapter chair!

Rudy!  Rudy!  Rudy!

In the Region IV ASHRAE world, the most coveted prize is the Rudy Ferguson Award, also known as “The Rudy”.

If you regularly read the Southern Piedmont chapter newsletter you may recall that I have written about The Rudy a few times, as it is the brass ring for which the chapter strives each year.  There are certainly tasks to perform and points to tally throughout the year, but the efforts really boil down to three things:

• 1.       Serving the membership of the chapter
• 2.       Having good chapter leadership
• 3.       Having a chapter Board of Governors (committee chairs) that are willing to do the work 

This past year we were able to accomplish the first, because we were blessed (or fortunate if you prefer) to have the second and third.

I was unable to attend the Chapters Regional Conference (CRC) this year due to illness (nothing serious) but was happy to hear that all of our efforts last year came to fruition when our chapter was awarded The Rudy for the 2024 year.

In my final history article (in June) of the ASHRAE year, I talked about how well Erica Powell had led our chapter and that if we were successful in our quest for Region IV’s most coveted award, I would be able to share a photo of her with the trophy. 

I’m very glad to be able to do just that.  Congratulations to Erica and to the whole 2023-2024 Southern Piedmont team on an outstanding year!

Legislation to Restore Tax Breaks for R&D Fails as part of a Larger Tax Package

The U.S. Senate failed to advance legislation that would have restored previous rules for the deduction of qualified expenses for Research and Development (R&D). This measure was included in a larger tax package entitled the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 H.R. 7024) that , also would have expanded the Child Tax Credit, addressed bonus depreciation, and extended disaster-related tax relief.  Previously, the federal government allowed businesses to deduct qualified research expenses in the same year and Congress created the Research and Development (R&D) tax credit in 1981. However, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 changed the deduction process for R&D expenses. As of January 1, 2024, most R&D expenses must be amortized over a five-year period.  The large tax package, H.R. 7024, which would eliminate the five-year amortized procedures for R&D, passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives 357-70. However, the U.S. Senate could not advance the legislation with the necessary 60 votes needed to move forward before the August recess 48-44.  The bill is expected to come up for a vote again before the end of the year.