Let's review the BCE program first. I'm pleased to report that we had another solid year of growth - ending the year with 472 BCEs, a full 20 more than we had on the books at the end of 2015 (growth of 4%). Of those, 385 were full BCEs, 10 were Interns, 77 were Emeritus. BCE has grown annually since 2012.
ACE's growth was even stronger than last year. We recorded 118 more ACEs than we had when 2015 closed out, finishing the year at 1,018. That is a growth rate of 13%! On average, since the program was introduced in 2004, the program has grown every year at an average growth rate of 46% (full disclosure - some of those early years had huge percentage increases, but were less stellar in terms of overall numbers - 2004 had 14 ACEs and 2005 had 45 ACEs, a 165% jump). But, of note, ACE has grown every year.
Included in the numbers above for ACE are 14 ACE-International individuals. ACE-I was introduced in October 2014, but we did not have our first applicant pass until February 2015. We finished 2015 with a total of 5 ACE-I's and our 2016 total of 14 is thus 9 more than the year before, or a jump of about 180% (see what I mean about percentage increases!).
Also of interest, we had 10 people who hold both the ACE and BCE!
We hope that you continue to maintain your ACE and BCE. These certification programs help to build the professionalism of the industry and showcase our professionalism for the world.
Wear your ACE and BCE logos with pride! If you need a copy of the logo for your website, business cards, or email signature, please contact ace@entsoc.org or bce@entsoc.org.
