Mark Zweig praises the winners of the 2014 Hot Firm List and Best Firms To Work For ranking.

With the winners of both ZweigWhite’s Best Firms To Work For and Hot Firm competitions announced (both lists are found in this very issue of The Zweig Letter), it’s great to see the excitement and joy as the principals of these firms find out they’re on one or both of our lists. You have to be doing something right or you wouldn’t make these lists. When you consider that there are 100,000-plus design/planning/engineering/environmental consulting firms out there, being one of the best places to work or at the top of the growth stats is a real accomplishment. And it says that the marketplace is responding to your offerings – be that the employment market or clients. That’s why I am really looking forward to being with these winners at our all-new ZweigWhite Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference this September in Beverly Hills. I get energy, ideas, and inspiration from a positive group of can-do entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs whose firms are all working to make their firms – and our world – a better place. This year we combined two events into one “super-event.” And then we decided to present even more awards at our conference. And then we got some exciting people from OUTSIDE our business, including Jonathan Ward of ICON – the creator of the absolutely coolest SUVs and hot rod cars and trucks I’ve ever seen; Greg Bentley of Bentley Systems, the leading software provider to our industry and an incredible privately held firm success story themselves; and marketing guru Michael Krauss – a guy who helped make Chips Ahoy the best known chocolate chip cookies in the world and rebrand Anderson Consulting into Accenture; and many, many more exciting speakers and panels. We’re going to hold this event in the world-famous Beverly Hilton (the last time I was there I saw Melanie Griffith, Demi Moore, and Sharon Stone all standing together at the bar!), peppering the lobby and conference area with ICON’s vehicles and booths showcasing some of our winners’ accomplishments – as well as much, much more. We’re even planning some good giveaways this year. 2014 is shaping up to be a great year for many of the companies in this business. You are probably doing well. Our winners are doing especially well. If this sounds like fun, why not come join me and a number of other ZweigWhite principals and staff in Beverly Hills this September? You don’t have to be a winner to attend, and you might actually learn something – and have some fun! What could be bad about that? Meanwhile – read up on this year’s winners in our special dedicated Hot Firm and Best Firms issue. Thanks and I’ll see you in September! Mark Zweig is the chairman and CEO of ZweigWhite. Contact him with questions or comments at mzweig@zweigwhite.com. This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310), issue #1065, originally published 7/28/2014. Copyright© 2014, ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.