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By Jennifer Nelson | New tax law creates major planning opportunities – R&D, bonus depreciation, and corporate rates shift, with key deadlines looming.

By Kyle Ahern | The latest data reveals rising firm values, stable key metrics, and the impact of market forces on AEC valuations.

Fayetteville, AR – Zweig Group, a leading provider of advisory services, research, and education for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, has released its 2025 Valuation Report of AEC Firms. This latest edition continues the...

By Ezequiel Tovar | Firm owners need to first be intentional, vulnerable, and transparent in order to make their transition a success.

By Will Swearingen | The 2024 Valuation Report highlights strong AEC industry performance and essential metrics for firm leaders.

Zweig Group announces the release of its 2024 Valuation Report of AEC Firms, marking more than three decades of commitment to providing the AEC industry with comprehensive valuation data and analysis.

By Mark Zweig | These four components all work in concert to make buying the business more affordable and easier to fund.

By Will Swearingen, Kevin Johns & Alexis Martin | Finding extra deductions or credits will serve you now and when the time comes to transfer ownership.

By Will Swearingen | How does your firm’s financial performance stack up against the rest of the AEC industry?

By Will Swearingen | How valuable is your firm compared to others in the industry?

By Liisa Andreassen | Principal at JQ (Dallas, TX), a team of professionals providing structural and civil engineering, geospatial, and facility performance services within a diverse group of markets.

By Ezequiel Tovar | These continuing education opportunities offers valuable insight into what makes successful AEC firms stand out from the rest.

Zweig Group has released the 2022 Financial Performance Report of AEC Firms.  This report is a comprehensive, data-based industry resource on the financial performance, financial departments, challenges, methodology, and financial practices of AEC industry firms....

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (Wednesday, May 5, 2021) – The impact of 2020 evident in cash positions, equity value/book value, and increase in ownership transition activity. Zweig Group recently released the 2021 Valuation Report of AEC Firms,...

By Mark Zweig | A lack of speed is a big problem for too many A/E firms. You all really need to pick up the pace!

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of Fuss & O’Neill (Manchester, CT), a company that – since its founding in 1924 – has grown to include 10 regional offices, one LLC, and more than...

By Liisa Andreassen | President and founder of PaleoWest, a heritage consulting firm that guides clients’ projects through regulatory challenges posed by prehistoric, historic, and paleontological resources.

By Will Swearingen | Management incentives can be used to motivate key staff and to build capital and liquidity for individuals in the event of a transition.

By Mark Zweig | There are 10 things practically every firm in this business should do but won’t. If you try these things, your firm will be more successful.

By Mark Zweig | Many owners fail to understand how much value they can create in their companies if they make the right decisions.

By giving employees the opportunity to own company stock, you can develop a culture in which employees have a greater stake in the company and more opportunities to reap the rewards of capital ownership. 

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Despite the challenging environment, there are tremendous opportunities to be had.

By Mark Zweig | For many A/E firms, it is going to take a lot of tough decisions, hard work, mental intensity, and help from everyone in the firm to get through this situation intact.

Principal at GH2 Architects (Tulsa, OK), an international architecture and design firm founded in 1973 that’s flexible, engaging, and fun.

“[These tactics] can help you keep control of your business while creating a culture that leads to continued growth and success.”

Chairman and CEO of Mabbett & Associates, Inc. (Bedford, MA), a verified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | A good incentive compensation program needs to be carefully matched with the specific goals of your firm.

“If you have lofty ambitions for the growth of your firm, but aren’t exactly sure of what you need to do to accomplish it, here is my best advice.”

By Will Swearingen | As owners enter the final years of their careers and ponder ownership transition, they have to make some concessions.

President and CEO of DBR (Houston, TX), a 150-person Texas firm that values communication and superior service above all.

CEO of Ardurra Group (Tampa, FL), an engineering consulting firm with a focus on the positive.

President and CEO of Falcon Engineering, a woman-owned engineering firm in Cary, North Carolina.

President and CEO of Parametrix, a 100 percent employee-owned engineering, planning, and environmental sciences firm based in Seattle, Washington.

President and CEO of Barton & Loguidice, a full-service consulting firm headquartered in Syracuse, New York.

President and CEO of Hitchcock Design Group (Best Firm Architecture #7 for 2018), a 35-person landscape architecture firm headquartered in Naperville, Illinois.

President and CEO of Kleinschmidt (Best Firm #34 Multi-Discipline for 2018), a 140-person environmental consulting firm.

President and CEO of Morrison-Maierle (Best Firm #27 Multi-discipline for 2017), a 280-person firm based in Helena, Montana. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “It’s vital to our success,” Murphy says, referring to entrepreneurship in the firm....

Let’s face it. While there certainly has been an increase over the years in the number of architects, engineers, and other design professionals who have had formal business education, the solid majority of firm owners...

You can leverage M&A to accelerate strategic shifts and implement your growth strategy, but there are plenty of risks along with the reward. While M&A is not a strategy in and of itself, it is...

Open book management is a big card to play, but it puts everyone on your team at the table, and that’s where you want them to be. One of the trendier ideas in management consulting...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (April 14, 2017) –Zweig Group recently released the 2017 Financial Performance Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms. This annual publication is based on a survey of industry firms, and is...

Alternative collection methods at this time of year, even if it’s something radical, might come in handy if you need to ‘stock the cash coffers.’ As the last quarter of 2016 draws to a close,...

As we move deeper into the final quarter of the year, now’s the time to look ahead to 2017’s backlog, pipeline, and cash flow. As we move deeper into the last quarter of fiscal 2016,...

End-of-year bonuses and evaluations are obsolete. Try monthly or quarterly perks for your staff. It's clear to me that A/E firms are all in a huge rut when it comes to how they pay their...

Frank Fickleheimer had to do something different. His firm, Fickleheimer Enginee-ring, did not have the operating capital it needed. Fifteen good years of solid growth and profits had left them with a lot of mouths...

After 26 years of immersion in A/E/P and environmental firms, it has come to my attention that one thing probably holds more firms back from achieving their potential more than anything else: the owners’ fear....

It’s been said before that “cash is king.” It’s also been said that you can be profitable and still go out of business if you run out of cash. That said, our industry— that of...

It’s hard to grow if you can’t keep the people you already have working for you. Every time someone leaves you have to replace them. And it’s as hard or harder than ever— as well...

Antoine Nicholas Smith had just started feeling a little better. He’d survived some tough times recently and come out smelling like a rose. After 9/11, his firm, Jones and Stern, tanked. They were losing money,...

Jose Piranha listened to his two partners, Stephanie Straighthair and Jason Loseria, discuss how to dole out the firm’s profits in the coming year. They were sitting at their favorite table at Hugo’s, the little...

John Dilbertson left the Dilbertson & Terry board meeting shaking his head. How many times did they have to reconsider the issue of principal compensation, particularly base pay? It seemed like it never ended. One...

At the end of every year, Larz Picklefranz, managing partner of architecture and interiors firm Picklefranz, Lordosa, Fauna, and Schlossenberger, got the blues. Maybe it was just that the holidays reminded him of his long...

Although most of our readers are unaware, 65% of our revenues here at Zweig White & Associates come from providing consulting services. We’re much more like our readers (and clients) than many folks think. That’s...

I hate to say it. I thought the past was behind us. But the fact is some architects are repeating history right now. They’re getting ready for another fall. They’re making the same mistakes they...

I thank God every day that the business we serve (the A/E/P and environmental business) is, by and large, the most ethical “industry” you’ll find anywhere. I think most of us in this business assume...

As hard as it may seem to believe, 1999 is already wrapping up. We’re into the last quarter of the year now. Over the next couple of months, many A/E/P and environmental firms will be...

Say “strategy” to an architect, engineer, planner, or scientist and you are bound to get a negative reaction. These folks have been through all of the strategic planning meetings conducted by the management consultant of...

With the tight market labor, Gen-X employee turnover, inefficiency from internal competition, and record backlogs of project work to be completed, it may be time to take a hard look at your compensation policies and...

With times as good as they are, particularly for architecture, engineering, and building-related environmental consulting firms, it’s hard to think about failure. But there are still firms going out of business and firms on the...

I just got back from a business planning retreat one of our Atlanta-based clients held at The Highlands Inn in Highlands, North Carolina. Highlands is an absolutely idyllic small-town setting. It’s like something from another...

The headline for this week’s editorial sounds like the title of a bad country and western song, but there’s a lot of truth in it. Maybe it’s human nature, but we don’t seem to appreciate...

I spend more of my billable time helping A/E/P and environmental consulting firms with their business planning than anything else. Most firm owners want to do more with their businesses, to be more successful. But...

No doubt about it, all of us who are managers in an A/E/P or environmental firm have to face some tough situations from time to time. They aren’t usually “fun” decisions, or situations that give...

This is the time of the year that the majority of firms in the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry decide who gets how much in the way of pay increases and/or bonuses— in other words,...

In the past six months, I’ve had the pleasure of working for three firms with very low average collection periods (ACPs). Average collection period is the average number of days it takes a firm to...

Several recent experiences with consulting engineering firms lead me to believe that it’s time all of us looked at our compensation schemes and put some incentive back into the business— especially for principals. The desire...

Reflecting back on all of the A/E and environmental consulting firms that we came in contact with during 1992, one thought comes to mind. By and large, our industry’s management expertise has significantly improved. The...