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By Shirley Che | From fees to client care, lessons learned from a season of conferences highlight growth, adaptability, and connection.

By Justin Gough | Group captives can offer design firms flexibility, savings and control over employee benefit programs.

Zweig Group, the leading provider of management consulting, research, and education for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, has released its 2025 Recruitment & Retention Report of AEC Firms, offering a comprehensive look at the...

By Lisa Lee | Outsourced accounting helps AEC firms boost efficiency, reduce risk, improve visibility, and scale financial operations strategically.

July 1 – IMEG Corp. (Rock Island, IL) acquired HP Engineering (Rogers, AR), a multidisciplinary engineering firm providing MEP, fire protection, structural, lighting, low-voltage, energy modeling, and commissioning services. [More information]  July 1 – Pennoni...

By Matt Cooper | In 2025, faster firms win – optimize key processes from proposal to payment to stay competitive in AEC.

By Will Swearingen | Firms that are truly boosting profitability aren’t just raising rates; they’re reengineering how they charge.

By Niknaz Aftahi | Solving the silo problem in AEC firms starts with a connected tech stack that boosts collaboration, efficiency, and profit.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of Cedarville Engineering Group (Pottstown, PA), a civil and environmental design-build firm that delivers value through innovation.

New data shows rising transparency, increased health benefits, and shifting workforce priorities. Zweig Group , the leading provider of management consulting, research, and education for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, is proud to announce...

March 21 – NV5 (Hollywood, FL) acquired CRS Survey (Albemarle, NC), a transportation and land development surveying firm. The move strengthens NV5’s mapping and data collection capabilities for infrastructure projects in the southeastern U.S. [More...

Zweig Group, the leading provider of advisory services, research, and education for the AEC industry, has released its 2025 Fee & Billing Report of AEC Firms. This definitive resource offers a clear picture of today's fee...

“I think the employee experience—and we've seen over the last five years how important the employee experience has been with how tight the labor market has been and how everybody is competing for the same...

By Chad Clinehens | Firms that prioritize employee experience data see higher retention rates, improved collaboration, and greater innovation.

By Kyle Ahern | Recent survey data reveals a surprising dip in satisfaction among mid-career professionals.

By Chad Clinehens & Steve Hake | A bold vision of delivering business solutions through an expanded collective of resources and expertise.

Stambaugh Ness (SN) and Zweig Group, two leading business and consulting services firms serving the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, are excited to announce a strategic partnership designed to elevate and expand the service...

By Tom Godin | Evaluating team dynamics is crucial for transforming organizational strategy into measurable results.

By Emily Gaines | The words and numbers used to describe design concept, building component, and client goal form a dataset that guides decisions and improves project success.

By Morgan Stinson | AEC firms that focus on fostering genuine client relationships build trust, loyalty, and long-term success.

By Chris Connell | Purpose-built technical report management technology in AEC mergers drives cost savings, productivity, collaboration, standardization, and scalable growth.

By Stuart McLendon | This process improves team coherence and speed in addition to enhancing revenue per man-hour.

By Matt Verderamo | By controlling three key moments in every sales meeting, you can launch yourself from amateur to professional and close more work.

October 14, 2024 – Fayetteville, AR – Zweig Group, the leading provider of consulting and research services for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, is excited to announce the release of its latest report:...

By Chad Coldiron | Takeaways from Zweig Group’s 2024 ElevateAEC Conference & Awards Gala.

By Earl Mott | Thoughts from both sides of this mutually beneficial relationship over the course of a career.

By Emily Gaines | As data proliferates at an exponential rate, firms are increasingly recognizing the importance of leveraging data to enhance decision-making and creative processes.

By Taylor Dolan & Nathan Greyard | How the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron deference will impact design firms.

By Will Swearingen | The latest data highlights key trends in AEC policies, emphasizing pay, remote work, and transparency for growth.

Zweig Group is proud to announce the release of its  2024 Policies, Procedures & Benefits Report, which provides AEC industry leaders with industry statistics on policies and procedures, so they can support policy decisions with hard data. In Zweig Group's 2024 Policies,...

By Will Swearingen | The latest data reveals increased billing rates, improved chargeability, and refined collections processes in AEC.

This comprehensive report offers insights into fees, billing rates, chargeability/utilization rates, project contracts, and billing practices.

By Kristin Kautz | AI assistants empower personalized and effective support that will save time and money, and enhance creativity and quality.

By Stjepan Mikulić | This approach ensures the foundation of change is built on a solid understanding of human behavior, enabling more sustainable firm-wide implementation.

By Stuart McLendon | Facing a talent shortage exacerbated by baby boomers’ exodus from the workforce, AEC firms must innovate to succeed.

By Annie Rezac | Organizations can drive positive change and contribute to a culture that values diversity as a strategic asset by setting clear goals and consistently sharing progress.

Zweig Group, announces its annual survey on firm value, the 2024 Valuation Survey of AEC Firms, is open for participation. This survey collects information on architecture, engineering, planning, environmental, construction, and related industry firms that have...

Zweig Group is the leading AEC Industry advisory service provider. We blend industry and sector knowledge with experience across the M&A lifecycle to help you capture value for shareholders. Reach our Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory team here.   Domestic...

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 Mark Zweig | Open-book management is about sharing financial performance data with employees to foster trust, educate, and improve the firm’s overall performance.

By Jeremy Clarke | Use these four common sense pillars to build your firm’s compensation strategy.

By Stewart Haney | This tool helps businesses become more focused, disciplined, and accountable, which ultimately leads to improved performance and profitability.

Zweig Group and ACEC have partnered to develop a groundbreaking DEI&B benchmarking tool for AEC firms.

This interactive tool will allow AEC firms to compare performance to peers, empowering them to take steps to strengthen DEI&B efforts.

By Kevin Johns | In order to remain competitive, AEC firms need to understand and embrace new technology.

By Kyle Ahern | Making sure you’re taking steps to ensure your employees have the best experience possible can go a long way.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of CHA Consulting (Albany, NY), an innovative, full-service engineering consulting and construction management firm.

By Johnny Smith | What characteristics of a job, firm, and industry act as predictors of voluntary turnover?

  Domestic Transactions: 2/1/2023 International engineering, architecture, surveying, and geospatial solutions firm Merrick & Company (Greenwood Village, CO) acquired water/wastewater engineering specialist Mountain Waterworks (Boise, ID). Link to Details.   1/31/2023 Infrastructure and environmental solutions provider Atlas Technical Consultants (Austin, TX) entered...

By Evan Ponto, Joshua Cloud & Alana Schutt | Sustainability doesn’t have to run counter to building projects on time and on budget.

Zweig Group has released its 2023 Salary Report for AEC Firms for all regions of the United States. These reports are based on a comprehensive salary survey of hundreds of industry individuals and firms.

Zweig Group is the leading AEC Industry, advisory service provider. We blend industry and sector knowledge with experience across the M&A lifecycle to help you capture value for shareholders. Reach our Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory team here.   Domestic...

By Kyle Ahern | Gathering data on your employees’ experience is the first step, then you have to create action items to effect positive change.

Zweig Group is proud to announce that Kyle Ahern has been promoted to Employee Experience and Data Strategist.

Zweig Group is pleased to release the 2022 Marketing Report of AEC Firms. This publication is a source of information for firms that want to better understand the ever-changing marketing landscape of the architecture, engineering,...

By Dan Piselli | While the symbolic act of signing a voluntary environmental commitment is important, action toward honoring it is more meaningful.

By Linda Schulte | When your team views you as a leader and not just a manager, they will work much harder and be willing to go the extra mile when necessary.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Zweig Group’s 2022 Marketing Excellence Award Winners have created some outstanding marketing campaigns, displaying incredible imagination and creativity.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | The words you use have the power to influence your audience: choose them carefully.

By Lindsay Young | Best practices for AEC firms will continue to evolve, but firms that take steps to innovate will be the ones that succeed.

By Amanda Hartman, Hannah Rico & Jules Ackerson | Huge organizational milestones can be reached when you step away from your day-to-day operations to evaluate your firm’s past and plan for the future.

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to take a good hard look at what everyone in your business is doing for you.

By Peter Atherton | A “lack of time” can no longer be an excuse for not doing what needs to be done or not investing in what needs to be invested in.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of Psomas (Los Angeles, CA), an employee-owned firm providing engineering, environmental, construction management, and survey/geospatial services.

By Kraig Kern | Your firm’s collective strengths can and should be applied to make your new employees’ onboarding a standout experience.

By Liisa Andreassen | Senior principal at Lamar Johnson Collaborative (Chicago, IL), a full-service design and architecture firm committed to enhancing the quality of the human experience.

By Ryan Suydam & Blake Godwin | This new award is the strongest way to differentiate your firm from the competition.

By Ann M. Rolland | Even a slight shift toward more responsible materials is impactful and can effect change to the manufacturing industries and the products that designers specify.

By Liisa Andreassen | President at ELEMENT (Tampa, FL), an award-winning, certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and Minority Business Enterprise, consulting firm.

By Jane Lawler Smith | When it comes to our clients, employees, and brand, are we competing like AEC professionals or acting like Family Feud contestants, simply guessing at answers?

Zweig Group, announces its annual survey on firm value, the 2022 Valuation Survey of AEC Firms, is open for participation. This survey collects information on architecture, engineering, planning, environmental, construction, and related industry firms that...

By Lucas Hayden | Unanet’s inaugural AEC benchmarking study reveals the data-management practices that separate the best firms from the rest.

By Chad Clinehens | Optimism among AEC firms is high as we look ahead to 2022 and beyond.

By Kyle Ahern | Each firm needs to find its own balance of open, consistent communication without being bothersome to employees.

By Callum Roxborough | Five ways to develop company culture and how taking these steps can improve your firm’s work environment and your business.

By Brian Rice | Starting early with your ownership transition planning provides ample time to position your staff and firm to maximize your firm’s value.

By Gustavo Rodriguez | A collaborative design process where a diversity of voices are present and have ownership allows room for new ideas and points of view to emerge.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | This year’s cohort has picked up where last year’s group left off – taking on creative ideas to solve both historic and emerging challenges.

By Stephanie Warino | The principles of Organizational Project Management can guide a firm through the steps of scaling an organization.

By John Bray | Whether you’re an M&A enthusiast, first-time buyer, or an apprehensive seller, it would be naive to disregard these opportunities without understanding the dynamics of the M&A environment.

By Alexandra Pollock | With the vaccine rolling out and workers trickling back into offices, we need to determine what innovations we will carry forward and how we will continue to evolve.

By Rob Hughes | Enterprise risk management provides a formal process for firms to examine their critical risks in context, and implement cost-effective risk management and risk-financing solutions.

By Kyle Ahern | A good, standardized parental leave policy is a major benefit that can set your firm apart.

By Anne Melia & Nicolle Scheller | This addition allows technical staff to focus on their core functions and allows for a marketing process that is more collaborative, streamlined, and consistent.

Leading research firm for the AEC industry, Zweig Group, has launched two new surveys to best capture important changes in the environment for the AEC industry. The first survey is an iteration of the Impacts...

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 Mark Zweig | It’s great to be needed, but it’s not really where you want to be. The position you should really seek to attain is to be wanted.

Zweig Group has updated the Impacts of COVID-19 on the AEC Industry Survey for 2021, adding new questions about PPP funding, outlook and budget forecasting, and more. After the initial success of Zweig Group's Impacts...

CEO and president of SEH (St. Paul, MN), a firm that’s simplifying the world’s complex challenges by designing better places, engineering clean water, and renewing infrastructure.

Collaboration is key when navigating challenging times. Our best way ahead is together, through strategic partnerships and adaptive thinking.

Managing partner at Method Architecture (Houston, TX), a firm that practices ego-free architecture, creatively solves problems, and provides unparalleled customer service.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Good communication shows compassion to your client – something that’s likely to be returned back to you.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Celebrate the present, and focus on extreme flexibility and radical empathy going forward.

By Kyle Ahern | The impressive data collected from Zweig Group’s Best Firms To Work For and Hot Firms continues to provide valuable insight into the AEC industry.

Marketing has a role in building brands, developing strategies, winning work, and more – and the firms that invest heavily in marketing reap the rewards.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Discarding an entire year’s worth of results may be an even greater barrier to future success than our current circumstances.

Co-founder and managing partner of Shear Structural (Chamblee, GA), a 100 percent women-owned and women-managed structural engineering firm.

Founder of edg (New York, NY), a technology-driven firm that leverages the power of software and equipment to deliver higher quality projects in less time.

By John Bray | Connect with your people and bolster your business so you come out of this pandemic stronger on the other side.

In these uncharted times, we run the risk of only thinking about the immediate and not about where we are going to be three months, six months, or a year from now.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | What differentiates us now as leaders is our ability to roll with the punches and make sharp, sober decisions.

For firm leadership, marketing may not always be top of mind. For your marketing staff, it is. Make sure they have a seat at the table.

By Kyle Ahern | Engage the people at your firm and they will tell you all you need to know to recruit, retain, and utilize every employee.

As many are adjusting to a work-from-home environment, Zweig Group is very excited to offer new online learning options for AEC Professionals. Our highly acclaimed seminars are now available online, so you can learn from...

By Christina Zweig Niehues | The situation is changing quickly, but versatility and fast decision-making have become necessary.

President of Schaefer Engineering, Inc. (Wentzville, MO), a firm founded on integrity with a commitment to provide quality professional forensic consulting services nationwide.

President and founder of C.A.P. Government, Inc. (Coral Gables, FL), a privately held, minority-owned consulting firm.

As Zweig Group’s director of ownership transition, Will Swearingen understands the emotional stakes at play when a firm founder decides it’s time to pass the torch.

Zweig Group has released the 2020 Salary Survey Report of Engineering Firms. This annual publication details salary information for engineering firms across the United States. The data contained in this publication was gathered using an...

Before you pass the torch, you need to make sure that your next generation of leaders is up to the task.

“There is no question that after working as long as I have in the A/E industry with so many firms throughout the land, certain common undeniable truths present themselves.”

By Chad Clinehens | Use these tips to achieve long-term results in a short-term world.

By Kyle Ahern | Data collected from Best Firms To Work For and Hot Firms continues to provide valuable insight into the AEC industry.

Using both sides of his brain, and with empathy, can-do man is engineering a great career in Seattle.

President and co-founder of ADC Engineering, Inc., a multidisciplinary firm based in Hanaham, South Carolina.

Zweig Group’s annual publication of AEC industry fees, billing rates, chargeability/utilization rates, project contracts, and billing practices, has been released. The data contained in this publication was gathered using an online survey and collected from...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 24, 2019) – Zweig Group, the leading research, publishing, and advisory services resource for firms in the AEC industry, seeks partners interested in obtaining customized research data from architectural, engineering and construction...

Participation is needed in Zweig Group's 2019 Fee & Billing Survey of AEC Firms. Survey deadline is July 8, 2019. Zweig Group’s 2019 Fee & Billing Survey of AEC Firms is the standard guideline for...

Surveying technology has been around for thousands of years. What’s new today will be old tomorrow, but the basics will remain the same.

When working on a project, there are various human roadblocks that consistently clog the path to project execution.

Survey data from Zweig Group’s 2019 Financial Performance Survey of AEC Firms indicates strong financial performance industry-wide.

President of Ampirical (Best Firm Multi-discipline #21 for 2018), a 200-person firm on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

Recent data indicates strong financial performance industry-wide Zweig Group’s annual Financial Performance Survey of AEC Firms, released on April 4, 2019, identified a strong positive trend in multiple key financial indicators, including profit, revenue, staff...

There are plenty of tell-tale signs your AEC firm needs a set of third-party experts to help you achieve your goals.

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

By Kyle Ahern | Employees at AEC firms say they need ample opportunities to learn and train. My advice is to give them what they’re asking for.

“Even if you don’t apply it to your business, knowing probabilities of success will at least keep you from buying scratch tickets or blowing your cash in a slot machine at a casino somewhere!”

CEO of SSOE Group (Hot Firm #44 for 2018), a global project delivery firm for architecture, engineering, and construction management based in Toledo, Ohio. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “All key positions within the company are...

Your clients have definite ideas about what your firm is and isn’t, but if you don’t take the time to ask, you’ll never know what they’re thinking. Perception is reality. Do you know how clients...

“If we know recruiting and retention are the biggest challenges and our employees are telling us that training and development are the solution, isn’t the investment in a training program at your firm worth it?”...

COO of Aguirre & Fields, LP (Best Firm Multi-discipline #27 for 2018), a 120-person engineering firm based in Houston. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “If you haven’t started planning for ownership transition, you’re behind and you...

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....

CEO of Huckabee (Hot Firm #7 and Best Firm Architecture #3 for 2018), a 300-person architecture firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “For us, diversifying is a bad thing,” Huckabee says....

When creating your strategic plan, don’t forget that transformative ideas might be buried deep within your organization, so be inclusive with your staff. I recently overheard a CEO of a large AEC firm say, “We...

Co-founder, president and CEO of WSB (Hot Firm #34 for 2018), a 475-person, full-service consulting and design firm based in Minneapolis. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Early on, I paid too much attention to those who...

By Kyle Ahern | This year’s group of Best and Hot Firms provides a treasure trove of information across thousands of data points, from employees up to the C-suite.

Founder and president of Gunda Corporation (#32 Hot Firm for 2017), a 60-person engineering consulting firm based in Houston. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “I’m not a big fan of utilization rates,” Gunda says. “I believe...

The first steps in taking control of your firm’s financial success should center around the billing cycle, timesheets and, most importantly, the backlog. December 28, 2015, was the beginning of my new path as the...

President of OHM Advisors (Hot Firm #25 for 2017), a 440-person engineering and architecture firm based in Michigan. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Many firms tried to cut their way to success,” says Hiltz, looking back...

Banish profit centers in small to midsize firms. Focus on your people by letting each do what each is best qualified to do. An engineering, architecture or planning professional services firm can be very successful...

Will Swearingen Director of Research Zweig Group recently released the 2018 Salary Survey of Engineering Firms. This survey is published as three different regional collections: Northeast and South Atlantic, Central, and Mountain Pacific. Go West,...

By understanding the various risks associated with P3s and taking appropriate steps to manage them, A/E firms can put themselves in advantageous positions. As our nation turns to the urgent need to repair, replace, and...

Getting the information you need on how to run your business in a timely manner is an absolute requirement for survival and success in the A/E business today. As business owners this has to be...

We all have them and need them, but do we treat them right, and are we getting as much work out of them as we should? Trying to get work in the door can be...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (September 1, 2017) – Zweig Group released the annual Fee & Billing Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms yesterday, August 31, 2017. The 2017 Fee & Billing Survey of Architecture,...

Customer relationship management has changed over the decades, but some things have remained the same: currency, correctness, consistency, and completeness. Walkmen were all the rage, cell phones were the size of eggplants, and Whitney Houston’s...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 25, 2017) –Zweig Group’s 2017 Operating Expenses Survey provides a comprehensive view of the largest line items that impact an architecture, engineering, planning, or environmental firm’s overhead, including human resources, marketing, IT,...

President of WestLAND Group, Inc. (Best Firm #41 Multi-discipline and Hot Firm #45 for 2017), a full-service civil engineering and land surveying firm based in Ontario, California. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “It’s important to identify...

If it flies, floats, or cruises the corridors of your local warehouse, you can get it in an autonomous variety – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I’m a pretty tech savvy guy...

CEO of Woodard & Curran (Hot Firm #80 for 2016), a 1,000-person integrated engineering, science, and operations firm based in Portland, Maine. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Live by the contract; never lose sight of it,”...

The landscape keeps changing, but accept it and roll with the punches. The payoff could be big for your firm. In media, the only constant is change, and here’s what we’ve got our eyes on...

Keep your accounts receivable on a short leash if you want your collection period to shrink, and your bank statement to grow. How does a growth oriented company in our industry manage the balance between...

President and CEO of Hargrove Engineers + Constructors, a Mobile, Alabama-based company with 1,200-teammates in 11 states. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent For Hargrove, success starts with company culture. In fact, he says, culture to a...

For multi-office firms, it’s important to monitor overhead allocations so one region doesn’t consume more than its fair share of resources. Here’s the issue: Department managers, regional managers, and office managers all question the general...

Try employing a project management accountant to support the project manager, and watch the work and the cash flow improve. In supporting many of the firms that we work with, we find varying models of...

President of LJA Engineering (Hot Firm #2 for 2016), the largest employee-owned civil engineering firm in Houston (600-plus employees). By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Ladner has more than 35 years’ experience in civil engineering serving both...

CEO of HGA (a multiple Hot Firm award winner), a national, 750-person integrated architecture, engineering, and planning firm based in Minneapolis. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Our most successful proposals help the client visualize the journey...

Install rigorous controls with your PMs when it comes to the average collection period, and watch the money flow back into your accounts. As 2016 fades into the past and we prepare the year-end analysis,...

CEO of Wantman Group, Inc. (#5 Hot Firm and #19 Best Firm Multidiscipline for 2016), a 310-person engineering consulting firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The easiest work is repeat...

The first industries to adopt a new technology are the ones that succeed. Is your firm prepared for the age of artificial intelligence? According to Zweig Group’s 2016 Financial Performance Survey, net service revenue per...

Taking a cue from Spotify, the recruiting industry is poised to create tailored playlists of design professionals looking for the ideal job. I love listening to music. I think I have a fairly diverse palate....

Philadelphia firm undertakes huge effort to improve CRM, update brand, and otherwise remain ahead of the curve. For Pennoni (Hot Firm #48 for 2016) marketing “success” can be viewed in a variety of ways –...

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,...

The two don’t have to be at odds with each other. Make sure someone’s at least answering the phones so perks don’t impede responsiveness. Coming off the high of our annual Hot Firm and A/E...

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows architects and engineers have the fifth highest suicide rate among 22 occupations. By Richard Massey Managing Editor A report recently issued by the Centers...

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows architects and engineers have the fifth highest suicide rate among 22 occupations. By Richard Massey Managing Editor A report recently issued by the Centers...

Global infrastructure and environmental services firm is poised to introduce patent-pending workflow process to $1B market in remediation of abandoned Navajo uranium mines. By Richard Massey Managing Editor A billion-dollar market in the remediation of...

We got a fax the other day from a firm that wanted to cancel four seminar registrations it had sent in just a couple weeks before. Evidently, the firm had hit on hard times, had...

Even if the strategic planning process turns out as hoped, it can still be an adventure with plenty of thrills and spills. Strategic planning connotes an organized, step-by-step effort. It’s true, but it’s also quite...

San Francisco’s tallest and most luxurious residential skyscraper is sinking, leaning, and setting the stage for an epic, and even precedent-setting, bayside court battle. When it was completed in 2008, the 58-story Millennium Tower in...

Zweig Group’s 2016 Financial Performance Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms, released on August 19, 2016, is a comprehensive study of industry firms with nearly 100 financial ratios, indicators, and statistics. The...

If a firm is to achieve something spectacular, its leaders have to have big hearts, and they have to galvanize the entire staff. One of the most rewarding things we do as consultants is guide...

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...

M&A really isn’t all about the valuation and the payout terms. For sellers, there is usually a strong emotional attachment to the company that they’ve devoted years, resources, and their career to growing. A concern...

The 2015 Fee & Billing Survey was created with information gathered from an online questionnaire that required participants to answer questions about their billing rates, fee structures, staff chargeability, and billing practices. The questionnaire was...

Klohn Crippen Berger (Vancouver, BC) – a 500-person international engineering, geoscience, and environmental consulting firm – is taking home first place in Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards in the External Newsletter category for its...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (August 20, 2015) – For the first time, Zweig Group’s Annual Salary report for the architecture and engineering industries will include data gathered from two sources: HR professionals and employees themselves. Previously, the...

Several organizations have found that bringing financial management staff onto the project management team results in heaven-sent synergies. In Zweig Group’s consulting practice, we see many firms grapple with the interface between project managers and...

Quantitative and qualitative data provide industry leaders with valuable information for making decisions. One of the distinctions of companies that do well over the long-haul, versus those who enjoy only a limited period of growth...

Zweig Group is looking for A/E/P and environmental firm presidents, CEOs, partners, principals, associates, or owners to respond to a short survey. Survey participants are eligible for significant discounts on published survey products. Zweig Group...

By Christine Brack Principal, Business Planning Consulting Design firms don’t sell an actual product, even if drawings and written deliverables are part of the final package. They make their living selling units of professional time....

Press Release: April 21, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (April 21, 2011) – Population growth and an overhaul of existing infrastructure are making the civil engineering profession popular, said American Society of Civil Engineers President-elect Andy Hermann,...

Press Release: April 5, 2011 Lack of Ownership Transition Plan Puts Design Firms in Peril FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (April 5, 2011) – A crisis could descend upon many design firms because aging baby-boomer owners have not...

Press Release: March 8, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (March 8, 2011) — Architecture enhances people’s lives, and the emerging recognition of this effect is earning the profession newfound respect, says Clark Manus, the new president of...

Press Release: March 7, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (March 7, 2011) — ZweigWhite has partnered with American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) to produce and publish a co-branded version of the 2011 Financial Performance Survey of...

Press Release: February 16, 2011 Economists are pointing to a halting recovery in the nonresidential construction sector, holding back on their earlier predictions of a recovery this year. The Zweig Letter, ZweigWhite’s weekly management journal,...

Press Release: February 8, 2011 Increasing regulation and a new focus on efficiency are turning the water market into one of the hottest commodities for engineering firms, The Zweig Letter discovers. A reinvigorated focus on...

Press Release: February 5, 2011 How firms value their enterprises has far-reaching implications that impact both the firms and their shareholders on a financial, organizational and cultural level and is, according to ZweigWhite Valuation Consultant...

Press Release: February 1 , 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR — Anyone who is—or wants to be—a leader in the architecture, engineering, planning and environmental-consulting fields will benefit from an MBA-style crash course offered by ZweigWhite experts...

Press Release: January 7, 2011 If the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry has learned one thing in 2010, it’s that recov­ery doesn’t happen overnight. Last year there was an expectation that 2010 might provide the...

Press Release: January 3, 2011 Experts are saying that constantly tracking client needs and wants and delivering relevant products is the secret for success in 2011 and beyond. Mike Phillips, a client feedback expert for...

Economic crisis or not, there’s a lot of it going on these days— firms in our “industry” buying other companies— for a variety of reasons. And while there is lots of information out there on...

NOW, not later, is the time to take a hard look at your strategic plan for improved performance. The new year is just around the corner. The environment is volatile. It’s hard to see what’s...

After 28 years of working with architects and engineers who are either sole or part owners in their firms, I can honestly say that these folks are deficient in their knowledge of rudimentary finance and...

One decision I made recently in my redevelopment business was to start running it more like a “real” business. This may seem strange coming from me— we always tried very hard to practice what we...

I had a nice woman come up to me before a talk I gave in Rochester, New York, last week. She asked me if we had ever considered doing an article on how to recognize...

Mike Fruitwood, seven months into the job of COO of his firm, shook his head. “How are we ever going to build this company if we can’t get our act together on scheduling?” he wondered...

One thing I know about smart people—they hate being treated like children. It’s insulting and demeaning. Unfortunately, we routinely see owners and managers of A/E/P and environmental firms who do just that to their employees....

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...

If you want to build an A/E/P or environmental consulting firm that has lasting, sustainable value, this is where it is at: You have to get your primary revenue producers to see the forest instead...

We talk a lot about marketing in The Zweig Letter. And we’ll continue doing so until we think all our readers have gotten the message about what it takes to really start using the knowledge...

The longer I have been involved with management of A/E/P and environmental firms the more convinced I am that the whole key to success lies in thinking long term. The sooner one comes to this...

It’s always interesting to me when I encounter people who don’t think you can get rich (that’s right, I said “rich”) in this business. But before we get started, please let me clarify. “Rich” to...

Here’s a collection of practical advice I think anyone in the A/E/P or environmental consulting business can use in response to questions that seem come up over and over again: Where can I find someone...

t seems to me the only way to really be successful is to be different from everyone else. Whether it’s your career or your firm we are talking about, it’s all the same. Yet many...

I think I know something about what it takes to make a firm grow. Three times in the last few weeks, I’ve conducted our new, 1½-day seminar, “Managing a Growing Firm.” I attended the “Inc....

As an old car guy, I’ve learned that gauges are vastly superior to “idiot lights.” Idiot lights tell you when something has gone wrong, such as “engine hot” (it is now overheated). Gauges tell you...

At our new “Managing a Growing Firm” seminar series, which kicked off last week in Boston, a hard-driving CEO from a local area firm took exception to one of our recommendations on how to improve...

Here are 10 things about the A/E/P and environmental consulting business that they don’t teach you in college. The best clients get crapped on. I hate to say it, but sometimes we treat our best...

There may be truth to the old adage: “Ignorance is bliss.” Because the fact is, there are a lot of people, many of them at the highest levels in A/E/P and environmental firms, who are...

Not much gets someone who works in an A/E/P or environmental firm more upset than unnecessary bureaucracy. I’m talking about stupid forms to fill out, channels to go through, or steps to take that don’t...

We often run into firms that need help turning things around. The scenario usually includes some combination of the following: Principals/top managers who aren’t billable. Excess debt caused by poor collection of accounts receivable. Owners...

The A/E/P and environmental consulting business is really pretty simple from a financial management standpoint. It shouldn’t be hard to track the numbers you need to run a firm, yet so many companies seem to...

We work for the owners and top managers of a lot of different A/E/P and environmental firms. While all those companies and their managers are different, they share one thing— they’re not happy with project...

We’ve all either experienced it in our own firm or heard about one of our competitors going through it— what I’m referring to is a complete turnaround. Consider the case of one of our clients....

A lot of firms in our business are going through some serious introspection. And if they aren’t, they probably should be. Change is occurring at an accelerating pace. Yesterday’s hot firm may be a dog...

Sometimes I think the owners and managers of A/E and environmental firms need a strong dose of realism. We seem to want to bury our heads in the sand to avoid the obvious, or wish...

“Leadership development” for our industry too often translates into another boring all-day seminar on liability reduction, or a weekend retreat with a soft-spoken consultant who walks us through “team building” exercises. We say we want...

We finally received notice a few weeks ago that Zweig White & Associates was selected for the Inc. 500, a list of the fastest-growing privately held firms in the U.S. It’s something we are certainly...

It has been said that the only thing an A/E/P or environmental firm can do in a presentation is “not lose the job”— meaning that the selection decisions are made before presentation time, and can...

Every firm in this industry must do four things to survive— sell work, do work, bill for work, and get paid for work. That’s it. If you ask me, architects, engineers, and environmental consultants (along...

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...

As Art Linkletter observed: “Kids say the darnedest things.” The other day, my daughter Christina, who is in the first grade, said to me, “Dad, why don’t you do a commercial where you tell everyone...

What differentiates a “hot” firm from a “not-so-hot” one? In our experience, virtually all successful, marketing-driven A/E/P or environmental consulting firms are doing something that the mediocre firms are not. They’re developing a marketing process....