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By John McAdams | If you’re serious about growing your design firm, you need to add outside experts to your board of directors.

By Mark Zweig | Is your firm one that commands top fees and thrives, or one that will struggle to compete and keep up?

By Kyle Ahern | The 2025 Mid-Year Compensation Update highlights key salary shifts and industry trends shaping AEC firm strategy.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Ownership transition is all about trust, so develop leaders early and communicate clearly to ensure lasting success.

This comprehensive resource provides detailed insight into the financial practices, challenges, and performance metrics of firms across the AEC industry, offering financial leaders an invaluable tool for assessing operations and planning for the future.

By Kyle Ahern | What high-profit 2025 Best Firms To Work For do differently to earn employee trust, loyalty, and performance.

By Chad Clinehens | ElevateAEC celebrates high-performance AEC firms moving fast and intentionally in a changing industry.

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...

Zweig Group, the leading provider of management consulting, research, and education for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, has introduced a new milestone in its 2025 Best Firms To Work For rankings: the Legacy Award....

Zweig Group, the leading provider of management consulting, research, and education for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Best Firms To Work For Award – honoring outstanding AEC workplaces...

By Mailena Urso | The Zweig Group team is hitting the road to share fresh insights on how AEC firms can stay ahead.

By Stefanie Richter | High-performing AEC teams thrive on chemistry, clarity, and control – enabled by integrated systems that eliminate costly friction.

The 2025 AEC Innovator Award, presented in partnership with KP Reddy Co., is the first and only innovation assessment and award for AEC companies.

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...

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

By Lynn Bruns | If we want to create workplaces where people thrive, innovate, and stay, we must go beyond managing to metrics.

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 Steve McAdams | A seasoned financial executive plays a pivotal role in enhancing profitability, growth, and market value.

By Chad Coldiron, Casey Shea & Stefanie Richter | High-performing firms that embrace technology solutions are seeing transformative results across their operations.

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

By Kyle Ahern | Firms that adopt these competitive strategies will be better positioned to achieve sustained success.

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 Mark Zweig | This is the math that firm owners who pursue mergers and acquisitions use to create a lot of value in their businesses.

By Sara Parkman | Compensation trends reveal critical strategies to boost employee retention and satisfaction.

By Mark Zweig | Limited office interaction, unclear business plans, and overly structured communication can prevent employees from understanding the firm’s big picture.

The AEC industry’s comprehensive, data-based resource on financial performance, departments, challenges, methodology, and practices now available in Zweig Group’s online shop

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

By Samantha Boeck | This type of culture drives people to compete at their best, challenges everyone on the team, and pushes boundaries to elevate the entire game.

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

By Mark Zweig | Entrepreneurial firms adapt better to a changing environment, are better places to work, and build significant value over time that can be harvested.

By Mark Zweig | Some of the ways entrepreneurial small firm owners create value and differentiate themselves.

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.

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...

By Kyle Ahern | Best Firms invest in an employee-centric culture, organizational efficiency, and leadership development.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Neglecting succession planning jeopardizes the future of your company’s internal transition.

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 Mark Zweig | AEC firms must do better with delivering feedback and rewarding exceptional people, or risk losing their highest performers.

By Conrey Guy | Your mission, vision, and values make up the backbone of your firms’ identity.

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

By Mark Zweig | These are the practical implications of defining the culture you want and then making that a reality.

Zweig Group is excited to announce the release of its 2023 Recruitment & Retention Report of AEC Firms. This comprehensive survey presents valuable statistics and data on the latest methods and challenges faced by AEC firms...

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.

Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the 2023 Best Firms To Work For Awards, which honor outstanding workplaces AEC firms.

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

By Dathan Gaskill | A chief financial officer provides critical financial leadership, insight, and guidance to your firm.

By Eric Wilson | With the right set of values and organizational alignment, you may find yourself in a positive feedback loop where shared principles guide you toward collective goals.

By Mark Zweig | Four things you can do to build the kind of workplace over time that good people want to stay in.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of Manhard Consulting (Lincolnshire, IL), a civil engineering and surveying firm serving public and private clients nationwide.

Zweig Group is excited to introduce an all new interactive data platform: Zweig Insights. This new platform provides AEC firms with data visualization and customized intel, including benchmarking against both comparable firms and industry-wide data.  The pilot program for...

By Liisa Andreassen | President of FEH Design (Dubuque, IA), a full-service architectural, structural engineering, inter design team that’s creating a better world through design.

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....

Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 Best Firms To Work For Awards, which honors the outstanding workplaces at AEC firms in North America.  These firms have been recognized for their...

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 Justin Smith | When done well, this approach allows you to create a lean, flexible process that empowers your project managers to focus on maximizing value.

By Phil Keil | Firms with purpose driven leadership have tangible benefits and more successful outcomes.

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 Kevin Johns | These five financial considerations are just a few of the measures that successful AEC firms put in place to build long-term organizational health.

ByStephanie Warino | Examining the top 10 differences between leading and average Best Firms To Work For.

By Roger Marquis | What is a self-perform general contractor and why should your firm consider working with one?

By Brian King | Instead, consider regular performance discussions and an annual strategy meeting to set, implement, and evaluate goals and initiatives.

There are several management areas where award-winning, fast-growth, and very high profit AEC firms stand out. Fast Growth, Very High Profit, and Award Winning firms have unique metrics. Zweig Group has just released a special...

By Christina Zweig Niehues | This year’s Hot Firms achieved incredible success at a time of great change and uncertainty.

By Mark Zweig | While there are no doubt some costs associated with making a brand for your firm, a lot of it just boils down to a little work and some discipline.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 4, 2021) –Zweig Group has announced the 2021 Hot Firm List, which honors the fastest growing firms in the architecture, engineering, planning, environmental and construction (AEC) industry. Firms are ranked based on...

By Mark Zweig | Saying you want to buy another firm in this business is one thing – actually doing it is another.

By Mark Zweig | An enduring firm will be worth much more – through an internal or external sale – than one where some of these issues are not addressed.

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 Mark Zweig | Remote workers are not going to go away as soon as this pandemic is over. Make sure they still feel connected to your firm.

By Rob Hughes | This subtle but onerous language is becoming fairly widespread in design contracts and, if overlooked, could leave design firms with significant, potentially uninsured exposures.

By Mark Zweig | The leadership abilities of you firm’s principals and managers will determine your collective success this year.

Positively impact your firm’s retention rates by turning abstract ideas into actionable goals.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | There are several management areas where award-winning, fast-growth, and very high profit AEC firms stand out.

By Mark Zweig | Answer these questions and many more, or you will, at best, be a decent copy of a firm or firms that do as well or better than you already do.

By Mark Zweig | Best practices may be safe, but they won’t differentiate your firm. Make these changes and your firm will stand out.

Keep tabs on your insurers in a difficult economy by reviewing evaluations by popular ratings agencies.

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.

If your firm has the following characteristics, the more likely an ESOP is a good and viable option for your firm.

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

Leaders of employee-friendly firms talk about recruiting, culture, and the importance of employee feedback.

By Mark Zweig | Firms seem to be doing better than most anyone would have predicted when everything had to shut down in March. Why is that?

By Chad Clinehens | Break out of the spreadsheet mentality and build an ownership team that drives value and performance long-term.

By combining traditional marketing tactics with unique approaches for our industry, AEC firms can get ahead of the competition, stay relevant, and win more and better contracts.

In times like these, it is more important than ever to monitor your costs and develop an action plan to ensure your firm can weather the storm. There are so many fixed costs associated with...

Many firms still cling to old-school attitudes and business practices that chase away top performing employees looking for a more future-friendly place to grow their careers.

“There’s no magic in these six steps. But there will be ‘magic’ in your results if you can consistently apply them!”

“I find that using some of these other ‘screens’ can actually lead to greater success in buying.”

Zweig Group recently released the 2019 Incentive Compensation Report of AEC Firms. The report covers eleven different types of incentive compensation. AEC firms responded to a survey throughout 2019, providing both opinions and numeric values...

The R&D tax credit is the most widely applicable and powerful tax incentive, but it’s not the only one AEC firms should take advantage of.

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

“We invite you to celebrate the industry while learning from its best-performing firms and leaders.”

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...

Connections across teams and offices increase employee engagement and performance, but the connections must be fostered.

President of JCJ Architecture, a local, national, and global architecture, planning, and interior design firm based in Hartford, Connecticut.

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

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...

As a 100 percent ESOP, 50-year-old Pennoni has the culture, history, and staying power to improve the lives of its employees and the community it serves.

If you want to run a successful firm, there are employees you just have to keep. But in other instances, turnover can be a good thing.

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

If you’re like the rest of us, your firm is busy. But as the projects and revenue pour in, so do plenty of problems that you’ll have to deal with.

“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?”...

Zweig Group, a full-service AEC management consulting firm, represented selling firm Keith & Schnars in its acquisition by Maryland-based KCI Technologies Inc. With the deal, KCI, a multi-discipline engineering firm with offices throughout the United...

West Palm Beach, FL – David Wantman, PE proudly announces that he will be sharing the leadership of WGI with newly hired president, Gregory Sauter, PE and that he will step fully into the role...

Leaders of employee-friendly firms talk about how being a Best Firm affects culture, recruiting, and team building. Architecture and civil: Brian Bowers, President, Bowers + Kubota Our goal in being a Best Firm to Work...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (May 23, 2018) –Zweig Group is proud to announce the release of the 2018 Best Firms To Work For Awards, a prestigious list honoring the creation of outstanding workplaces at architecture, engineering, and...

It is a widely-accepted idea that one of the defining characteristics of a successful enterprise working in a mature market is differentiation from all the other firms that provide similar products or services. Yet, in...

So you got the position you wanted, but that’s just the first step. You have to (help) create something bigger than yourself. Last month I wrote about my good fortune of meeting Art Gensler and...

Attention to performance metrics can enhance business value, so you might try using a few new financial ratios in your spreadsheets. For those of you involved with firm financial management, you expect to regularly review...

When it comes to our projects, we need to know as much as we can to ensure we stay on track for our firm and our clients. There’s a fine line between what we know...

CEO of Dawson Van Orden (Hot Firm #49 for 2016), a 45-person design and engineering firm based in Houston, Texas. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Cashflow. Period,” says Eddy, when asked about the greatest challenge presented...

President and founder of McCarthy Engineering Inc. (Hot Firm #74 for 2016), a 41-person firm based in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. “Our philosophy is that no one can be perfect on their own, but together as a...

It’s always a hot topic, and particularly so today, with all of the buying and selling going on in the AEC industry – integration of an acquired firm. Let’s look at three common questions and...

Global firm catapults to the top spot due to meteoric gains in revenue. Firm chairman and CEO Dickerson Wright says cross-selling services is key. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent The 18th annual Hot Firm List by...

Senior employees are outperformed by their subordinates all the time. Use metrics to reward the doers and identify the dead weight. The subject of compensation is a challenging and emotionally-charged issue. It affects all of...

How you dress and how you work send a powerful statement to everyone around you – just make sure it’s the right one. A company has a brand, and so do you. It’s called your...

What can you use in a proposal? As it turns out, if you are careful with how you include the information, quite a bit. I was recently asked about including a person’s experience with a...

Regardless of what else the future holds for B2B marketing, one thing is certain: Content marketing is here to stay. Marketing communications. Social media. Graphic design. Media relations. Proposals. Internal communications. Event engagement. Brand management....

The 2017 Financial Performance Benchmarking Tool is an excel based tool developed to help firm leaders make real-time decisions that impact firm performance and profitability. The 2017 Financial Performance Benchmarking Tool will help you: Compare...

Zweig Group’s research data shows us that fast growth/high profit firms have a higher number of hours in their average work week. It makes sense – more hours put in by salaried people equates to...

If firms employ these operational and financial strategies, their chances of weathering a downturn, regardless of how bad it is, will increase. Last week, June Jewell outlined five ways to insulate your firm from the...

We just opened up our Best Firms to Work For award entries and it got me thinking. Making your firm a truly great place to work isn’t easy. There’s always someone out there trying to...

1. M&A activity will increase. The majority of firms with more than 50 people are looking to buy or sell. This is crazy! According to Zweig Group's 2016 Merger & Acquisition Survey, 62 percent of...

If you figure out the answer to that all-important question on the front end, you’ll have a great chance of closing on the right M&A deal. One of the key responsibilities of any business owner...

Zweig Group just released the 2016 Principals, Partners and Owners of Architectural, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms Survey. Over the past 30 years, this publication has picked the brains of some of the industry’s...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (September 13, 2016) – Zweig Group is proud to announce Bentley Systems as a Silver Sponsor of the 2016 Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference being held on September 22-23, 2015 at...

The Zweig Group 2016 Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference on Sept. 22-23 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix will celebrate growth and success. The Best Firms To Work for Awards honor the creation...

The Zweig Group 2016 Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference on Sept. 22-23 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix will celebrate growth and success. The Best Firms To Work for Awards honor the creation...

Zweig Group’s 2016 Financial Performance Survey of Architecture, Engineering, and Environmental Consulting Firms, gives firm leaders a clear view into industry trends and financial metrics that can help firms effectively manage their resources. The best...

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...

Everyone wants better project management. That's why principals of AEC companies spend more time and money on PM training than any other type of business training. But I'm not here to talk about training. I...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 5, 2016) –Zweig Group is proud to announce the release of the 2016 Best Firms To Work For List, a prestigious list honoring the creation of outstanding workplaces at architecture, engineering, surveying,...

Firm leaders often think they know what the company needs, but in reality, are looking for answers in the wrong places. I receive a lot of phone calls from firms inquiring about many of Zweig...

Leaders in the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry need to know their firm’s value. Many architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firm leaders don’t have a solid grasp on their firm’s value. But, if you’re...

The A/E/P industry is doing well right now, but you shouldn’t get too comfortable. Right now, we're having some really good times. A/E/P firms are doing well – some of them are doing incredibly well....

Zweig Group Releases 2016 Valuation Survey for the A/E/P Industry FAYETTEVILLE, AR (February 1, 2016) – Zweig Group, a management consulting and publishing firm that produces comprehensive surveys for the A/E/P and environmental consulting industries,...

Think your small firm should stay small? Think again. Here’s why you should strive for growth in your firm. Without a doubt, there are some entrepreneurial firms in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business today....

Annual Publication Includes Case Studies of A/E/P, Environmental Firms FAYETTEVILLE, AR – January 14, 2016 — Do you know how much your architectural, engineering, planning or environmental consulting firm is worth? If you're the leader...

Do you know how much your architectural, engineering, planning or environmental consulting firm is worth? If you're the leader of an A/E/P or environmental consulting firm, you can't risk not knowing the value of your...

Without a doubt, there are some entrepreneurial firms in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business today. That said—and I’ve written it before in these pages—just because you are privately-held and a small business does NOT...

Although Zweig Group's M&A Survey offers a variety of responses to the question "why are you considering an acquisition", there are, essentially, only two reasons that firms pursue inorganic growth. These reasons are to either...

Technical professionals should appreciate the importance of timely and accurate time-sheets for determining appropriate project billing and more. For most A/E/P firms, it is the talent, technical expertise, and experience that are sold to clients...

Architectural colleague shares new scale for assessing employees’ impact on the firm, community, world in areas of attitude, capability, performance. I’ve always been skeptical of the “performance review” style of evaluating. I believe in a...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 13, 2015) –Zweig Group is proud to announce the release of the 2015 Best Firms To Work For List, a prestigious list honoring the creation of outstanding workplaces at architecture, engineering, and...

Highly profitable firms differ from others in 5 main areas; how does your organization stack up? When you see some A/E and environmental firms making record profits right now – and others still barely breaking...

Allowing late payments because ‘this is the way the client has always paid us’ is a cash-flow killer. Accounts receivable is, for most of our clients, the source of all the cash that fuels the...

Though harder to apply and evaluate, assessments of interpersonal skills can promote team performance and increase morale. I have had a number of discussions lately about how to measure performance. The people I’ve spoken with,...

If you are a target of bitterness, here’s four tips from Mark Zweig on how to deal with it. ​On a recent flight to go see some clients in South Florida, Chad Clinehens and I...

Mark Zweig lays out the steps you must take to create a successful organization. Also, be a real leader. One of the most important jobs any leader has is that of building their team. Yet...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 7, 2014) – Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the Best Firms to Work For Ranking. Since the Best Firms To Work For list began in 2001, hundreds of...

Mark Zweig offers two examples of divisive attitudes, and how to fix them. It kills me how some people working in our client companies forget that they are all working for one firm. These people...

By Christine Brack Principal, Business Planning Consulting ZweigWhite Our Best Firms To Work For Summit, held in San Diego in late September, celebrated the firms with the best work environments, commitment to strong values, dedication...

Press Release: October 18, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (October 18 , 2011) – The fastest growing firms in the design industry are relying on traditional methods to achieve marketing results. According to the ZweigWhite’s 2011-12 Successful...

Press Release: September 21, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (September 21, 2011) — It’s no big news that a rough economy has taken its toll on many architecture, engineering, planning and environmental firms, but this situation isn’t...

Press Release: September 14, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (September 14, 2011) — Architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firms that have successfully navigated through the recession have done so by walking a budget tight rope. An...

Press Release: August 18, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (August 18, 2011) –Statistics from ZweigWhite’s 2011 Valuation Survey show a reduction in staff but a general holding of value for many sectors of the architecture, engineering, planning...

Press Release: August 1, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (August 1, 2011) – Gibson Applied Technology & Engineering, LLC (GATE), a 30-person oil and gas engineering company based in Houston, Texas, is in the running for the...

By Tracey Jeffers Principal, Valuation Consulting ZweigWhite If you are involved with financial management at some level in your firm, you expect to regularly review the typical balance sheet and income statement. A smaller percentage...

Press Release: July 15, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 15, 2011) –With only $1000.00 in start-up capital, Mark C. Zweig started Mark Zweig & Associates on a card table in the back-room efficiency apartment of his...

Press Release: June 14, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 14, 2011) – Firms in the architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting arena appear to be investing in design process-enabling technologies that will help them face the...

Press Release: May 27, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (May 27, 2011) –Open book management, or sharing summary financial data with all staff, has been called one of the most important management trends by industry leaders and...

Press Release: May 11, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (May 11, 2011) — Design firms have been among the most affected by the recent recession, but new data shows that the carnage may soon be over. While...

By Tracey D. Jeffers There is a four letter word floating around out there in the atmosphere that is likely the first formed in the mind of an investor when determining whether or not an...

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: April 1, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (April 1, 2011) – An expected resurgence in private spending in 2011 means that diversified architecture, engineering, planning and environmental consulting firms will be better poised to benefit...

By Mark C. Zweig We have come a long way in the A/E/P business over the last 30 years. Not only is it OK to market to clients, we even have computers on every desk...

By Tracey D. Jeffers Cash and accrual methods each have their pluses and minuses. Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series. In her first article (The Zweig Letter, Feb. 21, issue 899)...

By Mark C. Zweig So many people today in this business are just getting tired of the grind. The last three years haven’t been fun— with more competition, reduced profitability, delayed or cancelled projects, stalled...

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 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: January 27, 2011 ZweigWhite is now accepting entries for The Zweig Letter 2011 Hot Firm List, the industry’s search for the fastest-growing architecture, engineering, planning, environmental and multidisciplinary consulting firms in the U.S....

Press Release: January 20, 2011 The 2011 The Zweig Letter Marketing Excellence Awards will recognize the most innovative and effective marketing strategies in the architecture, engineering, planning, construction and environmental consulting industry. The competition will...

As the year starts to wrap up, most A/E and environmental firms begin to rethink their incentive compensation plans: “Is our plan right for our company?”; “Does it reward the behavior we want to reward?”;...

The 10th annual The Zweig Letter Hot Firm Conference is about to take place in Las Vegas. There will be untold celebrating (what happens in Vegas stays there, remember) from this year’s winners. But, what...

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...

I just got back from the ninth annual Zweig Letter Hot Firm Conference and Awards Celebration, held in Chicago this year. It was, as it always is, a great event filled with optimistic people— something...

For my kickoff presentation at our eighth annual The Zweig Letter Hot Firm Conference and Awards Celebration in Boston last month, I decided to talk about the differences in entrepreneurial A/E/P firms from those that...

Since this issue is dedicated to mergers and acquisitions in the A/E/P and environmental industry, I thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned over the years about this subject. Mergers and acquisitions can work...

I had a lengthy conversation the other day with someone who is currently in the throes of helping his company design a new incentive compensation plan. This fellow is a smart guy. He had done...

We’ve been at this business for some time now— and have worked with hundreds of A/E/P and environmental firms whose principals wanted to sell. Unfortunately, we can’t help all of them— just those who will...

I’m no fan of most of the performance appraisal systems I see used in A/E/P and environmental consulting firms. The simple fact of the matter is they don’t work. They don’t motivate anyone to do...

I was talking with a client of ours the other day— a very successful founder and CEO of a mid-sized engineering, planning, and surveying firm. I asked him the typical pleasantries such as, “How are...

After a brief stop in Las Vegas for a quick family wedding, I just returned from The Zweig Letter Hot Firm 2003 Conference and Celebration in San Francisco. And let me tell you that while...

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...

As management consultants to the A/E/P and environmental industry for many years, we get up close and personal with literally hundreds of firms each and every year. Many of these are very successful companies that...

You know what? Turnover is not always so bad. Sometimes people just don’t keep up with the firm. There are all kinds of reasons for it. Maybe they got tired. Maybe they got turned off....

If there’s one issue that I see a lot of good A/E/P and environmental firms grappling with right now, it’s how to balance the need for high-performing individuals vs. having a cohesive team that works...

It’s becoming more apparent to me every day that human resources management as we know it needs a total overhaul. Many human resources experts (staff and consultants) are perpetuating bad advice, and the typical A/E/P...

With all of the employment-related pressures that firms face today, it’s getting harder and harder to figure out what you really need to pay somebody to do a given job. There are so many ways...

Sure, you can learn from a fool. But how much more can you learn from a smart person? That’s why we’re focusing this special edition of The Zweig Letter on hot firms— firms that have...

I’m bullish on this business. As a group of firms, we are doing better than ever. Revenue is up. Profits are up. And the projects are gratifying. It’s an ethical business. There are a lot...

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...

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...

At one of my “Managing a Growing Firm” seminars a few weeks ago, I had an attendee tell me how another attendee was handling his ownership transition program. When I asked him who was offering...

The longer I am involved with this industry the more aware I am of how critical the collective and individual morale of a firm’s employees is to its continued ability to function successfully. Let’s face...

Goodness, how times change. Can you imagine what your reaction would have been five, or even three years ago, if a management consultant advised you to get out of the environmental consulting business and move...

I’ve received several calls asking me if I had seen a recent article that appeared in The Wall Street Journal (November 21, 1996) on performance appraisals. Evidently, it is causing quite an uproar in the...

There is a lot of merger and acquisition activity today. It seems like just about everybody is looking to buy or merge with someone else. We’ve never seen a higher level of interest in acquisitions....

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...

Just about every A/E or environmental firm wants to grow. And there are a lot of good reasons for it. To paraphrase an old adage, “growth covers a multitude of sins.” When you are growing,...

Conventional wisdom (CW) isn’t always so “wise.” Let’s take a look at some of the wisdom frequently heard in the halls and conference rooms of A/E and environmental consulting firms: The company will be profitable...

Although I’ve been trying to preach the gospel for years now, most principals of A/E/P and environmental consulting firms still do not understand what human resources management is all about. First, there’s the way so...

Last week, I spoke to an engineer laid off from the consulting firm where he had been employed for the past 18 years. Unfortunately, his layoff was the direct result of a recommendation contained in...