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By Kraig Kern | AEC firms excel at solving known problems, but creativity is what reveals the opportunities and risks no one sees.

By Morgan Stinson | AEC firms win when purpose, not profit, drives client experience.

By Tom Godin | In AEC M&A, the real risk isn’t finding deals; it’s being unprepared to integrate them.

By Scott Butcher | Despite capacity challenges, AEC firms still rely on seller-doers because complex projects reward expertise at the first client interaction.

By Daryl Simons Jr. | Technology can enhance recruiting efficiency, but human connection, trust, and judgment will always define successful hiring.

The leading source of business management insights, research, and strategies tailored specifically for leaders of AEC firms.

By Daryl Simons Jr. | Rethinking first impressions creates fairer decisions, stronger relationships, and lasting benefits for candidates and firms.

By Tiara Marcus | Great project delivery goes beyond efficiency, blending precision, clarity, and empathy to build trust and lasting client partnerships.

By Shelby Harvey | Encouraging curiosity at work turns tough questions into opportunities to build trust, share knowledge, and strengthen engagement.

By Hannah Miller | Great content builds trust by showcasing expertise, culture, and value, creating lasting impressions long before opportunities arise.

One of my all-time favorite Zweig Letter articles was written by no less than Mark Zweig himself, titled, “Frank Wouldn’t Be Happy.”  The “Frank” in this case was Frank Lloyd Wright, and the article described...

By Mark Zweig | Practical career advice for new AEC graduates on landing a great job and accelerating early career success.

By Mark Zweig | Success comes from bold, consistent marketing efforts that push visibility, build trust, and attract high-quality clients.

Entries are now open for Zweig Group’s 2026 awards program. For more than 25 years, these awards have recognized the firms, teams, and individuals raising the bar in the AEC industry. Think your firm has...

By Mark Zweig | If you want the best people, you have to sell – the company, the role, and the location – and move fast when you get a good one!

By Mailena Urso | Zweig Group’s Marketing Excellence Awards showcase top creative campaigns that elevate AEC industry branding.

By Harry Hawkins | Networking’s enduring value lies in fostering genuine connections, enhancing career paths, and cultivating meaningful, human-centric relationships.

By Janki DePalma | Late bloomers gain wisdom, resilience, and unique insights, proving there’s no fixed timeline for achievement.

By Mark Zweig | We all need new challenges, variety in our daily routines, and to see tangible results from our efforts to be fulfilled.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of Kaas Wilson Architects (Bloomington, MN), an architecture and interior design firm specializing in all types of multi-family housing.

By Florencia Kratsman | Businesses must embrace sustainable interior design, prioritizing eco-friendly materials, longevity, and heritage to mitigate environmental impact and meet consumer demands.

By Leslie Jenkins | Instead of trying to impress potential clients, focus on emotional intelligence, really listening, and creating relationships built on common goals and trust.

By Luci Hogue | Whether you love your job and want to get to the next level or if you’re feeling unsatisfied in your current position, these tips may help gain perspective.

By Paul David | Boost your staffing by training your interns from day one to become some of your best employees.

By Keyan Zandy | Traditional construction practices pit trade partners against each other; adopting a collaborative team approach can enhance outcomes.

Zweig Group client McCoy Collaborative Preservation Architecture has joined TreanorHL’s Historic Preservation studio.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Michael Graves Architecture, an innovative architecture and design company that provide services around the world for clients in multiple industries.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of McFarlane Architects, a dynamic architectural, planning, and interior design firm that provides innovative design solutions to its clients.

By Liisa Andreassen | Co-president and CEO of DB Sterlin Consultants, Inc., a 100 percent minority-owned firm comprised of professional engineers, architects, planners, and surveyors.

By Liisa Andreassen | Principal at Derck & Edson (Lititz, PA), a planning and design firm that shapes the natural and built environment in innovative and functional ways.

By Mark Zweig | While you undoubtedly have other responsibilities, one of your primary roles as a leader is assembling, maintaining, and motivating your team.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of MKSK, a collective of planners, urban designers, and landscape architects who are passionate about the interaction between people and place.

By Mark | If your project managers did these six things consistently, your projects and your firm would be more successful.

By Lindsay Young | Knowing what people really think will help you grow your business and serve your clients even better than you already do.

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

By Liisa Andreassen | Zweig Group’s 2021 Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award winner on being nominated and what it meant to win the prestigious award.

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 Transactions:...

By Mark Zweig | Just like any professional sports team, your firm is made or broken based on how effective you are at recruiting talent.

By Liisa Andreassen | President at FitzGerald (Chicago, IL), a nationally recognized architecture firm with roots dating back more than 100 years.

By Mercedez Thompson | While weak language can dilute your message, assertive language fosters attentiveness, boosts credibility, and increases authority.

By Chad Clinehens | Let’s take all the support we’ve been unable to show over the past year and fire up businesses impacted by COVID.

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 Mark Zweig | There are many ways to show courage, and Jerry Allen showed real courage in his willingness to confront every single obstacle in his life.

By Mercedez Thompson | Create client-focused cover letters that build trust, provide clear client benefits, and connect to your client’s broader goals or vision.

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 Phil Keil | Decentralization of structure within our firms allows for a more agile, adaptable, and unified organization.

Make a great first impression, showcase your experience and expertise, and stand out as a top architect in your market.

Educating yourself about these biases as well as potential strategies for mitigation can help you avoid prejudice in your decision-making.

President and CEO of Wallace Engineering (Tulsa, OK), a structural and civil engineering consulting firm that believes in being active citizens, in both our profession and communities.

Many people can be apprehensive when faced with new technology. It’s important to address their fears and to have a plan for successful implementation.

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

President of JBCI, a small, but venerable, repair and restoration firm based in Philadelphia.

As firms suffer from a shortage of experienced design and construction professionals, the industry finds itself in the middle of a talent war.

If your firm makes a sincere effort to learn, teach, develop, innovate, and improve, old and new hires alike will notice. As president of a 400-person design firm, one of my favorite activities is one-on-one...

A failed leadership transition can destroy a brand. Take plenty of time, focus on the company, and beware of politics and interpersonal conflict. Several years ago I visited the church I grew up in and...

It might be a blunt mantra but it has a broad application across all facets of life and work, including the AEC industry. We all have leaders and figures in our lives who leave an...

President and CEO of SEPI Engineering & Construction, Inc. (Hot Firm #74 for 2017), a 350-person firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “People need to feel like their work life is...

Sharing something personal about your history is a great way to connect with a selection panel – and, of course, to win work. Making a strong first impression and connecting with the selection panel are...

Joining three other firms, ATI Architects + Engineers merges with the Planning Architecture Engineering Alliance. Working on the seller side of the deal, Zweig Group, a full-service AE consultancy based in Fayetteville, AR., represented California-based...

There’s plenty of excuses as to why you won’t bring one of your rising stars to meetings with clients, and none of them are good. The best training is experiential. Take your rising stars to...

BIG RED DOG acquires $1.4M structural engineering design firm, MSP Engineering Group Austin-based BIG RED DOG Engineering and Consulting recently announced the acquisition of MSP Engineering Group, PLLC. Named an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private firm...

BIG RED DOG acquires $1.4M structural engineering design firm, MSP Engineering Group Austin-based BIG RED DOG Engineering and Consulting recently announced the acquisition of MSP Engineering Group, PLLC. Named an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private firm...

You might think about ditching the fancy slideshow in favor of something much more engaging and authentic – the story of your firm and its people! We’ve all been there; the highly anticipated meeting with...

There’s three horses you need to ride if you are going to win the race, so saddle up with Facebook, Twitter, and a killer website. It’s time to roll up your sleeves. In this installment...

Good old American ingenuity is what we need to save the planet, not a cumbersome set of rules and regulations. A great deal has been written, and there has been significant handwringing, about America backing...

President and CEO of Milhouse Engineering & Construction (Hot Firm #50 for 2017), a 180-person firm based in Chicago. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Engineers aren’t usually braggadocios,” Milhouse says. “We’re just not good at it....

Generational ownership and leadership transitions pose unique challenges. Anyone you promote to the highest level must be cut from the right cloth. The statistics bear repeating: Most professional services firms are aging at the top....

When it comes to large projects that affect a lot of people, a multi-pronged communications effort is the best way to bring stakeholders together. When planning regional infrastructure projects, getting the right amount of engagement...

They count, and they need to be made across numerous fronts if you want to get your foot in the door with a new client. As the saying goes, first impressions count. Although much of...

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...

As social media continues to change, so too does the way it affects the A/E industry. Stay in touch with the times or get left behind. Architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firms appear to...

People always laugh over here at Zweig Group when I launch into a tirade about a guy who worked for us long ago. This fellow was a consultant – an engineer with an MBA –...

Should you buy a firm or sell yours? That’s the question, and regardless of the answer, there’s a lot that goes into a successful merger or acquisition. In the ever-evolving AEC industry, both large and...

HELIX CEO Michael Schwerin headed into the New Year with double-digit profits and a strong book-to-bill ratio. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent In 2001, Michael Schwerin started as an assistant environmental planning group manager with HELIX...

Hiring good people isn’t easy, and hanging onto them is just as difficult. When you find the right person, offer an excellent benefits package. By Gale Associates Inc. Best Firm #4 Multidiscipline for 2016 Recruitment...

Move forward in 2017 with Zweig Group seminars across a range of essentials – business development, project management, marketing, and more. For a short while during my undergraduate years, I majored in management. After a...

Historic overhaul of outdated, overcrowded transit center in Manhattan is on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's to-do list. By Richard Massey Managing Editor One of the largest infrastructure projects in the United States begins in...

In decline since 1950, the city is finally reversing its downward trend, and architects and engineers are taking part in the recovery. By Richard Massey Managing Editor When architect Michael Tunkey graduated from his hometown...

Did your interns live the dream? If so, great, but if not, it might be time to retool your program by taking these six simple steps. As a communications major with an interest in broadcast...

The act of priming your business for market increases its value, and helps you embrace an assortment of challenges and opportunities. I know what you’re thinking because I hear it all the time. “I’m not...

Sonia A. Martinez, Chief Financial Officer of BCC Engineering, Inc. a Miami, Florida based engineering firm, is named as the 2016 recipient of Zweig Group’s Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award. When Martinez first joined...

When J. Peter Devereaux joined the Detroit-based firm in 1985, there were nine employees. Today, Harley Ellis Devereaux (Hot Firm #23 for 2016) has 324 employees and has undergone a series of evolutions. After working...

If your content is consistently valuable, potential clients might give up their personal information to have it, and chose your firm over others when it’s time to close the deal. Are you lost in marketing...

When positioning your firm for a potential sale, you should be prepared to talk about all facets of the organization, not just the C-suite. As an M&A consultant, I come into contact with sellers of...

“I’m not ready to sell my business,” “I am not ready to retire,” or “business is too good right now for me to sell” are all statements you might be thinking right now, but there...

Troublemakers within a firm can do a lot of damage, especially if they are tolerated. Every firm has these people to some degree. The naysayers, the skeptics, and the gossips. These people are holding back...

Here are a few tips on ensuring that potential employees accept your job offer, and have a back-up in case they don’t. It’s a big problem today. You go through a long search process, interviewing...

Being human, we all have opportunities to learn (and re-learn) valuable truths for dealing with others. You’re never too old to learn, if you keep your mind open to it. I have found over the...

This is part one of a two-part series on the acquisition process, written by Jamie Claire Kiser, Director of M&A Services, and Ryan Renard, Financial Analyst/Consultant. Part one focuses on the search phase of an...

Build a better, more sustainable company with these suggestions from Mark Zweig. 2015 is shaping up to be a FANTASTIC year for firms in this business. It’s really fun to see how many firms are...

Mark Zweig offers remembrance on passing of dear friend and firm leader Joe Lalli. We lost a great leader, design professional, and friend with the passing Joseph J. “Joe” Lalli, FASLA, in Fort Lauderdale on...

Mark Zweig provides 10 tips how to treat potential new employees right. One of the things we do at ZweigWhite is a limited amount of executive search consulting. Most people don’t really understand that. They...

Recruiting may not be immediately seen as a great branding tool, but it is. I’ll bet you never imagined your recruiting process could be an important brand-building tool for your firm. How can that be?...

Having it is one thing; using it is another. Over the years we’ve received several inquiries for off the shelf QA/QC (quality assurance and quality control) plans and manuals – typically prompted by requirements in...

Several things happen when a new person joins your firm. Don’t scare them away. This term seems to have come into popular usage among HR folks lately, referring to how a firm brings a person...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 999 Originally published 3/18/2013 If you have rosy outlooks on profitability, marketing, proposals, and backlogs it’s time to clean up your numbers. A/E/P...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 998 Originally published 3/11/2013 Three lessons the design industry can learn from a successful auto dealership. I feel fortunate to be a consultant...

As someone who teaches entrepreneurship in The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, one of my responsibilities is to mentor students who enter business plan competitions. In these competitions, students...

One of the keys to success in business— all types of business, not just the A/E/P and environmental business— is practicing common courtesies (or perhaps they should be called not-so-common courtesies?). Architects, engineers, and scientists...

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...

Being the leader of a Zweig Letter Hot Firm isn’t for everyone. Believe me, I know plenty of these characters personally (and they are “characters!”), and while they come from many different age groups, racial...

When you talk with those folks who have really “made it” in this business, i.e., successful principals in successful A/E and environmental firms, they will usually tell you that being able to write was critical...

When I first got out of graduate school with my MBA back in 1980, I went to work for a consulting/recruiting firm in St. Louis that specialized in serving the construction and real estate development...

When we remade our Revolutionary Marketing newsletter into The Zweig A/E Marketing Letter, we had a simple idea. Cut the theory and direct the focus of our efforts to implementation. What can firms DO differently...

Last week, I took my oldest daughter Christy (she’s a high school junior) and one of her friends on a day of college tours. We went to three schools and took the guided tour at...

It is so valuable… being THE place to work. What I mean by THE place is the firm that everyone wants to work at. It is the cool place, the desirable place to be, the...

One of the best benefits of working at ZweigWhite is the free food and drink we get. We give everyone whatever they want as long as you can store it in a cabinet or a...

I came away from our first-ever Hot Firm conference held last week in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as impressed as I could be. Not only did our conference planning staff do a first-class job in terms of...

When it comes to leadership, there are many different paths that lead to the same destination. Attila the Hun, Moses, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Tom Peters, and even our kindergarten teachers can all be pointed to...

I just got back from a 1,720-mile motorcycle trip with my wife on our new Kawasaki ZG1000 sport touring bike. It was fantastic! We went up the coast of Maine from Kennebunkport to Bar Harbor....

Set to music from The Beverly Hillbillies: Let me tell a little story about a man named Jed, a poor engineer, barely kept his family fed. And then one day when designing to buy food,...

Everything I need to know was not taught in kindergarten! In growing our own business and working with hundreds of firms over the years to help them grow theirs, I feel like I have learned...

From my experience, I’d say that most owners and managers of A/E/P and environmental firms have forgotten that recruiting is selling. Instead of trying to create the best impression they can on every person who...

One of the great things about the A/E/P and environmental consulting business is that it always provides you with a challenge. Right now, many firms are feeling particularly stressed— with a higher than normal workload,...

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...

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m not the sentimental type. But I must say— I love the people who work here. I love them because they work so hard, they never complain,...

I’ve always been a student of human interaction. So when I hear someone say of another person in a derogatory tone, “That Wilson sure has a big ego,” I immediately ask myself “Who is this...

Throughout my working career, I never asked for a raise. I never asked for a bigger bonus. I figured if my employers weren’t smart enough to pay me what I was worth, I’d go somewhere...

When Sharon T., a successful entrepreneur and owner of three European auto dealerships finally found the location of Land Design Associates Three’s (LDA3) office building one sweltering Tuesday afternoon and pulled her Volvo into the...