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By Chad Coldiron | In today’s AEC market, retention isn’t just about culture – it’s about whether employees can afford to stay. 

By Stuart McLendon | When economic data grows less reliable, long-term AEC planning becomes a far riskier bet.

By Daryl Simons Jr. | If your retention strategy relies on appreciation events instead of competitive pay, you are already losing talent.

By Mark Zweig | Annual performance reviews fail AEC firms because real leadership requires continuous feedback, not once-a-year management theater.

By Kyle Ahern | Outdated pay benchmarks are quietly undermining retention and credibility in today’s AEC compensation decisions.

By Ezequiel Tovar | An ownership transition plan must combine the right strategy on both the human and financial side.

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

By Jared Maxwell | Despite recent success, AEC firms may need to navigate headwinds to mitigate risk and sustain growth and profitability.

By Scott D. Butcher | To succeed in disruption, AEC firms must refine client focus, target markets, and go/no-go processes.

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 Stuart McLendon | In uncertain waters, let strong financial leadership be your north star.

By Will Swearingen | A well-thought-out, proactive plan is essential for ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of your firm.

By Rachel Lindblade | Discover how sustainable building design can drive significant cost savings in 2024 and beyond.

By Alec Russell | M&A activity in the AEC industry surged in 2024, driven by private equity, regulatory investments, and strategic acquisitions.

This report details some of the biggest trends and movements regarding M&A activity in the AEC industry as of the end of Q3 2024.

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

By Jeremy Clarke | Spot these devastating hires before they sabotage your team.

By Alec Russell | The AEC industry is experiencing a resurgence in M&A activity, driven by strategic partnerships, technological integration, and geographic expansion.

By Mark Zweig | Are you going to do anything different with HR or just follow the same tired practices of all the other firms you have worked for or compete with?

By Jared Maxwell & Cady Sinks | AEC firms see growth opportunities amid gradual U.S. economic rebound clouded by insurer concerns over inflation, claim costs, higher risks.

By Mercedez Thompson | A client extension should be utilized to review, refine, and enhance the existing proposal, rather than expanding or revamping it.

This report details some of the biggest trends and movements regarding M&A activity in the AEC industry as of the end of Q1 2024.

By Kraig Kern | The line between persuasive marketing and over-promising can be particularly fine and fraught with potential hazards.

By Matt Johnson | Client managers face new challenges post-pandemic, requiring increased client contact, realistic budgeting, and managing expectations for success.

Elevate AEC Keynote - Empowering AEC Professionals: Trends and Strategies for Success with Chad Clinehens and Bill McConnell "People want to work for firms that have a great vision and a mission. How are we...

By Jared Maxwell & Cady Sinks | AEC firms are navigating more complex risks and an evolving market for professional liability insurance.

By Jim Bushong | What happens when decades of consistency and cost expectations in the building trades are suddenly changing in real time, based on market forces that are completely out of control?

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

By Alec Russell | The Zweig Index reports on 11 of the AEC industry's leading firms on a monthly basis. This installment details the financial standing of NV5.

By Gregory Teague | Engaging with your community enriches company culture, employee development, and offers an inside advantage to local projects.

By Andy Chavez | The Zweig Index reports on 11 of the AEC industry’s leading firms on a monthly basis. This installment details the financial standing of Stantec.

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

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

By Dan Houf | This harmful change in tax policy is going to impact the AEC industry, and may even put many small firms out of business.

By Kraig Kern | Identifying and fixing crucial problems is the job of leadership, but sometimes the most debilitating problems are with the leaders themselves.

By Ying Liu | Use this tool to uncover the macro external factors that influence your company and understand how those factors could create opportunities or threats.

By Andy Chavez | The new and improved Zweig Index will report on 11 of the AEC industry’s leading firms on a monthly basis. This installment details the financial standing of Atlas Technical Consulting (ATCX) as of...

By Kart Vaith | Provide added value to your clients and approach every project with an emphasis on building trust and exceeding expectations.

By Liisa Andreassen | Vice president of strategy at Westwood (Minneapolis, MN), an awarding-winning firm that provides multi-disciplined surveying and engineering services.

By Kraig Kern | The next time you have a proposal or presentation kickoff, trust and empower your marketing team to do what they do best.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Grace Hebert Curtis Architects, an architecture and interior design firm that is still experiencing substantial growth in size and reputation after more than 50 years.

By Liisa Andreassen | Vice president of corporate development at J.S. Held, a global consulting firm providing technical, scientific, and financial expertise across all assets and value at risk.

By Justin Smith | Explore uncharted territory for the opportunity to access a more resilient future.

By Liisa Andreassen | Partner at Method Architecture (Houston, TX), a full-service architecture firm that is uniquely ego-free in its commitment to a systematic, client-focused creative process.

By Mark Zweig | Try to keep calm, be positive, and don’t listen to pundits’ predictions about the economy.

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to turn your firm’s HR upside down and make some big changes to your policies and practices.

By Mark Zweig | The payoff is a more valuable company that is healthier and provides more opportunities for its employees.

By Derek Clyburn | AEC firms and the industry as a whole should be communicating the value we provide at every level of interaction and throughout the design process.

By Jared Maxwell & Cady Sinks | Despite slowing infection rates, AEC firms and their insurers may still endure the effects of the pandemic for many months to come.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | The rapidly changing economic conditions we’re experiencing are putting salary pressure on AEC firms.

By Mark Zweig | There is always something you can do to improve your bottom line, and now is the time to do it.

By Ted Grace | This is a cost-effective alternative for AEC leaders seeking to manage enterprise risk.

By Kevin Johns | Despite the uncertainty and impact caused by potential tax law changes, inflation, and the pandemic, forecasts are strong overall for the AEC industry for 2022.

By Will Anderson | Five ways that inflation could be eating away at your firm’s growth and what you can do about it.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | It’s time to reevaluate every penny of our cost structures and ensure that our investments are going to our workforce.

By Stephanie Warino | External members on boards of directors increase innovation and spur growth.

By Mark Zweig | You’ll never be able to eliminate uncertainty, but there are some things you can be sure of. Keeping these in mind will help you be ready for what lies ahead.

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

By Mark Zweig | If you’re trying to buy or thinking about buying another company in this business, here are a few things that may be helpful to you.

Contract disclaimers reflect the reality that estimating is an art, not a science – and that design professionals cannot guarantee or warrant the actual costs of construction.

Ten takeaways from the Ames & Gough survey of 15 leading insurance companies providing AEC professional liability insurance in the U.S.

“People who show any signs of a lack of character must be confronted and dealt with immediately.”

A look at what it means to be a principal in the AEC industry and how this has and hasn’t changed over the past two decades.

President and founder of Calibre Engineering, a national civil engineering firm based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

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...

CEO of BIG RED DOG Engineering & Consulting (Best Firm Multi-discipline #47 and Hot Firm #65 for 2017), a 105-person multi-discipline engineering firm based in Austin, Texas. By Richard Massey Managing Editor “As individuals and...

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

2016 was quite a year for the AEC industry and for Zweig Group as well. Merger and acquisition activity, and interest in the subject, has never been higher than it is right now. Our firm...

1. The competition for skilled labor will increase. This will lead to more employee turnover, higher wages, and an uptick in inflation. The unemployment rate will remain near 5 percent nationally, but the number of...

ACI Boland Architects of Kansas City was betrayed by an office manager who, over a decade, funneled millions into secret bank accounts. By Richard Massey Managing Editor A long-time office manager at one of Kansas...

Great leaders know when to hold their tongues, take a step back, ask questions, and come to a better solution. Every day that goes by, the more convinced I am that our abilities to keep...

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 time of the year is marked by a frenzy of activity, both professionally and personally. The thoughts we had in September and October of looking to a new year with renewed enthusiasm and at...

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,...

Breaking into new markets— you won’t find many more interesting (or timely) topics for those who run A/E and environmental consulting firms today. So many companies are either already attempting to or plotting to break...

We’re in the middle of some tough, turbulent times. It seems like every market served by A/E/P and environmental firms is full of uncertainty. No one knows whether or not tomorrow will be harder than...

Stereotypes exist for a reason. Sometimes there’s a lot of truth in them. Good examples of this can be found in how bosses are portrayed in pop culture. The problem is if any of these...

Driving my two-tone blue ‘59 Edsel Ranger down 71B near my house the other day, I saw a great bumper sticker. It read, “Why try to predict the future when you can create it?” That’s...

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

Exit stage left. If you are like most of our readers, you are probably a CEO, managing partner, president, chairperson, majority stockholder, or major shareholder in the A/E/P and environmental consulting firm you work in....

I would be surprised if more than one of our readers hasn’t said to themselves recently, “We really ought to be thinking about what we’ll do if things slow down.” Well get ready folks, it’s...

Fred White and I just returned from the 14th annual Inc. 500 Conference and Awards Ceremony, which was held this year at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. The event is held to recognize...

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...

I have tremendous respect for any A/E/P or environmental firm that has learned to successfully manage a network of satellite or branch offices. It's not easy. There's no question that having multiple offices greatly complicates...