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By Michael Sanderson | Firms that want to grow must evolve leadership, systems, and culture or risk being outpaced and ultimately absorbed.

By Janki DePalma | A manager’s guide to building a culture where recovery is respected, contribution is sustainable, and being seen doesn’t require shattering.

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

September 1 – RESPEC (Rapid City, SD), an innovative geoscience, engineering, and technology firm, acquired Albertson Engineering (Rapid City, SD), a structural firm experienced in civic buildings, public art, commercial spaces, and industrial facilities. [More...

By Liisa Andreassen | President and COO of OBMI (Miami, FL), a global master planning, architecture, and design firm.

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

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

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

By Lalitha Benjaram | A hybrid work model’s success lies in strategies like volunteer engagement, recognition initiatives, and focused professional development for employees.

By Eduardo Smith | Whether you’re running a race or running a business, put these five tips into practice and you may be surprised at how far they can take you.

By Javier Suarez | Participating in more tradeshows is not necessarily the best course of action, and you probably aren’t getting the best bang for your buck if this is your strategy.

By Karne Newburn | Office space allows you to establish your presence with clients and staff by physically being there for them and by providing the tools necessary to stay connected in a virtual environment.

By Adrian De la Garza | Insights and considerations that can help you decide if you’re ready to buy another firm.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of FullStack Modular (Brooklyn, NY), a leader in the design, manufacture, and construction of mid- and high-rise modular buildings in urban environments.

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 Liisa Andreassen | President and founder of ThinkForm Architects (Hopewell, NJ), a service-disabled veteran owned architecture and interior design firm specializing in “total environments.”

By Scott McNally | If you swing for the fence, remember the fans, watch for curveballs, and rally your team, your firm will be successful.

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

By Christina Zweig Niehues | AEC professionals have a choice about where they live and work, so what makes them choose their workplace?

By Liisa Andreassen | They are the CEO and president of RDG, a firm made up of architects, artists, engineers, landscape architects, and planners with a passion for design.

By Mark Zweig | This is the time of year many of us, and many of our clients, will take a family vacation, so do what you can to step away and enjoy it.

By Paul David | The pandemic has been a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine how we do our jobs and how we run our companies.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Dewberry (Fairfax, VA), a nationwide planning, design, and construction firm with more than 50 locations and more than 2,000 professionals nationwide.

BY RLG | Director of business development with RLG Consulting Engineers (Dallas, TX), a firm that specializes in civil, structural, survey, and forensic engineering.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of raSmith (Brookfield, WI), a multi-disciplinary firm of civil engineers, structural engineers, land surveyors, development managers, landscape architects, and ecologists.

By Talin Espinoza | Now that we’ve been working from home for a year, let’s unpack the pros and cons of our new lifestyle.

CEO of Olsson (Lincoln, NE), an employee owned 1,300-person firm that is working to leave the world better than they found it.

Chairman and CEO of Nabholz (Conway, AR), a 1,200 person multi-discipline, employee-owned firms whose name has been synonymous with integrity since its founding in 1949.

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

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

Take time each day to do things that rest your mind and body. This will help you be more creative, more productive, and a better leader.

President and CEO of Westwood (Minneapolis, MN), a firm that’s been focused on enhancing communities with smart engineering for almost 50 years.

When the veteran transportation engineer changed lanes from the public sector to a private firm, he used his blinker and stepped on the gas.

Portland office leader for PCS Structural Solutions believes in the legacy of engineering as a community builder.

If you don’t identify and address your firm’s problems, you could increase the measure of risk while decreasing value. There is a four-letter word floating around out there that’s probably the first that comes to...

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 “The best PMs create their own brand, supporters, and clients,”...

The more you ask, the more you learn, and that knowledge can be driven back into your firm for the benefit of clients and employees. Maintaining a leading position in the AEC industry requires that...

So many firms want to be at the top of the list for growth, but to get there, you have to be good, not necessarily fast. There is much hullabaloo made in our industry about...

Smaller housing within walking distance to essentials and amenities is appealing to both the young and the old. We’re listening closely to the market desires for our West 2nd District Project here in Reno. We’re...

The idea of sustainability has to expand to include the development of buildings that promote healthy outcomes for the public. After reading Ed Friedrichs’ article, “The New Grand Strategy,” I was inclined to email him...

Chairman and CEO of Maser Consulting P.A. (#12 Best Firm Multidiscipline and #16 Hot Firm for 2016), a 650-person firm with 22 offices across eight states. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The most important formula for...

Company leaders play an important role in making sure their people are aligned, capable, and engaged – a recipe for success. Are your employees fulfilled? If not, it may be costing you a bundle. While...

It’s not always the employees’ fault. Improve the quality of your office, celebrate the individual, and watch your staff come alive. Workplaces across the globe are suffering through a zombie apocalypse. These zombies don’t have...

The Klotz firm is reaping national accolades for its growth and its workplace, but since a firm never arrives, the quest for excellence never ends. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Maintaining the status quo is not...

New York engineer Paul Grosser wasn’t afraid to make a change in 1990 when he needed one, and after 25-plus years of growth, he’s still hungry for more. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Since founding PWGC...

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...

The use of video in your recruiting campaign might be what it takes to create buzz for your firm, and in the end, land great employees. This summer movie season is going to be pretty...

A lot of A/E/P firms complain, but in fact, they’re not really trying to grow. As an executive in residence teaching entrepreneurship in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas‎,...

More so than the everyday small business, organizations that aim to grow must employ specific types of people. Not every A/E or environmental firm is an entrepreneurial firm. But, if you’re reading this, odds are...

Feel trapped at work? Four suggestions from Mark Zweig to help you have a saner lifestyle. It’s interesting – and frustrating as well – to see how many A/E/P and environmental firm owners and managers...

By Ed Friedrichs Chairman, ZweigWhite As architects and engineers, we’re in a long-cycle business. That means we work on long duration assignments, often with extended start/stop cycles— waiting for a public hearing, an EIR to...

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...

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...

Everyone who starts a company or ends up as its leader eventually starts thinking about how to get out. You may have the greatest job in the world, but life is short and most of...

It’s Sunday morning on Mother’s Day 2006. We have a lot to be thankful for in the Zweig household as my wife just bore our first, a baby girl, “Olive Josephine,” 15 days ago. As...

I got a call from a friend and old client of mine recently. He’s down right now— and has been for months. His small design firm just isn’t doing very well, at least not compared...

I was surprised to see in our latest 2004 Principals, Partners & Owners Survey of A/E/P & Environmental Consulting Firms that the balancing of work and personal life issue was barely on the radar screen...

Some principals in A/E/P and environmental firms have roles that don’t require much travel. Some practically NEVER have to stay overnight on business. Others are gone all of the time— in some cases 20 or...

George Alexandra was fed up. He was tired of always having to take a back seat to his partner, Mick Flashyman. “Just because Flashyman started the company (Godlike Architects, Inc.) didn’t mean it wouldn’t be...

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...

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...