10 results found for “mission critical”
Zweig Group is the leading advisory firm for the AEC industry, providing expert guidance across the entire M&A lifecycle. With deep industry knowledge and decades of experience, we help firms navigate transactions, maximize value, and...
By Ezequiel Tovar | Strategic planning transforms vision into execution by aligning leaders, empowering employees, and funding growth with intention.
Zweig Group is the leading advisory firm for the AEC industry, providing expert guidance across the entire M&A lifecycle. With deep industry knowledge and decades of experience, we help firms navigate transactions, maximize value,...
By Ken Douglas | Enduring design firms pair creative ambition with business discipline, strategic clarity, and the courage to grow.
By Daryl Simons Jr. | Technology can enhance recruiting efficiency, but human connection, trust, and judgment will always define successful hiring.
By Mark Zweig | If you are serious about wanting to improve your project management performance, here are some things to focus on.
Zweig Group is the leading advisory firm for the AEC industry, providing expert guidance across the entire M&A lifecycle. With deep industry knowledge and decades of experience, we help firms navigate transactions, maximize value,...
By Mark Zweig | AEC firms thrive when marketing, HR, finance, and IT stop acting as support functions and start driving strategic growth.
By Sara Parkman | The Zweig Letter is moving forward, shifting to more dynamic digital formats that better serve AEC leaders.
By Brandon Pinkerton | True leadership means stepping up in crisis, answering the call when no one else will, and without seeking recognition.
By Kyle Ahern | A closer look reveals hiring and retention pressures demanding smarter, people-focused strategies.
By Mark Zweig | In a relationship-driven business, clients hire people they know and trust — not just the firms they represent.
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 Robert Jones | Government contractors in AEC must understand and follow GAAP to meet compliance standards, secure contracts, and ensure accurate financial reporting.
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 Dave Williams | Policy slack combines structure with flexibility, empowering leaders with the room to move, own decisions, and grow.
By Liisa Andreassen | CEO and president of Drummond Carpenter, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business specializing in civil, environmental engineering, and applied research.
By Scott D. Butcher | To succeed in disruption, AEC firms must refine client focus, target markets, and go/no-go processes.
By Steve McAdams | Lessons from M&A show that leadership, culture, and client diversity drive sustainable growth and firm value.
By Morgan Stinson | Attracting and retaining top talent in the AEC industry requires adapting to what employees value today.
May 1 – Colliers Engineering & Design (Red Bank, NJ) acquired CST Group (Duluth, GA), a telecommunications engineering firm specializing in wireless infrastructure, fiber network design, and program management. The acquisition expands Colliers’ capabilities in...
By Stefanie Richter | High-performing AEC teams thrive on chemistry, clarity, and control – enabled by integrated systems that eliminate costly friction.
By Anna Kendall | Effective internal communication plays a crucial role in shaping employee morale during times of significant change.
By Mark Zweig | It’s time to take a serious look at this stuff in your strategic plan and instead of fluff, focus on coming up with some substantive actions.
Zweig Group is proud to announce SCHRADERGROUP, a Pennsylvania-based architectural, interior design, and structural engineering design firm, has joined its client Hord Coplan Macht, an integrated architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and planning firm.
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 Ying Liu | Employee experience plays a crucial role in maximizing strategic outcomes.
By Mark Zweig | These qualities will be essential for entrepreneurial leaders in the AEC business to have in the coming months and years ahead.
By Morgan Stinson | Leading with purpose helps firms navigate uncertainty by reinforcing values, fostering trust, taking ownership, and turning challenges into opportunities.
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...
By Kyle Ahern | Firms that adopt these competitive strategies will be better positioned to achieve sustained success.
By Jeremy Clarke | Organizational optimization isn’t just a cost-saving measure – it’s a strategic imperative.
By Jeremy Clarke | Spot these devastating hires before they sabotage your team.
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...
By Brad Thurman | To attract and motivate the best team, you need to be able to articulate your vision and the steps you’re taking to get there.
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...
By Mark Zweig | Being able to see things through the eyes of the people you work with and who work for you is one of the most critical leadership skills you can develop.
By Daniel Houf | Build a resilient design firm with quality work, attentive service, and a strong team for long-term success and adaptability.
By Leisbel Lam | We need to be holistic, bold, and nimble in order to transform our organizations to better align with a service culture and gain a competitive advantage.
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 Mitch Fortner | As demand for our industry’s services continues to increase, the firms that listen to their employees and evolve to meet their needs will continue to grow.
By Mark Zweig | Reflections and lessons learned over the course of 35 years, from the founding of the company to today.
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 Jacobs.
By Matt Hoying | It’s time to give up employee evaluations and instead commit your focus to the enjoyment and fulfillment employees have with their roles in your company.
By Ying Liu | Organizations must proactively develop strategies to identify and retain top talent.
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 Savina Gonzalez | Our workforce has changed in the years since the pandemic, and companies need to evolve to be successful in what is now an employee’s market.
By Matt Verderamo | Defining your mission, vision, and values is key for uniting, motivating, and differentiating your firm.
By Mark Zweig | Don’t forget that the real purpose of this exercise is to have something meaningful that everyone in the business can get behind.
By Gregory Teague | Engaging with your community enriches company culture, employee development, and offers an inside advantage to local projects.
Zweig Group has announced its client ISG has acquired ETHOS Design Group. Will Swearingen, Zweig Group's director of ownership transition, led ISG through the transaction.
By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of W&A Engineering (Athens, GA), a growing multidisciplinary engineering firm known for its innovative design, efficient engineering, and professional service.
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 Ezequiel Tovar | These continuing education opportunities offers valuable insight into what makes successful AEC firms stand out from the rest.
By Liisa Andreassen | Managing partner of SCHRADERGROUP (Philadelphia, PA), a full-service firm that creates enhanced environments for the people who use them.
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.
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 Todd Perry | Early successes, failures, and significant challenges, and how a young firm navigated through them.
Domestic Transactions: 10/3/2022 Civil engineering firm VHB (Watertown, MA) acquired landscape architecture firm HG Design Studio (Richmond, VA). Link to Details. 10/3/2022 Kimley-Horn (Raleigh, NC), a planning and design consulting firm, acquired full-service structural design and consulting firm Pangolin Structural (Phoenix, AZ). Link...
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.
Bernhard Capital has launched a dedicated AEC platform with an investment in Zweig Group client Grace Hebert Curtis Architecture. GHC will continue to be led by CEO Jerry Hebert and its current management team, which will retain...
By Phil Keil | Strategic planning is an incredibly deep and nuanced practice that every firm needs to consider.
By Peter Atherton | If we can establish trust, clearly communicate what winning looks like, and have a unifying mission and vision, we will never need to limit our success to any location.
By Liisa Andreassen | CFO of Studio+ (Fort Myers, FL), an architecture and interior design firm focused on design solutions that transform lives.
By Liisa Andreassen | Principal at VMDO, an architectural planning and design firm that creates community-centered environments that connect people and place through design.
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 Liisa Andreassen | CEO and co-owner of Pape-Dawson Engineers (San Antonio, TX), the largest civil engineering firm headquartered and exclusively located in Texas.
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. -...
By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of LaBella Associates (Rochester, NY), a firm with diverse service offerings that can address any aspect of the built or natural environment.
By Liisa Andreassen | President of Hafer (Evansville, IN), a firm that has created environments that impact people’s lives with fun, thoughtful. and inspirational design since 1978.
By Mark Zweig | If you’re not doing a good job with these, you’re losing an opportunity to further your culture and to provide meaningful motivation to your employees.
By Liisa Andreassen | President of KSA (Longview, TX), an industry leader that provides a broad range of engineering, architecture, planning, surveying, and construction management services.
By Liisa Andreassen | President of Universal Engineering Sciences (Orlando, FL), a firm that has provided essential engineering services throughout the United States for nearly six decades.
Knowing who does what, who needs to weigh in, and who makes the final decision is critical to success.
By Eduardo Smith | With more work than we can handle and the current recruiting challenges we face, we need to be sure that our organizations have the foundations for sustained growth.
ADEC Innovations, a recognized global leader in designing, developing, and delivering solutions and services in critical areas of sustainable development, announced it has completed its acquisition of Cameron Cole, LLC, a full-service environmental services and...
President of Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (Houston, TX), a civil engineering firm that delivers exceptional quality and measurable value for the nation’s infrastructure.
By Liisa Andreassen | President and principal of Jordan and Skala Engineers (Norcross, GA), a firm that has delivered quality engineering services to its clients for more than 65 years.
By Liisa Andreassen | President of Line Scale Form (Birmingham, AL), a firm with a goal of providing clients with designs that are exceptional and practical – visually, fiscally, and functionally.
President and CEO of Blueline (Kirkland, WA), a firm that’s committed to building relationships, enhancing communities, and improving lives.
SWCA Environmental Consultants (Phoenix, AZ) has acquired Sycamore Environmental Consultants, (Sacramento, CA) an environmental consulting services, compliance and permitting firm. Sycamore provides environmental permitting support to the public and private sectors and specializes in public...
By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of Hardesty & Hanover (New York, NY), a world-renowned full-service engineering firm with more than 130 years of experience.
Long Point Capital (New York, NY) has sold its investment in Woolpert (Dayton, OH) in connection with a new strategic investment by MSD Partners, who are partnering with the Woolpert management team. With its exit,...
By Peter Atherton | Most leaders haven’t taken the time to reflect on their reasons to grow and, once understood, articulate them to others.
By Mark Zweig | Firm owners need to be thinking about and planning for the huge wave of business that’s coming just around the corner.
By Julie Benezet | Mentors do not fight for candidates’ advancement opportunities. That is the job of champions.
By Sara Parkman | President of Shive-Hattery (Cedar Rapids, IA), a multi-disciplinary architecture and engineering firm that recognizes the power of design in transforming the human experience.
By Julie Benezet | Time limits tighten focus, propel you over challenging hurdles, and maximize your chances of success.
By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of HEAPY Engineering (Dayton, OH), a leader in sustainability, engineering, and commissioning solutions with a vision to build a more resilient and sustainable society.
President and CEO of Primera (Chicago, IL), a mid-size, full-service, woman-owned engineering design and consulting firm.
When you underestimate the proposal and fail to invest in its development, you risk losing money and wasting business development resources.
Atlas Technical Consultants (Nasdaq: ATCX) (Austin, TX), a leading provider of professional testing, inspection, engineering, program management and consulting services, closed on its previously-announced acquisition of Alta Vista Solutions (Oakland, CA), a provider of transportation-related...
By Chad Clinehens | This is an opportunity to immerse your team in the best thought leadership and best practices in the AEC industry.
President and senior principal of ICON Architecture (Boston, MA), a women-owned, SOMBDA certified firm that’s staffed over 50 percent by women.
By Christina Zweig Niehues | Celebrate the present, and focus on extreme flexibility and radical empathy going forward.
For many leaders, business development resides outside their core competencies and comfort zone, to their firm’s detriment.
IMEG Corp (Rock Island, IL) acquired the structural engineering service arm of Cardno (Houston, TX), which specializes in structural design and forensic engineering and operates with offices in Texas and Virginia. Link to Details LRE...
Co-founder and managing partner of Shear Structural (Chamblee, GA), a 100 percent women-owned and women-managed structural engineering firm.
President of Shield Environmental Associates (Lexington, KY), a full-service engineering and environmental consulting firm that seeks solutions of distinct value.
Burnout prevention is the key to healthy, growing, and resilient organizations, especially now.
“It will take everything we have as leaders to get our firms and ourselves through this.”
By Phil Keil | Understanding this is essential in your ability to grow your firm and successfully execute your strategy.
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.
Examine your processes to determine why they’re in place and whether or not they’re worth your valuable time. If they’re not, they may need to be changed or abandoned.
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.
Exercise these 12 roles with care and you will be surprised by how many admire and understand why your firm has grown so successfully.
“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.”
To maximize outputs and outcomes, leaders need to become great managers of managers and together create “great jobs.”
Why is work today so unfulfilling and how can we change that? Let’s set our sights on having an impact and figure out a way to get there.
Use these five strategies to maximize client relationships without leaving your desk.
President of CEI, a 20-year-old minority-owned engineering and contracting firm based in Miami Lakes, Florida.
Taylor Dayton, EIT, is a project engineer at Aspect Consulting’s office in Wenatchee, Washington.
Do you want to survive the next year, the next recession, and the ongoing reset of the workplace, the marketplace, and the recruiting space?
Strong emotional intelligence, empathy, and the ability and capacity to engage the ‘whole person’ move teams and projects forward.
“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?”...
With the unequivocal success of this year’s Hot Firm & A/E Industry Awards Conference in Dallas, all eyes now turn to Las Vegas in 2019. By Richard Massey Editor Chad Clinehens, Zweig Group’s president and...
Today’s AEC industry is experiencing significant growth, demanding that our leaders evolve and communicate far beyond the check-the-box approach. Have you ever asked yourself, “What the heck is real leadership?” This is the question that...
Zweig Group opens office in Dallas DALLAS – Doubling down on its commitment to client service and opportunity for its staff, full-service AEC consulting firm Zweig Group has opened an office in downtown Dallas. Set...
If you lead an AEC firm, you have a lot of tough questions to ask yourself, and the answers aren’t always pretty. But ask and answer you must. In a romanticized view of the business...
Planning and preparation are crucial if you want to take care of your people, take care of your clients, and get your firm back to doing business. Hurricanes, bomb-cyclones, catastrophic floods – a well-considered plan...
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...
President and chairman of Garver (Best Firm Multi-discipline #2 and Hot Firm #43 for 2017), a 500-person consulting and professional services firm in North Little Rock, Arkansas. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “We give our employees...
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...
While having a fun workplace is great, the good times must be underpinned by hard work and an ever-present commitment to the firm’s mission. Let’s not kid ourselves. Our workplace cultures are about a lot...
President and CEO of VHB (Best Firm Civil #23 and Hot Firm #46 for 2017), a 1,400-person firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Bottom line, when it’s the right move, and when...
CEO and principal of PM Environmental, Inc. (Hot Firm #99 for 2016), a 145-person environmental and engineering services firm based in Lansing, Michigan. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Recruiting due diligence is just as important as...
CEO of Coffman Engineers (#62 Hot Firm for 2016), a 400-person virtual, multi-discipline firm with offices across the West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Outside members can act like guests at...
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...
Marketing is the backbone of sales and business development, so be proactive and stop thinking of it as just an overhead function. I am passionate about marketing. Everyone who works with me knows it. I...
Business planning in an AEC firm is such a critical function. It really is one of the key roles of the CEO. Yet we seem to struggle with it. Here are some of the ways...
President and CEO of Jones|Carter (Best Firm Multidiscipline #17 and Hot Firm #18 for 2016), a 465-person engineering firm based in Houston, Texas. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The board must conduct itself as a board...
In addition to it being time to renew your Amazon Prime account so you can buy presents for people who don’t actually need a thing, it is also business planning time! One of my favorite...
Third-generation leader of multidiscipline firm embraces debate, seeks consensus, and likes anything with bacon. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent It started with his great uncle. Then his father. And now him. Firm president John Hiltz is...
Similar cultures and a need for an expanded footprint are the driving forces behind Hot Firm RTM’s acquisition of smaller Texas outfit. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent The two companies were in talks for a little...
Beantown’s tarnished redevelopment agency comes up with a new name, a new logo, and a new mission, but locals aren’t convinced it’ll do any good. By Richard Massey Managing Editor The Boston Redevelopment Authority may...
Project needs and client needs are two different things. If you want to win more work, figure out the human side of the equation and you’ll be rewarded. AEC firms often approach proposals and interviews...
McMahon Associates celebrates its accomplishments as it moves into a new era with continued focus on staff, shareholders, and clients. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Exciting things are happening this year at McMahon Associates, Inc. (#21...
Taking the time to get these 8 items in order might make all the difference when seeking a buyer for your business. A lot of us don’t want to plan for it. We don’t even...
Mark Zweig offers six pointers that will help resolve conflict inside the company. Professional services firms such as architecture and engineering companies are owned and run by smart people. I’ve said it before – as...
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, PMP, ZweigWhite A CEC of Metropolitan Washington invited me to present a session on Effective Communication in February to their emerging leaders and other distinguished constituents. Good techniques and best practices are...
By Mark C. Zweig Many folks in our business want to act like they have a “purpose-driven organization.” What is that, you may ask? To me it is very simply a company that exists for...
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 in our country seems to be worried about terrorists. Undoubtedly, there are some good reasons to be concerned. But maybe the trouble is even closer to home— like in your own firm. We find...
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...
September 11, 2001— I was talking on the phone when I looked through the glass interior wall of my office out into the rest of our space and noticed people standing around a TV monitor....
Schweitzer, Rosenblatt, Tunick, and McBlarsky had just ended one heck of a run. The 250-person E/A firm had grown from 40 people to 250 over the past five years. And while it was undeniably exciting,...
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...
I have long advocated the use of questionnaires as a marketing technique for A/E and environmental firms when they want to establish themselves as experts serving a particular client group. There really is something to...
Mention “human resources management,” and too many principals and managers working in A/E/P and environmental firms will turn their noses up. They immediately associate it with benefits administration or eight-page performance appraisal forms, instead of...
This is the time of year that many A/E/P and environmental consulting firms hold an annual management retreat. The larger a firm is, the more likely it is to have a retreat. Typically at these...
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...
If you listen to the “experts,” you could easily be convinced that it’s darn near impossible to successfully acquire a firm. By “successful,” I’m not just referring to getting the deal done. I’m talking about...
On Monday, December 20, 1993, William Edwards Deming, the 93-year-old management guru of Total Quality Management (TQM) died in his sleep. A statistician with a doctorate in Physics from Yale, Deming was credited with engineering...