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By Chad Coldiron | The AEC industry is facing uncertainty, but leaders remain optimistic, practical, and focused on adapting to what comes next.

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

By Kraig Kern | An observation on modern communication, efficiency, and the messages that quietly disappear.

By Kraig Kern | AEC's next competitive advantage isn't expertise; it's how fast you unlock it.

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 Mark Zweig | Leaders shape outcomes through mindset, so choose optimism, act on opportunity, and set expectations that inspire rather than limit your team.

By Dan Schwartz | Successful M&A communication is achieved through strategy, storytelling, and staying human in the face of complexity.

By Mark Zweig | There are things you can do to stay positive and prevent pessimism from ruining your ability to lead.

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 Carlo Lebron | Take the time to define your culture, engage your team, and make this a central part of your operational strategy – the rewards are well worth the effort.

By Mark Zweig | 2025 offers opportunities for AEC firms to thrive through responsiveness, strategic metrics, strong banking ties, and workplace honesty.

By Mark Zweig | The ElevateAEC Conference in Tampa energized attendees, fostered invaluable connections, and showcased industry potential and success.

By Kristin Kautz | Six skills to succeed for the next five years in an AI-driven world.

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 Leisbel Lam | To integrate effective change management, identify needs, understand deeply, honor the past, mandate change, and provide a precise, optimistic roadmap forward.

By Mark Zweig | Firm leaders have to stay optimistic, or their ability to fully function and meet their responsibilities will be compromised.

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 AECOM.

By Mark Zweig | People who exhibit these qualities are likely to be well-thought of by their people and, more importantly, are able to achieve goals that others deemed impossible.

By Mark Zweig | There’s still time to get your head on straight and do a few things to make the most of the new year.

By Mark Zweig | You are in control of your business, and its success depends on your ability to keep a level head and keep making things happen.

By Chad Clinehens | Optimism among AEC firms is high as we look ahead to 2022 and beyond.

By Liisa Andreassen | Owner and managing principal of Arrive Architecture Group (Bedford, TX), a firm that specializes in multi-housing residences for individuals, families, and seniors.

By Liisa Andreassen | Chairman and CEO of Landry/French (Scarborough, ME), a 100 percent employee-owned commercial construction company.

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 Mark Zweig | You may be an architect or engineer and think you aren’t really motivated by money. But money is a scorecard in the game of business, and ‘winning’ is fun!

By Christina Zweig Niehues | It’s important for firms in all stages of growth to invest in marketing and continue to plan for the future.

By Liisa Andreassen | They are the founder and principal of McKinney York Architects (Austin, TX), a certified HUB and WBE that creates beautiful, responsible architecture in a culture of collaboration.

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

By Mark Zweig | Things are real messy right now, but we can all get safely to our destinations if we keep our cool.

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

By Mark Zweig | Firms in this business are quickly sorting themselves into two categories – those that are doing better than ever post-COVID-19, and those that are doing worse.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | With some ingenuity and proper planning, the AEC industry can adapt and thrive in any climate.

Baby boomers and millennials may use different leadership styles and cope differently in business and in life, but the interaction of both can deliver some key benefits.

Most of these ideas take very little money – just your time. Invest in yourself and your business and you’ll be stronger and better for it on the other side of this.

Finding and hiring good engineers is critically important, but difficult to accomplish. Don’t be afraid to seek outside help or use assessment tools to help you along the way.

“The new reality of living with the coronavirus is just getting started.”

“It will take everything we have as leaders to get our firms and ourselves through this.”

President of R.E. Warner & Associates (Cleveland, OH), a 68-year-old full service, multi-discipline consulting firm that’s in growth mode.

Using both sides of his brain, and with empathy, can-do man is engineering a great career in Seattle.

Each week, The Zweig Letter features commentary from top-flight leaders of AEC firms. Here is a compilation of how they handle, and move beyond, failure. By The Zweig Letter Staff John Hiltz, president of OHM...

CEO of FRCH, a Nelson Company (Hot Firm #41 for 2016), a global design firm based in Cincinnati. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Everyone has access to the company’s financial information,” Tippmann says. “I believe this...

President of Long Engineering, Inc. (Hot Firm # 24 for 2017), a 90-person land surveying and civil engineering firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Begin to identify internally if you have potential...

Co-founder and president of BHC Rhodes (Hot Firm # 15 for 2017), a 130-person civil engineering firm based in Overland Park, Kansas. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Profit centers go against the dynamic of a team...

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...

Managing principal and president of HED, Inc. (Hot Firm #34 for 2017), a 350-person design firm with offices in Illinois, Michigan, and California. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Small changes often lead to significant results,” says...

By understanding the various risks associated with P3s and taking appropriate steps to manage them, A/E firms can put themselves in advantageous positions. As our nation turns to the urgent need to repair, replace, and...

Now is a good time to make good on your 2018 work resolution to improve your team by turning the saboteurs into loyalists. The new year brings with it the opportunity for change, growth, and...

President and COO of DCI Engineers (Hot Firm #62 for 2017), a 320-person Seattle firm with offices in seven states. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Start early,” Heeringa says of ownership transition. “Make it a standard...

CEO and chairman of Mead & Hunt (#82 Hot Firm for 2017), a 592-person national firm offering services in planning, design, architecture, and engineering. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “There is something to be said for...

President of Environmental Partners Group, Inc. (Hot Firm #22 for 2017), a 55-person firm based in Quincy, Massachusetts. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Their problems need to be your problems,” says Gabriel, referring to the client-firm...

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 JLG Architects (#4 Best Firm Architecture for 2016), a 110-person, employee-owned North Dakota-based firm co-founded in 1989 by Laffen. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “We love organic growth but it’s dependent on developing internal...

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...

CEO of Wantman Group, Inc. (#5 Hot Firm and #19 Best Firm Multidiscipline for 2016), a 310-person engineering consulting firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The easiest work is repeat...

CEO of RTM Engineering Consultants (Best Firm #37 Multidiscipline and Hot Firm #50 for 2016), a 120-person firm based in South Barrington, Illinois. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent The Zweig Letter recently caught up with Tony...

There's so much written about leadership training and developing better leaders in your AEC firm. But there's little information about how to become a better leader yourself. It's all about what you can do for...

President and one of the founding partners of San Diego-based Rincon Consultants, Inc. (Hot Firm #35 for 2016), a 115-person environmental planning and engineering firm. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Mike Gialketsis shares his insights on...

There's so much written about leadership training and developing better leaders in your AEC firm. But there's little information about how to become a better leader yourself. It's all about what you can do for...

Casual leader of engineering firm is doing what he wants to do, surrounding himself with smart people, and getting the job done. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent After 20 years of working for someone else, David...

It seems like so many of us want to go back to the way things used to be. That’s why we have so much nostalgic design in automobiles and architecture, reflecting the style when cars...

It seems like so many of us want to go back to the way things used to be. That’s why we have so much nostalgic design in automobiles and architecture, reflecting the style when cars...

1. 2017 is going to be a fantastic year for hair pieces, but pant suit sales will plummet. 2. We are already seeing firms in hot markets forget what the recession was like – people...

U.S. bridge-building firm opens office in Prague to be closer to work in Israel, but over time, role of European hub expected to increase. By Richard Massey Managing Editor There are certainly many reasons why...

Conference confirms that when people like their jobs, the firm is usually more profitable; here are some things to consider. On September 3 and 4, I had the pleasure of being at our annual Hot...

Sometimes negative thoughts can creep in; here’s why leaders should always try to maintain a positive outlook. Being positive – surrounding yourself with other positive people and believing you CAN do something – is essential...

Glassdoor comments provide opportunity for reflection on leaders’ role in fostering positive employee attitudes. One of my clients was both frustrated and concerned about citations on his firm that he found on the glassdoor website...

Four additional suggestions from Mark Zweig because the time is now. It’s here – the New Year. They keep coming faster and faster. It’s kind of funny to see the past futurists’ ideas about what...

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...

Press Release: August 9, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (August 9, 2011) --Despite recent news about slow economic turnaround, a surprising number of A/E/P and environmental consulting firms report an acceptable or increasing backlog of work. An...

Ketan Chawla is a 22 year-old Financial Analyst who has been working at ZweigWhite in the Fayetteville office for nearly one year. In his time, Ketan has seen a lot of change. “I’ve seen change...

Press Release: May 3, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (May 3, 2011) –New evidence points to a brightening mood among the leaders of design firms, with bonuses, raises and incentives now poised to make a comeback. A...

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,...

Press Release: February 2 , 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR — Firms in the architecture, engineering, planning and environmental consulting sphere are joining the national chorus of opposition to a provision that would significantly boost tax-reporting requirements,...

Press Release: January 7, 2011 If the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry has learned one thing in 2010, it’s that recov­ery doesn’t happen overnight. Last year there was an expectation that 2010 might provide the...

I was talking with an old acquaintance recently— a principal in a very successful international planning and design firm— about how things were going for him and his firm. In spite of some rocky times...

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...

I cannot recall any recent editorial in The Zweig Letter that drew the amount of inquiries my piece on open book management did (Issue 774, August 11, 2008). Because there is so much interest in...

I have worked in this business nearly three decades (how can I be that old??). And I can tell you with certainty that our managers have a real tendency to be overly optimistic. I have...

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...

Every single A/E or environmental firm in this country needs more people who can sell work. These people feed the rest of the firm, allow the owners to sleep at night, and are generally the...

As usual, this year’s Zweig Letter Hot Firm Conference & Celebration in Boston drew a great crowd. We had the typical smiling, optimistic, high-growth A/E and environmental firm principals and managers in abundance and it...

Ask any expert and they will tell you that you should be doing succession planning at all levels in the organization. What is succession planning? It’s simply answering who is going to take over when...

Though it happens on occasion, rarely do I work with the top management of a design or environmental firm who will come right out and say, “We don’t want to grow.” Most at least pay...

Friday afternoon finally rolled around. Joe Jetson gathered up everything he needed to work at home over the weekend and tossed it all into his briefcase. This was the worst week Joe could remember in...

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...

This week, you get three topics for the price of one. What makes for value? An article in the February 21 edition of The Boston Globe under the headline “Internet ad company stock gains 57%...

You’re all aware of it. The “circular theory,” otherwise known as “what goes around comes around.” It’s one of nature’s laws that seems to hold true as much as the laws of physics. If you’re...

There’s truth to the old adage that “the seeds of destruction are sown along with the spoils of success.” We see it all the time, but that doesn’t make it any more palatable. I’m talking...

Every A/E/P and environmental firm I’ve encountered that has survived over the long haul has periodically made a push to improve its profitability. All the growth in the world won’t do you any good if...

Almost every motivated person working in an A/E/P or environmental firm is either already a manager, or wants to be one. That’s OK, but I’m not sure all of these people really understand what it...

With more than 40,000 architecture, engineering and environmental consulting firms in the U.S., most of which have less than 20 people, no one is going to tell me that design professionals aren’t entrepreneurial. If they...

If I weren’t so optimistic, I could easily get discouraged. As an owner in a small, growing company, it seems that every time you make a buck, someone is there to take it away from...