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

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

By Kevin Johns | These five financial considerations are just a few of the measures that successful AEC firms put in place to build long-term organizational health.

By Liisa Andreassen | Managing principal at GGLO (Seattle, WA), a firm that believes it’s both the opportunity and responsibility of design to inspire the best aspects of community.

By Carlos Penin | It’s important to keep monitoring Congressional action to ensure that the benefits of the PPP loans are equitable across the board.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Women in the AEC industry leave at a faster rate than men, and COVID-19 has only accelerated this phenomenon.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | New data on recruitment and retention shows how firms of different sizes, types, and geographies were impacted by the events of 2020.

By Will Swearingen | Don’t let the concept of treasury stock cloud your transition strategy.

By Mark Zweig | For many A/E firms, it is going to take a lot of tough decisions, hard work, mental intensity, and help from everyone in the firm to get through this situation intact.

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

Just by doing what comes naturally for cutting-edge AEC firms, they are likely eligible for a refundable tax credit.

“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?”...

If your building is too cold or too hot, or if employees become sluggish in the afternoon, take a look at the building’s operating systems. Do you work in an older office building where the...

Autonomous vehicles are on the way, and when they arrive, parking decks will increasingly become obsolete, and will need to be repurposed. Cars that can drive themselves, using radar, LIDAR, and other imaging devices will...

President and CEO of BKF Engineers (Hot Firm #44 for 2016), a 415-person engineering firm based in Redwood City, California, with 13 offices primarily in Northern California. “It’s easy to get a job, but more...

If you think there’s too much recruiting, then you probably don’t realize there is no ‘season,’ but an unending grind. There is no preseason or final game for recruiting. A/E firms that don’t understand the...

Florida multidiscipline firm Kisinger Campo and Associates, with four decades under its belt, knows how to treat clients and employees. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Kisinger Campo and Associates (Tampa, FL), a multidisciplinary engineering firm of...

Zweig Group just released the 2016 Principals, Partners and Owners of Architectural, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms Survey. Over the past 30 years, this publication has picked the brains of some of the industry’s...

With college debt at an all-time high and expected to increase, now’s the time to think about adding loan reduction as a benefit. Recruiting great talent takes skill, a little bit of luck, and some...

In 2013, use the lessons learned in 2012 to have a better year – propelled by a slight breeze. Like many readers of The Zweig Letter, I’ve been working to refine the ZweigWhite business plan...

Press Release: September 21, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (September 21, 2011) — It’s no big news that a rough economy has taken its toll on many architecture, engineering, planning and environmental firms, but this situation isn’t...

By Mark C. Zweig Winter of 2011 in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business— it’s been a long one for many of us! And along with record cold temperatures and snowfalls in many places in...

Press Release: December 30, 2010 The down economy presents many real estate options for the small business owner; but the tight A/E/P and banking climate might prove too difficult for many businesses to grasp the...

When business starts hurting, employee morale suffers immediately. Employees who are laid off can become disgruntled, and the ones remaining start wondering if they’re next out the door, which often degenerates into an awful work...

I hear the question all the time: “How can we make good project managers out of our people?” The answer— like it or not— is, “You may not be able to make good project managers...

The 10th annual The Zweig Letter Hot Firm Conference is about to take place in Las Vegas. There will be untold celebrating (what happens in Vegas stays there, remember) from this year’s winners. But, what...

In these hard times we live in, many companies in our business are not performing like they once did. No question about it— there’s been plenty of suffering to go around. Fewer projects, lower profits,...

I first predicted the recession on Aug. 13, 2007, in an article in The Zweig Letter, Issue No. 724, entitled, “Many have been lulled…” (referring to the false sense of security about the economy that...

It seems to me that the mega management consultants have gotten their comeuppance recently. Read your local business pages or The Wall Street Journal. Many of these firms are hurting as evidenced by revenue reductions,...

I don’t want to be negative nor schizophrenic. Sure, there was panic after 9/11, but the fact is our industry (overall) has been remarkably healthy since then. The data still looks good in many sectors....

Right now, everyone seems to be interested in profits. 2001 shook owners and employees alike. And even though most firms had a decent year (but “decent” is not the same as “great”), most made about...

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...

Doug Pocketprotectus sat in the high-backed leather chair in the executive conference room and desperately tried to stay awake. It was hard to do. The meeting was so boring, and he was sleep deprived as...

Let’s all hope it never happens. But as anyone with a few gray hairs can tell you, another recession can, and probably will, occur. So what are you going to do about it? Here are...

There are a few firms out there that really have their act together when it comes to the finance and accounting function. But by and large, A/E/P and environmental consulting firms struggle with what should...

We hear it a lot these days: “We can’t compete with the five-man firm across town— they’ll do the job for half what we charge,” or, “How can a big firm like ZH43C do that...

We’ve all either experienced it in our own firm or heard about one of our competitors going through it— what I’m referring to is a complete turnaround. Consider the case of one of our clients....

Practically any firm that makes money in the A/E/P or environmental business does so by getting a superhuman effort out of its staff. You just can’t do it with everyone working only 40 hours a...

It has come to our attention that a number of our readers are flying high right now. Business is great, you’re growing, you’re making money— it’s an exciting time. It seems like you’re getting every...

This is the time of year many firms do their budgeting. Unfortunately, many of them make the budgeting process far more difficult than it has to be. Small firms may not know where to start...

Reflecting back on all of the A/E and environmental consulting firms that we came in contact with during 1992, one thought comes to mind. By and large, our industry’s management expertise has significantly improved. The...