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By Joseph Crabtree | Efficiency creates time, but how AEC firms reinvest that time determines whether quality, culture, and performance actually improve.

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

By Elizabeth Nilsen | Successful AEC firms treat succession planning as a strategic priority from the beginning, not a last-minute retirement decision.

By Mark Zweig | For AEC firm owners and top managers who say they care about value but keep acting like they don’t.

By Will Swearingen | A new era of AEC growth is emerging, driven by value creation and strategic expansion.

By Steve McAdams | Firms that scale successfully evolve their leadership approach, formalize operations, and stay grounded in culture.

By Shirley Che | From fees to client care, lessons learned from a season of conferences highlight growth, adaptability, and connection.

By Matt Cooper | AEC firms face a middle management gap, but technology can empower PMs, boost efficiency, and accelerate talent development.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of No. 1 Hot Firm Verdantas (Tampa, FL), an integrated environmental science, engineering, and consulting firm.

By Mark Zweig | Simple, intentional habits like time management, strategic investments, and effective communication can significantly enhance personal and professional success.

By Mark Zweig | These misleading statements often stem from naivety and perpetuate harmful conventional wisdom.

By Mark Zweig | Balancing growth and profitability is essential for long-term value creation and success in AEC firm valuation strategies.

By Travis White | The rise of nearshoring can reduce costs, address talent shortages, and enhance growth opportunities for AEC firms.

By Mark Zweig | We all need new challenges, variety in our daily routines, and to see tangible results from our efforts to be fulfilled.

By Liisa Andreassen | Past president of CMTA (Prospect, KY), a national leader for delivering high performance, sustainable projects.

By Travis White | If you want your firm to be an early adopter, you must be aware of this new technology and be willing to adapt.

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

By Eric Wilson | With the right set of values and organizational alignment, you may find yourself in a positive feedback loop where shared principles guide you toward collective goals.

By Dathan Gaskill | Committing to this will make your firm safer, more resistant to adversity, and change cashflow and profit for the better.

Ken Siebert, CMTA, is the recipient of the 2022 Jerry Allen Courage in Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding accomplishments through leadership in the AEC industry.

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 Jennifer Waters | Employees of firms are in many ways stakeholders of an organization’s success, and they can reap the dividends in a variety of ways.

By Jon Parrish | Getting everyone to think and act like an owner will result in more of your people making day-to-day decisions with the best interest of the company in mind.

By Patrick Schultz | Achieve resilient, sustainable operations while navigating an unprecedented global pandemic and addressing complex disruptions.

President and CEO of Primera (Chicago, IL), a mid-size, full-service, woman-owned engineering design and consulting firm.

By Mark Zweig | Many owners fail to understand how much value they can create in their companies if they make the right decisions.

CEO of Sambatek (Minneapolis, MN), a professional services firm with an authentic culture that promotes openness, transparency, and trust.

Charting a sustainable future requires a willingness to critically evaluate your firm and prepare for the year ahead.

In any business, there are good risks and bad risks. Find out which ones are right for you.

President of CEI, a 20-year-old minority-owned engineering and contracting firm based in Miami Lakes, Florida.

Learn from attorneys, business advisors, and other professional service providers on how to avoid commoditization in the AEC industry.

President of PES Structural Engineers (Best Firm #10 Structural for 2018), a 57-person firm based in Atlanta. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Leadership development,” Planer says, referring to his No. 1 responsibility. “We work hard to...

Pre-project analysis is critical if you want strong business development through profitable projects and happy clients. And yes, it’s a process. The Gateway Engineers, Inc. is a full-service civil engineering firm with a diverse group...

As the outlook for AEC firms remains bright and professional liability insurance rates stay competitive, the time is right to make sure your firm has adequate protection. Things are looking up for design firms. They...

Founder and president of Gunda Corporation (#32 Hot Firm for 2017), a 60-person engineering consulting firm based in Houston. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “I’m not a big fan of utilization rates,” Gunda says. “I believe...

President and founder of McCarthy Engineering Inc. (Hot Firm #74 for 2016), a 41-person firm based in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. “Our philosophy is that no one can be perfect on their own, but together as a...

The rationalization process is all about determining what is working and what is not – especially with a sharp eye to the future. Most companies are doing very well these days and the effort to...

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...

Firm leaders would be wise to reflect on current happenings in industry and to prepare for what’s next. When you’re lucky enough to survive to a “certain age,” you suddenly become aware of “certain things.”...

Industry prosperity can’t last forever, but preparation now can help you be ready if – and when – the cycle ends. The A/E industry is hot right now, People! The overall industry is as healthy...

Results of long-running study show that those who wait for reward do better in the end, Mark Zweig writes. Back in the ’60s a Psych professor at Stanford, Walter Mischel, gave a famous test to...

Are you investing in consistent, brand-building marketing activities, Mark Zweig asks. Let’s face it. Living too well can be a problem. I’m talking about eating your seed corn, spending too much, and not reinvesting in...

By W. Hobson Hogan ZweigWhite Principal, Investment Banking I have represented many businesses in M&A processes and I have analyzed both great and not-so-great firms. In all of these M&A processes, I have witnessed some...

Press Release: April 1, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (April 1, 2011) – An expected resurgence in private spending in 2011 means that diversified architecture, engineering, planning and environmental consulting firms will be better poised to benefit...

This week’s special issue focuses on sustainability and green building. The guts of these ideas are not mere buzzwords, as the earth’s growing population and declining state of natural resources ensures we’ll all be dragged...

We can all take a lesson from my old buddy Bert Johnson (not his real name). He is a classic case of the entrepreneur who lost interest in his business, but figured out how to...

I came away from our first-ever Hot Firm conference held last week in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as impressed as I could be. Not only did our conference planning staff do a first-class job in terms of...

At one of my “Managing a Growing Firm” seminars a few weeks ago, I had an attendee tell me how another attendee was handling his ownership transition program. When I asked him who was offering...

Too many people are unhappy— unhappy with the way we’re running our country and unhappy with the way we’re running our firms. The presidential elections to be held on November 3rd and the issues facing...