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By Daryl Simons Jr. | If your retention strategy relies on appreciation events instead of competitive pay, you are already losing talent.

Zweig Group is excited to join the 2025 ACEC Fall Conference as a Patron Sponsor, bringing leading-edge insights, research, and practical strategies directly to the engineering community. Held October 5-8 at the Marriott Marquis San Diego...

By Sara Parkman | The top 2025 Marketing Excellence Award winners share how strategy, authenticity, and collaboration drive real AEC marketing impact.

By Mark Zweig | You will be less stressed and might find your business more successful if you can shed some baggage.

By Mark Zweig | Having little understanding of banking could result in missed opportunities for growth or thorny problems that could put your firm out of business.

By Hannah Dapore | Intentional strategies to uphold a strong company culture regardless of geographical boundaries.

By Mark Zweig | We live in turbulent times, and you can never fully eliminate uncertainty – but there are several approaches you can employ to combat it.

The AEC industry’s comprehensive, data-based resource on financial performance, departments, challenges, methodology, and practices now available in Zweig Group’s online shop

By Mark Zweig | Employees who decide to disengage and shift out completely do so at their own peril.

By Jeremy Clarke | Focus your firm’s retention strategy on offering meaningful benefits that are in alignment with core human needs.

By David Hostetter | Mentoring the next generation of professionals requires care and dedication – and it will have a profound impact on your people and firm.

By Mark Zweig | Keep the big picture in mind, and make sure you have the right outside accountants who understand more than the tax consequences of these kinds of decisions.

By Mark Zweig | Those of us in the AEC business need to do a better job educating the general populace about the benefits of smart development.

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 Mark Zweig | Leverage construction loans for AEC business real estate ownership, enhancing assets and financial health.

By Mark Zweig | See how you stack up against the best in the industry – and remember, it’s never too late to change your behavior.

By Mark Zweig | This advice isn’t hard to follow; it just takes some conscious effort and a little discipline.

Zweig Group’s 2023 Marketing Excellence Award winners share the strategies behind their winning campaigns and the impact on their firms’ success.

By Mark Zweig | Looking back at more than 30 years in business, from the founding of the company to today.

By Dan Houf | This harmful change in tax policy is going to impact the AEC industry, and may even put many small firms out of business.

By Tom Godin | What stories is your firm telling, and, more importantly, how are they being received?

By Liisa Andreassen | Partner at Orcutt | Winslow (Phoenix, AZ), a design firm that aspires to positively disrupt architecture through innovation, experimentation, and invention.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Mancini Duffy, a national design firm based in NYC with a 100-year-old history and tech-forward approach specializing in architecture, planning, and interior design.

By Mark Zweig | Give yourself a chance to get a lot done and you may be surprised at your ability to keep all those plates spinning.

Zweig Group has released the 2022 Financial Performance Report of AEC Firms.  This report is a comprehensive, data-based industry resource on the financial performance, financial departments, challenges, methodology, and financial practices of AEC industry firms....

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 Mark Zweig | Just like any professional sports team, your firm is made or broken based on how effective you are at recruiting talent.

By Mark Zweig | There is always something you can do to improve your bottom line, and now is the time to do it.

By Will Anderson | Five ways that inflation could be eating away at your firm’s growth and what you can do about it.

By Jane Lawler Smith | When interviewing your co-workers, peers, and clients, take a walk and harness the power of storytelling together.

By Chad Clinehens | Let’s take all the support we’ve been unable to show over the past year and fire up businesses impacted by COVID.

By Mark Zweig | Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are still doing what you want to do every day. Maybe now is the time to get really serious about your transition.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | While we’re entering 2021 with a renewed sense of purpose and greater clarity, there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

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

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Companies are adopting fluid work from home policies and people have begun migrating away from dense cities.

By Mark Zweig | With new cases of COVID-19 on the rise, now is not the time for complacency. Instead, it is a time for self-reflection and new action.

In times like these, it is more important than ever to monitor your costs and develop an action plan to ensure your firm can weather the storm. There are so many fixed costs associated with...

“[These tactics] can help you keep control of your business while creating a culture that leads to continued growth and success.”

It can lay the foundation for a positive relationship with bosses, subordinates, and co-workers when the time comes to go the extra mile.

What engineers need to know (but often don’t) about this critical financial tool and how it can help a firm succeed. At JBCI, one of our guiding principles is transparency. We embrace sharing relevant financial...

It is a widely-accepted idea that one of the defining characteristics of a successful enterprise working in a mature market is differentiation from all the other firms that provide similar products or services. Yet, in...

I have been traveling my entire professional career, and as much as I hate to admit it, that is 38 years now. I’m sure I could have flown to Mars or something with as much...

Keeping up with the latest and greatest in marketing is tough, but it’s easy to see what techniques need to be left behind. If you’re still doing the same kind of marketing you were doing...

Does the specter or a 9 1/2-year lawsuit deter you from the HOA market? Try adding a 20-year maintenance clause to protect your firm. Have you or any of your friends owned a condominium? If...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 25, 2017) –Zweig Group’s 2017 Operating Expenses Survey provides a comprehensive view of the largest line items that impact an architecture, engineering, planning, or environmental firm’s overhead, including human resources, marketing, IT,...

When marketing your firm, it’s great to be friendly and persuasive, but if you sell your brand for cheap, it’s a real turn off. I recently started watching a show called Black Mirror on Netflix....

Building a relocation program to recruit and retain talent in the design industry should be a primary focus of any sound HR program. You’ve been there before. You’ve spent time sourcing, researching, and recruiting the...

It seems like we have more of them ever to contend with. I’m talking about brain drains. The things that literally suck the life force out of you. When you get to be my age...

From job to job and firm to firm, all with the push of a button on a mobile app. Is that the future for the design industry? There’s plenty out there who sure hope so....

We’re down to the fourth quarter. It’s either been your best year ever – in which case you want it to end up as such – or it hasn’t been – and you have to...

My name is Mark. I am an addict. A phone addict. But before you sign me up for a 12-step program, I have some good reasons for my addiction. I have two businesses. Four children....

Historic overhaul of outdated, overcrowded transit center in Manhattan is on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's to-do list. By Richard Massey Managing Editor One of the largest infrastructure projects in the United States begins in...

As good as business is in the AEC world – and believe me, it’s really good for most everyone right now – we are seeing a lot of companies developing profitability problems. It’s pretty simple:...

For most of my career, I have defended the "new generation," i.e., those just getting out of school and starting their careers. The older people have always complained about the group coming in behind them,...

Years of travel have led to some rules-of-thumb that firm leaders can implement while building their companies. In the “good ol’ days” I used to fly 150,000-200,000 miles each year. Now I am down to...

Avoid dropping the ball with that perfect out-of-town candidate. I recently left a fairly comfortable existence in New England to relocate here to Fayetteville, Ark. the home office of the Zweig Group. I spent a...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 991 Originally published 1/21/2013 Get going on the five items Mark Zweig shares below. Marketing in the A/E/P and environmental consulting world –...

By Ed Friedrichs Chairman, ZweigWhite When I was CEO of Gensler I was often asked how I kept track of it all. At the end of my tenure, we had 2,400 people in 25 offices...

Press Release: October 21, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (October 21, 2011) – Goodbye to that swanky Midtown office space? Architecture, engineering, planning and environmental firms are spending less than previous years on rent and utilities. These...

Press Release: September 14, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (September 14, 2011) — Architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firms that have successfully navigated through the recession have done so by walking a budget tight rope. An...

Press Release: August 8, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (August 8, 2011) – A ZweigWhite survey reveals that while many architecture, engineering, planning and environmental firms still see value in participating and attending trade shows, other faster...

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...

By Ed Friedrichs I’ve long wondered why architects, designers, engineers, and environmental planners haven’t figured out where the action is for their clients. Almost every client I have ever worked with was an active participant...

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...

There are lots of firms that feel stuck in the mud today. They’re just muddling along, treading water, at a break even at best. Some owners think this is a fine position to be in....

There are no easy businesses in this economy. And if you think there are— still— watch out. You’ll probably learn soon that I am right about this one. Everyone— no matter what they do— has...

I can admit it. I’m a little “bah, humbug” about the upcoming holidays. I sure don’t need or want anything for myself I don’t already have. All of us in the Zweig family have so...

The other day, I was standing in the front yard of a house I am redoing in Fayetteville. A woman from down the street came walking up to me, saying, “Mark, Mark— I have a...

Just about every firm in the A/E/P or environmental business today has identified its number one problem as “not having enough good people.” Solving this ongoing problem takes a lot of hard work and some...

I just got back from ZweigWhite’s 2007 A/E Marketing Now Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was our biggest and best-attended marketing conference ever! My task was to open the show with a short talk...

I recently accepted a more permanent position at The Walton College of Business, part of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. My role is teaching entrepreneurship classes to undergraduates, as well as promoting our entrepreneurship...

Thank God for technology! If we didn’t have the technology that we have today, there’s no way most of us who travel could keep up with the demands of work and life. For example, I...

A couple weeks ago, a motley group of A/E firm principals and I went on a 700+ mile ride on two-lane roads through some beautiful countryside in New Hampshire, Vermont, and just a little bit...

On the one hand, it would be easy to get negative and discouraged about the current business climate. The war efforts are dragging on with no clear end in sight. The Middle East, in general,...

Last week, we held our first-ever conference on mergers and acquisitions, the 2003 AEC Mergers & Acquisitions Summit, at the Omni Parker House in Boston. It was a successful event with a wide range of...

Many firms are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that they don’t know how much to spend on marketing. On the one hand, it’s harder than ever to get work, there’s downward fee pressure resulting...

More A/E/P and environmental firms than ever are seeing their businesses slow down and profits eroding away. We find the situation is rarely, if ever, hopeless. Any firm can stop this slide IF they want...

It is a sad day as I write this. I am at Boston’s Logan International Airport waiting for a flight to Dallas-Fort Worth so I can attend the funeral of my long-time friend and mentor,...

When it comes to leadership, there are many different paths that lead to the same destination. Attila the Hun, Moses, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Tom Peters, and even our kindergarten teachers can all be pointed to...

I just got back from a 1,720-mile motorcycle trip with my wife on our new Kawasaki ZG1000 sport touring bike. It was fantastic! We went up the coast of Maine from Kennebunkport to Bar Harbor....

The idea came to me at 3:50 p.m. on Sunday, January 2, 2000. It was a balmy afternoon here in the Boston area— temperatures in the 60s, sunny and bright. I took out my wife’s...

Everything I need to know was not taught in kindergarten! In growing our own business and working with hundreds of firms over the years to help them grow theirs, I feel like I have learned...

When I was a kid I worked at the local bike shop. It was underneath an optician’s shop accessible only from an alley. The place was a dump, as some readers of The Zweig Letter...

We talk a lot about marketing in The Zweig Letter. And we’ll continue doing so until we think all our readers have gotten the message about what it takes to really start using the knowledge...

Now’s the time of the year a lot of folks in the A/E/P business start to take a look at their business plan. Traditionally, there’s some discussion of what’s going on outside the firm that...

“Process marketing” is a term you’ll see a lot of in The Zweig Letter. Heck, we even have a supplemental, stand-alone Process Marketing Advisor devoted entirely to the subject! The reason is that process marketing...

Traveling all the time is no party, as anyone who does it can tell you. But it’s a fact of life for many of the top people working in the A/E/P and environmental (as well...

Raymond Stodge, managing principal of “Stodge Engineers and Architects,” was depressed. How would he get the firm’s executive committee to start taking action on the issues that had plagued the firm for years? And now...

A common theme is emerging in our business right now, especially with large firms— but certainly not limited to them. Firms need to improve their profits. Volume is up, optimism is up, backlog is growing,...

A funny thing happened to me the other day on the way to the office...... I pulled up to a stoplight. A few seconds later, another fellow pulled up in the lane next to me...

Every once in awhile I feel compelled to unload a few disconnected thoughts that might be of value to our readers. This is one of those times: Company cars: When it comes to picking company...

I had a revelation the other day: I don’t know of a single top manager in an A/E/P or environmental firm who is completely thrilled with every one of his or her partners, shareholders, or...

I’ve been thinking a lot about change lately, probably because I have been experiencing so much of it so fast. Moves are one type of change that most people find stressful. I know— I have...

After I got my MBA, my first job was with a consulting firm that served the construction and real estate development industry. They worked for large and small companies of all kinds— general contractors, heavy/highway...

Fred White and I just returned from the 14th annual Inc. 500 Conference and Awards Ceremony, which was held this year at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. The event is held to recognize...

The A/E/P and environmental consulting business is really pretty simple from a financial management standpoint. It shouldn’t be hard to track the numbers you need to run a firm, yet so many companies seem to...

One of the great things about the A/E/P and environmental consulting business is that it always provides you with a challenge. Right now, many firms are feeling particularly stressed— with a higher than normal workload,...

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...

Most of us in A/E/P or environmental consulting firms who are at project manager level or higher must travel occasionally. The probability that you will have to travel increases the larger your firm is, the...

A few weeks ago, I went to Colorado and gave an all-day presentation on marketing at the management retreat of a rapidly growing environmental consulting firm. I thought I’d share with our readers what it...

Conventional wisdom (CW) isn’t always so “wise.” Let’s take a look at some of the wisdom frequently heard in the halls and conference rooms of A/E and environmental consulting firms: The company will be profitable...