this tough...the commercial real estate market is showing increased signs of stability, led by...

E D I T O R I A L T R E N D L I N E S

I N S I D E

F I R M I N D E X

A u g u s t 8 , 2 0 1 1 , I s s u e 9 2 2

w w w . t h e z w e i g l e t t e r . c o m

Balancing growth and profit is the secret1

xz TOP PLAYER: Clients’ success defines firm’s success. Page 3xz FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS: Tactical collection strategies. Page 7

Winning proposition

While the rate of shortlisted proposals decreased this year, the proposal win rate increased, according to the 2011 Marketing Survey.

This can be seen as good news considering that, since 2002, both numbers have been on a steady decline. In 2002, the number of proposals shortlisted was at a high of 50%, and has decreased to a 10-year low of 21.1%. As far as proposals won, that number was at high of 58.2% in 2002 and dropped to 10-year low of 33% last year. This year, firms won a median of 35.7% of their proposals. — Margot Suydam, Survey Manager

T H E V O I C E O F R E A S O N F O R A / E / P & E N V I R O N M E N T A L C O N S U L T I N G F I R M S

HR | FINANCES U P P L E M E N T S

Pages 9 - 12

Baskervill ............................................................... 9BHC Rhodes........................................................... 4Carney Engineering Group .................................... 4Clark Nexsen ......................................................... 4Cuhaci & Peterson Architects Engineers Planners................................................ 9Fentress Architects ............................................. 11FPM Group Ltd....................................................... 5Government Services Integrated Process Team ........................................................ 9Hart Crowser, Inc. .................................................. 3Kleinfelder ............................................................. 4Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates ............... 4Sebesta Blomberg ................................................. 5

Mark Zweig

See MARk ZWEIg, page 2

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

2007 2008 20092010

2011

% of proposals shortlisted %of proposals won

Survival in this tough economyWith the recovery lagging, Mark Zweig offers five tips on how to attain profitability.

While I wish it weren’t true, this economy is still a mess. The last

four years have been hard on most firms in this business and the people who own them. The “easy money” days are long gone. And for many it is just not getting better.

As much as I like growth, every so often you just need to put on a green eye shade and take a hard look at your revenues and your costs. Profitability is essential to your survival. No business can sustain itself over the long haul without being profitable.

Here are some things I would be looking at right now:

1) Do more of what makes you money. This is always crucial, especially in tough times. If your college and university work makes money and your health care and hospitality work loses money, maybe you need to reemphasize the college and university work and deemphasize the health

care and hospitality. Most companies do the opposite. Management’s attention is focused on the losers instead of the winners— an easy trap to fall into. Watch out for this one— I have done it myself (more than once!).

2) Trim the unnecessary costs. Who have you been protecting? Who doesn’t make you money? Who has been a thorn in your side? Who— despite best intentions all around— cannot live up to their pay demands? These questions must be answered and those who don’t cut it need to go. You have to stop rationalizing. I have never been in a firm that didn’t have some excess labor or someone who was dysfunctional and needed to go. Cut these people. Do it now— it is your job.

3) Look into some of the “small” expenses. Is intercompany travel creeping up on you? Take a hard look at the numbers. Lots of money is wasted by employees who travel all over the damn

As much as I like growth, every so often you just need to put on a green eye shade and take a hard look at your revenues and your costs. Profitability is essential to your survival. No business can sustain itself over the long haul without being profitable.

Backlogs rebound due to diligent effortsPage 4

THE ZWEIg LETTER | AUgUST 8, 2011, ISSUE 922

2 © Copyright 2011. ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.

A/E BUSINESS NEWSAlAskA sPENds oN ENERgy: Alaska is spending tens of millions of dollars to move ahead with two giant energy projects predicted to help meet the state’s gas and electric needs for the next century, according to an article published in the Alaska Dispatch.

gov. Sean Parnell announced that the Susitna-Watana hydroelectric project has kicked into a higher gear, fueled by more than $65 million approved by the Legislature this year, according to the article.

The Alaska Energy Authority, which is overseeing the project, has started to build a project team and is hiring a number of people, including a project manager.

The hydro project is estimated to cost $5.4 billion and produce electricity for the Railbelt by 2023. The 600-megawatt dam is expected to provide half the Railbelt’s electric needs when fully operational, according to the article.

Other projects are also in the pipeline, including the Alaska Stand Alone gas Pipeline.

ASAP would involve a 737-mile pipeline from the North Slope south to the Anchorage area, largely along the Parks Highway.

A lateral line would carry gas into Fairbanks from somewhere near Livengood, according to the article. The project would cost up to $10 billion.

CommERCIAl REbouNdINg: The commercial real estate market is showing increased signs of stability, led by burgeoning demand for apartments, according to a report issued by Moody’s, the Associated Press reported.

The review of U.S. commercial property trends in the first quarter shows modest market improvement, with the projected rate at which commercial space is being leased edging out the rate of increase in the supply of commercial space, the AP reported.

Moody’s ranks markets’ health on a scale of zero to 100, with the highest score representing a stronger market.

The overall commercial real estate market ranking for the nation increased two points to 67.

Commercial real estate generally is divided into five main categories: Office, industrial, retail, hospitality, and apartments, sometimes referred to as the multifamily sector.

CALENDARHot FIRm CoNFERENCE: The Zweig Letter Hot Firm Conference, scheduled for Oct. 26 and 27 in Laguna Beach, California, is the most exciting annual event for A/E firms because it’s all about how to achieve success in this industry.

Successful A/E firm leaders talk about how they did it, entrepreneurs describe their business-building strategies, authors present new ideas to motivate and inspire, experts describe solutions to today’s business challenges, consultants and analysts provide industry stats that you can use as benchmarks and forecasts to help map your firm’s future.

CEOs, owners, presidents, principals, and other leaders from top design and environmental firms come to this conference along with entrepreneurs, authors, and business experts to share industry news, strategies for success, learn from their peers, and leave with renewed inspiration for another successful year.

Every October since 2000, ZweigWhite has recognized the fastest-growing architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firms by ranking them in The Zweig Letter Hot Firm List. Over the years, the “Hot Firm” designation has become synonymous with success in the industry.

During the awards ceremony, representatives from each winning firm receive a commemorative plaque and have the option for a publicity photo. Mark Zweig will present awards to the winning firms for 2011 during an always hilarious monologue about his 32+ years in the A/E business and his experiences with the firms on the list, the people who run them, and fun facts about the cities and towns where they are located.

For more information or to register, call 800-466-6275 or log on to www.zweigwhite.com/events/hotfirm/index.asp.

ACEC fAll ConfErEnCE: The American Council of Engineering Companies’ Fall Conference is scheduled for Oct. 19-22 at the Ceaser’s Palace in Las Vegas.

This year’s theme is “The road ahead in engineering markets.”

The event includes the attendance of former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, as well as CEOs of ENR 500 firms, who will discuss growth and profitability. keynote is Craig Martin, CEO of Jacobs.

For more information or to register, log on to www.acec.org/conferences/fall-11/index.cfm.

MARk ZWEIg, from page 1

The voice of reason for A/E/P, and environmental consulting firms.

320 Rollston Avenue, suite 102 Fayetteville, AR 72701

Mark Zweig | Publisher [email protected]

João Ferreira | Managing Editor [email protected]

Julie Kyle | Editor [email protected]

Tel: 800-466-6275 Fax: 508-653-6522 E-mail: [email protected] Online: www.thezweigletter.com Twitter: twitter.com/zweigwhite Blog: zweigwhite.blogspot.com

Published continuously since 1992 by ZweigWhite, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. ISSN 1068-1310.

Issued weekly (48 issues/yr.). $475 for one-year membership, $775 for two-year membership.

Article reprints: For high-quality reprints, including Eprints and NXTprints, please contact The YgS group at 717-399-1900, ext. 139, or e-mail [email protected].

© Copyright 2011, ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.

place but don’t need to. I recently saved a bundle, BTW, buying round-trip tickets and throwing away the returns when what I really needed was one-ways. Why waste the money if you don’t have to?

4) Outside professional fees out of control? Check out what you are spending on lawyers, accountants, consultants, and advisors of one sort or another. I think you always need a back-up for these folks, so you might be well-advised to try someone new for some assignments. You may find they are cheaper/faster/better, too! It’s good to periodically shop, as well as inquire about pricing sometimes instead of just sending people to work.

5) Marketing overhead is another area that may need trimming. I love marketing, but sometimes certain expenditures just get made on autopilot. Cut some— cut a lot— and take half the savings to try something new.

Now is the time to make some money and survive until happy days are here again. Prudence— and smart use of your money— are the ways to go in August, 2011.

MARk ZWEIg is the founder and CEO of ZweigWhite. Contact him with questions or comments at [email protected].


3

As everything changed for clients during the recession, making it happen will take extra dedication.

David Winter rejoined Hart Crowser, Inc. (Seattle, WA), last

year as a senior principal to lead busi-ness development efforts.

With 29 years of experience in the engineering community, Winter was uniquely qualified to guide business development efforts for the 80-per-son natural resources, geotechnical en-gineering, and environmental services firm, during the most severe recession since the 1930s.

Now, Winter is helping to take No. 112 in the The Zweig Letter 2010 Hot Firm List to new heights.

In this interview, Winter talks about how focusing on clients’ success defines your own success, among other things.

The Zweig Letter: What does it mean to be a Hot Firm?

DW: Hart Crowser is pleased to be in-cluded on this list in such difficult eco-nomic times. I think it justifies some of the shifts in direction led by our man-agement team and hard work put in by our senior staff.

TZL: How did you get where you are today?

DW: We ramped up our emphasis on business development and client ser-vice, better defined our value proposi-tion, tried to out-hustle our competi-tors, and looked strategically at how our traditional markets and clients were evolving.

TZL: Do you remember your first paid job? What did you learn then that still influences the way you work today?

DW: I grew up on a farm and did vari-ous jobs in that environment. I learned that you have to show up every day, do the best you can on the things you can control, and prepare for but don’t wor-ry about the things you can’t.

TZL: What is it in your DNA that drives you to success? Is it audac-ity and risk-taking; a can-do at-titude and a relentless pursuit of perfection; something else more abstract?

DW: Our company has matured over our 37-year history. We have had much success and have benefitted from that. But we have also learned some hard lessons about over-reaching and I think we are much better pre-pared for an unpredict-able economy as a re-sult. We are entrepre-

neurs at our core, and I think we are smarter now about backstopping in-vestments than we once were.

TZL: In today’s difficult business climate, what does it take to suc-ceed? Is the spectrum of failure a motivator?

DW: We succeed when our clients succeed. Their business, their funding, their expectations, their obligations, their risk points— everything has changed for them in the past few years. We have to understand those changes and find new ways to add value. Success is the motivator, not fear of failure.

TZL: Where do you see this indus-try in 10 or 20 years? What trends are influencing it? What about your company?

DW: Part of our strategic planning is to “look back 10 and look ahead five” and it is a good exercise in perspec-tive. Smaller companies like ours (with about 100 people) will have to be able to do more with fewer resources, and expand our footprint to play on a larger field of opportunity. Changes are driv-en by the pace of communications and by preservation of resources. Our com-

pany is continually strengthening core capabilities while searching for long-term or sustainable new markets. None of us can reliably predict the future, but we can be prepared to adapt quickly to changing conditions.

TZL: Do you hold someone as a special mentor? How did this per-son influence who you are?

DW: Like most of us, I have been fortunate to have different mentors through my life and career, although I haven’t always been smart enough to pay attention. Mentors help shape us, but we are all responsible for how we think, how we act, and how we are. I think our senior team feels a respon-sibility to be mentors to our younger staff and maintain the strong legacy and reputation of our company for the next generation of leaders.

TZL: What’s the one trait you most admire in people and why?

DW: I admire people who think clear-ly in times of stress, and who can as-sess risk and act with conviction (sorry, I guess that is two traits).

TZL: Describe the most challeng-ing thing you have ever done/the biggest challenge you have taken on outside of work.

DW: My wife and I have three won-derful daughters. Enough said!

TZL: What question would you ask of another Hot Firm leader?

DW: What’s next? How can we work together to be more successful than we could ever be by ourselves?

TZL: What lesson learned would you pass along to a recent college graduate embarking on a career in the A/E/P and environmental con-sulting fields?

DW: Say YES when opportunity comes your way.

T O P P L AY E R

David Winter.Senior Principal, Hart Crowser, Inc.

“We succeed when our clients succeed... Everything has changed for them in the past few years. We have to understand those changes and find new ways to add value.”

Clients’ success defines firm’s success



M A R k E T P L A C E

Most firms report enough work in the pipeline; getting it started is the hard part…

By CHRISTINA ZWEIgStaff Writer

Despite recent news about slow economic turnaround, a surpris-

ing number of A/E/P and environmen-tal consulting firms report an accept-able or increasing backlog of work.

Joshua Carney, president, Carney Engineering Group (York, PA), a nine-person structural engineering firm, reports a three-to-four-month backlog.

“This is the first time since around ear-ly 2009 that we have had a sustained back-log worth measuring. It has been holding or growing steadily for around four months now,” he said in re-sponse to the informal, online survey held by The Zweig Letter.

The survey showed that no respondents were working to fill

an empty pipeline; 14.3% of respon-dents reported a backlog of one to two months; 14.3% reported three to four months out, 14.3% reported being booked five to six months and 57.1% have more than six months’ work in their backlog.

Nailing your clients. Client se-lectivity, be it the careful selection of good, new clients or the tossing of old bad ones, is a major factor in success for many firms.

Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Asso-ciates (San Francisco, CA), a 70-person engineering and planning firm, took a defensive approach. Paul Jewel, chief operating officer, said, “We were very cautious going into the downturn and weeded out a lot of the deadwood con-tracts.”

As a result, he reports being booked for the next five to six months and

stated the firm hasn’t had to begin too many other new initiatives.

“The backlog of work has remained pretty solid for the last few years,” he said. “We are looking pretty solid through the end of the year and our prospects for next year are also looking good.”

Carney Engineering Group’s initial ef-fort was to target new clients without getting into a battle of price dropping with other firms. This effort was suc-cessful.

“It is the first time since the reces-sion started that (new clients) have been receptive to a new consultant on anything other than a least-cost basis, which is a route we choose not to fol-low,” Carney said.

Linda Ross, controller for BHC Rhodes, a 59-person engineering and surveying firm, said that at 18 months out, her firm’s pipeline is just as full as it was before the economy soured, but the backlog is for a smaller staff size. Ross attributed her firm’s backlog to ef-forts such as “expanded business devel-opment, exploration of other markets, and more pro-bono work to gain recog-nition of new clients.”

Holding factors. While busi-ness development efforts may be con-tributing to a steady backlog of work, factors outside a firm’s immediate con-trol may prohibit some of these proj-ects from coming to fruition.

Kleinfelder (San Diego, CA), a 2,000-person science, architecture, and engineering firm, reports a backlog as full as ever, but William Siegel, presi-dent and CEO, explains that a big back-log doesn’t necessarily mean profits.

“We have a lot of projects, it is just getting them started that is the issue,” he said. Although the backlog is full, “the amount of projects on hold or con-tracted but not allowed to start are a much, much higher percentage of the backlog.”

Tighter banking practices and other economic factors are often to blame.

“We are concerned about the current volatility in the economy due to the federal government being incapable of actual decision-making, disrupting the current positive direction of the mar-

ket,” Carney said. “The other side of it feels like the water behind the dam starting to release, with projects which have been slow developing finally mov-ing forward, and new private work looking like it is coming back, as well.”

Other firms report a very bleak pic-ture. One anonymous respondent re-ported a backlog of one to two months, with “nothing in schematic design, just construction documents.”

The respondent also stated this was “the worst I have seen in 35 years of having my firm.”

Some market sectors are simply see-ing more activity.

Deborah Gill, controller for Clark Nexsen (Norfolk, VA) a 500-person, full-service architectural and engineer-ing firm, said her firm has more than six months of work booked— as much as before the economy soured.

“Our primary market is government work,” she said. “This sector has not experienced as much of a downturn as others.”

She attributes the backlog to initia-tives such as “constant contact and vis-its with government agencies to keep in front of contracting officers and keep abreast of current projects.”

She also reports attending DOD brief-ings on work coming down the pipe-line, as well as staff analysis of military construction budgeting/planning pro-cesses, and constant partnering with contractors in the government arena.

But is the workload good enough that firms are adding staff?

While one anonymous respondent stated, “I will probably have to let more staff go if things don’t get better in 30 or 45 days,” the majority of responses were cautiously optimistic.

“We are adding some staff, but very slowly and very carefully… We are much more focused in our business de-velopment efforts, rather than taking a ‘shotgun’ approach,” Siegel said.

Carney was incredibly confident about the future of his firm.

“In terms of adding staff, we just add-ed two engineers, may need to add more, and have been looking for an experienced steel detailer as well, but have had very little success finding any-one decent available.”

Backlogs rebound due to diligent efforts

Joshua Carney, President, Carney Engineering Group.


5

Technology restructuring the relationship between design and construction.

Editor’s note: This is part two of a two-part series.

By JULIE kYLEEditor

BIM has great potential to make buildings safer, reduce net costs,

and help reduce risk. With so many ob-vious benefits, it would seem irrespon-sible not to make the transition. But integration takes time, as those in the A/E/P and environmental construction industry are finding out.

Eighteen percent of respondents to an informal, online survey held by The Zweig Letter on the topic of BIM inte-gration indicated they anticipate grad-ually adding BIM to their workflow over the next six months; 9.1% said they expect to have BIM technology up and running fully within the next year; 9.1% indicated they predict they will need to switch fully within the next two years; 18.2% responded they will add BIM processes as soon as the economy has recovered and business is back to normal; and 45.5% said they would add BIM as soon as the market demands it or when CAD has become fully obsolete.

Confusion about process. Firms report challenges in integrating BIM into their workflows, such as the high cost of the related software and extensive training. Aaron Scicluna, vice president of strategy for VerityThree Inc., which provides IT consulting and support services for A/E firms, believes the slow adaptation of BIM by the in-dustry may also be a result of the lack of understanding and misconceptions

about the process among design pro-fessionals.

“It will take time. Until the benefits are more widely known, there is not much incentive for some firms to in-vest yet,” he says.

Fear of the unknown. Andrew Johnson, BIM manager at Sebesta Blomberg (Roseville, MN), a 195-per-son consulting engineering firm, be-lieves a fear of the unknown is prevent-ing some from jumping on the BIM bandwagon.

“I think the majority of the industry is just beginning to understand there is more value in building information modeling than they have been able to leverage,” he says. “The investment in

learning new technolo-gy, developing new pro-cesses, and fear of in-creased liability to ex-plore a major shift in project delivery shows that organizations are uncertain of its full val-ue.”

The time and effort involved to integrate BIM into a full building lifecycle tool is seen very lit-tle, Johnson says. He feels the majority of firms are moving slowly and watch-ing what others are doing, due to an uncertain economy. “It is not until po-tential work is lost that AEC firms are responding by slowly advancing their BIM efforts. Overall, BIM is a valuable tool, but until designers and contrac-tors are comfortable enough to experi-ment with their traditional project de-livery roles, the full value of BIM will not be realized,” he says.

Kevin Phillips, CEO, FPM Group Ltd. (Ronkonkoma, NY), a 100-person full-service environmental and tra-ditional engineering firm, has mixed feel-ings about whether the industry understands the value of BIM.

“Yes and no. BIM has great potential to re-duce the number of

design mistakes in construction be-cause of its three dimensional as-

pects,” he says. “However, new technol-ogy is slow to catch on and usually re-quires a substantial investment. Many smaller companies that I have talked to have yet to make the transition, be-cause they see the cost to jump to BIM but can’t judge its benefit because it is largely undetermined and defined by the cost of errors.”

Tide shifting. Phil Bernstein, Au-todesk AEC Solution’s vice president of industry strategy and relations, and a professor of architecture at Yale Uni-versity, paints a plausible picture of

S O F T W A R E

25%

8%

8%17%

42%

We anticipate gradually adding BIM to our workflow over the next six months.

We should have BIM technology up and running fully within the next year.

We predict we will need to switch fully within the next two years.

We will add BIM processes as soon as the economy has recovered and business is back to normal.

We will fully integrate as soon as the market demands it or when CAD has become fully obsolete.

IntEgrAtIng BIM

WhAt Is BIM?

Phil Bernstein, Autodesk AEC Solution’s vice president of industry strategy and relations, has previously defined building information modeling, or BIM, as an integrated process for exploring a project’s key physical and functional characteristics digitally before it’s built, helping to deliver projects faster and more economically, while minimizing environmental impact.

“Coordinated, consistent information is used throughout the process to design innovative projects, better visualize and simulate real-world appearance, performance and cost, and create more accurate documentation,” he says. “Note that we do not call BIM a technology. It is a process. With today’s global economic climate, the design and construction world is significantly smaller than it once was, with professionals looking across continents and oceans for any possible advantage.”

See BIM, page 6

Kevin Phillips, CEO, FPM Group Ltd.

Although misunderstood, BIM makes inroads

“I think the majority of the industry is just beginning to understand there is more value in building information modeling than they have been able to leverage.”



CoMMEnts froM survEy rEspondEnts:

“We are an environmental consulting firm and use CAD but not nearly as much as A/E firms. We actually use gIS more than CAD for our work.”

“As architects, BIM is the primary tool; as sub-consultant engineers, CAD and BIM are both equal because, 1) some architects and their clients still prefer CAD, and 2) engineering BIM software still has a long way to go.”

“Most if not all of the contractors that we work with are not sufficiently knowledgeable about the benefits of BIM to be able to see the usefulness of our proposing to use such a system. Also, most of our projects are not technically sophisticated enough to gain the benefit from BIM. Our CAD software provides us with the technical equipment to process a design in BIM should we wish to do so.”

“We use CAD concurrently with BIM and will for some time to come.”

“As a civil engineering consulting firm (civil engineering design and land surveying services), we use AutoDesk Civil 3D 2011 (as autoCAD mainly) and Land Desktop (for surveying). Although occasionally we build 3D models (<5%), it does not appear the civil engineering discipline is driven to adopt BIM (other than interfacing with Revit Architecture models in limited cases).

“Until a strong driver is in place, no incentive to really hop on to the fully integrated BIM bandwagon for the civil engineering discipline as yet. We would like to see integrated survey data (from scan data), transit-related work such as utility relocation, QTO, site grading plan, storm drain management (SWPPP) and integrated project delivery when the justification and resources are ready. Although we have the hardware and application in place (Civil 3D 2011), the human adoption (AEC industry) barrier is the gating factor at this point.”

BIM, from page 5

where BIM is going. Bernstein also contributed to the recent-ly published 13th edition of the AIA Handbook of Professional Practice and is a member of the AIA College of Fellows and the AIA National Documents Committee.

The tipping point has already been reached in relation to ac-ceptance, Bernstein says, pointing to a survey by McGraw-Hill Construction conducted in 2010 that indicated firms were either adopting or have plans to adopt BIM.

Bernstein recently attended the BIM Forum in Chicago, along with a “non-denominational” group of more than 400 architects, engineers and contractors, at various BIM adop-tion stages. The message from the event is that conversation about BIM is shifting from doubt to anticipation.

“What I would observe about the conversation, was that un-like two years ago, there was not much discussion on wheth-er we’re heading in that direction, it’s, ‘How we’re going to get there’,” he says.

Bernstein has found there are three stages of BIM. “The first is, ‘What is this and why do I care?’ The second is, ‘I get it. Now why don’t you explain why I need it?’ And the third is, ‘I got it, I want to implement it, please help me’.” The U.S. is in the third stage now.

The technology is only now beginning to make an appearance on college campus-es across the U.S., he says. “It’s not unusual to see it being taught; but for the most part, BIM has not been in-tegrated into the over-all curriculum,” Bern-stein says.

“This A/E/C industry is woefully behind on

all electronics. No matter what we read in the media, most firms still operate the way they did 10 years ago,” says Eileen Duignan-Woods, president and CEO of EDW Associates, an engineering consulting firm.

“From what I have read, BIM looks marvelous. BIM is cut-ting edge,” she says. “The very large, nationwide, multi-office firms are probably the most likely to have BIM. I’ve worked for URS and RTKL in Baltimore, within the past five years. BIM is like a big secret in the architectural department. In short, if they use BIM, they are not using it to communi-cate or share information with the engineers. The engineers haven’t a clue what BIM can be used for.”

When asked how they would implement training once BIM is fully adopted, 23.1% of respondents to The Zweig Letter survey indicated they would learn from industry group we-binars; 46.2% indicated they would receive training from the company or companies providing the technology; and 76.9% indicated they would also rely on individuals in the company who know the process/software to train others in the com-pany.

Before the responding firms can incorporate BIM into their workflows, 8.3% indicated they would need to find the right IT manager; 25% said they would need to find the cash to pay for the investment; and 16.7% said the rest of the market will have to accept BIM fully before they would. About half had a unique response entered in the “other” field.

“What I would observe about the conversation, was that unlike two years ago, there was not much discussion on whether we’re heading in that direction, it’s, ‘How we’re going to get there’.”


7

Tactical collection strategiesDon’t let the ‘AR drift’ happen to you.

We are beginning to see a greater level of economic activity,

but the recent recession has taken its toll on the very fabric and culture of previously successful architectural and engineering organizations.

With the recent downturn in the economy and the resulting decline of cash flow, A/E firms that are lacking rigorous collection policies and processes see an amplification of financial pressure, which is creating enormous pressures for operating capital, and probably some very difficult times for these firms.

As the banking industry is taking a more cautious approach to lending, even some of the best clients are feeling the pain on their credit lines of non-loan ability on the over 90-day uncollected accounts receivable (a credit line or loan for working capital no longer represents a collectable asset to the bank). In some cases, the economic squeeze and the unavailability of credit continue to force large layoffs, trimming of operating expenses, relocations to smaller spaces, and a complete transformation of many organizations from their pre-recession stature.

Many of these firms are starting to experience an increase in work, seeing more RFPs coming in and an overall increase in activity, which will make project wheels turn again. In many cases, even firms that were enjoying high profitability during the economic downturn might have neglected being rigorous in the collection of their outstanding accounts receivable. Those firms more responsive to a “best practices” approach to collection of ARs have fared better— with not as drastic impacts to the cultures of their organizations.

Cash flow drives the business,

and without continuing rigor at all levels of the organization, the needs of the firm will not be sustainable in the face of challenging economic and financial times. Of paramount importance is to have a clear and concise strategy to effectively manage this effort, and to ensure that this strategy aligns with the contractual terms of your client agreements.

All positions in the organization must work in concert to adhere to AR processes and procedures: from the accounting staff, the project team, and the senior leadership of the organization. The ability, or rather inability, to effectively collect the outstanding ARs has become a key element to the survival and health of firms. The clients who have retained your firm hired you because they like your services, staff, approach (maybe you were even more fun than the other firms!), and how you created a solution to their problems and met their requirements. Their contractual responsibility is to pay you according to the terms of the contract.

Following are some key tips for amping up your collection process and increasing your firm’s cash flow:

1) The first key to success is creating your project kick-off meeting to include your accounting staff so they meet the client accounting staff and have all the details worked out before you submit your first invoice. If your accounting staff cannot attend the meeting physically, allow for an agenda item that clearly tells the client that these items need to be addressed and request the name(s) and contact information of the client’s accounting staff. All the detail of invoice format, timing of receipt for proper turnaround, and other questions, are sorted out during this review.

2) Monitor your average collection period like other important metrics; ACP = accounts receivable/gross revenue x 365. Utilization of the ZweigWhite Financial Performance Survey metrics will allow you to see where your organization stands relative to others in your region, for your size, and other variables.

3) Accounting staff needs to be

the prime contact with the client’s accounting staff for questions on invoicing. The project team can intercede and work effectively with accounting in a good cop/ bad cop role when needed, allowing them to stay primarily focused on project delivery.

4) On projects that have a predetermined schedule, the project manager never needs to approve a draft... The schedule drives the invoice. Create the opportunity to discuss with your client the benefits of this cash-flow schedule. This will show your client that you are sensitive to their cash needs and that it is important to you to create this understanding.

5) Senior leadership should drive review of drafts and get invoices out one week after close of month. Since this process is a planned event, project managers should build this time into the management of the project.

6) Never bill fees and reimbursables together; a client questioning a reimbursable should never hold up fee payment.

7) E-mail and confirm receipt of as many invoices as possible.

8) Accounting should make a follow-up call seven days after invoice is sent. Have a written policy of review at 30 and 45 days if payment is not received. (Align these dates to the terms of your individual agreements.)

9) Explore alternative payment delivery systems, such as direct deposit, and overnight courier at your expense ($15 dollars to get $100,000 in faster!), make a personal visit, etc.

10) Employ the project team/principal only if there is a perceived problem. Don’t wait, act quickly!

11) Do not be reluctant to call the client. Hold off on submission of documents or deliverables until payment is made.

12) Cash is the life blood of your organization, and “AR drift” creates what can sometimes be insurmountable and often challenging hurdles. Don’t let “drift” happen to you!

TED MAZIEJkA is a consultant with ZweigWhite and a senior vice president with IPRIST, LLC. Contact him at [email protected].

F I N A N C I A L S O L U T I O N S

Ted Maziejka



Getting started with project leadershipTwo experts offer advice.

In May of 2011, The Project Management Podcast launched its

Project Leadership Series at www.pm-podcast.com. The series started with interviews with Thomas Juli, author of Leadership Principles for Project Success, and Rick Valerga, author of The Cure for the Common Project: Five Core Themes that Transform Project Managers into Leaders. More interviews and discussions on project leadership are planned throughout the year. To kick us off, let’s begin with an explanation about what project leadership is and how project managers can start out on the path of becoming true project leaders.

Defining project leadership. “Leadership has to do with the right attitude and understanding the core principles of building an overall vi-sion, knowing about the power of col-laboration, knowing how to promote performance in the team he or she is leading, and then still having the ma-turity to reflect on their own activi-ties and creating a culture of learn-ing,” Juli said. “And last but not least, a leader ensures results because this is the bottom line.” Project leadership doesn’t mean being a strategic vision-ary sitting at the very top of your orga-nization. It’s about leading the project team to achieve their objectives and producing a successful result.

Getting to success. “If you run a project, you have to be knowledge-able and experienced in project man-agement,” Juli said. “Project manage-ment is basically structuring chaos and without the structure, you cannot re-ally be creative. That means without project management, there cannot be

project success.” However, Juli doesn’t

believe that project management skills are the only thing necessary to deliver a successful project. “Leadership gives the project a direction, the right direction,” he said.

“If you talk about sufficient conditions of project success, we’re talking about leadership.” Without someone providing this overall direction, the project team members run the risk of going off in several directions, or nowhere at all. It’s difficult to achieve results in that situation. Juli believes that to get to success, projects need both management and leadership. Fortunately, one person can fill both functions.

Leadership basics. “Integrity is the absolute foundation for proj-ect leadership,” Valerga said. “Integrity means never letting your project live a lie. So if your project plan is a house of cards, or your schedule will be indis-putably delayed, or if you discover that your product will fall flat in the mar-ket, you need to have the courage to bring these issues to light.”

Managing expectations is key to building integrity. “When we’re doing this, we’re making responsible commitments, even under duress,” Valerga said. “That’s integrity.” He also explained that integrity comes from solving the projects’ toughest problems without destroying team members or their families, and providing frequent, up-to-date, consistent messages that are agreed across all the project stakeholders.

Leading others. Teams are at the heart of projects, and project leaders can’t lead if they don’t have people to lead. “I’m not just talking about taking care of the troops and then getting out of the way, which many project man-agers do,” Valerga said. “Projects are at their best when all the people are at their best, including the sponsor, cus-tomers, suppliers, adjacent functional organizations.”

Juli added, “You really want to empower your team. That means you have to give the team the information it needs and you have to share the

power so that the team can actually get the opportunity to excel and have an active hand in project success.”

When the team feels empowered, there is no need to micromanage them. Juli believes that it is important to want them to feel empowered, and not just pay lip service to the team. You have to be able to trust the team members. “You have to let it happen,” he said. “You have to give the team the opportunity to show how it can perform. That’s very important.”

Starting out. If becoming a proj-ect leader sounds difficult, Valerga had some simple advice about how to get started. “One way to start is by sim-ply listening,” he said. “We have a vast amount of knowledge available to us through our stakeholders. We need to make sure that we are regularly tap-ping into it.”

Another easy step toward becoming a leader is to celebrate performance. “You want to look for behaviors that reflect the purpose and values, skill development and team work and reward, reward, reward those behaviors,” Juli said. “Don’t wait until the very end of the project to celebrate the same results. Celebrate performance.”

The great thing about leadership is that we’ll instinctively know what it feels like to be doing it right. The people around us will let us know that we’re doing a good job. “In the end,” Valerga said, “our projects are judged by people, the customers, the sponsor, the team members. Most of these people are not imbued with project management theory. They only judge whether the project lived up to its billing as interpreted by them. It’s a subjective process and, above all, these people hate to be surprised. So the best way to address this is by making expectation management a daily mantra.” That’s good advice for any leader.

Listen to the complete interviews with Rick Valerga and Thomas Juli for free at www.pm-podcast.com.

CORNELIUS FICHTNER is a noted PMP expert. He has helped over 13,000 students prepare for the PMP Exam with The Project Management PrepCast at www.pm-prepcast.com and The PM Exam Simulator at www.pm-exam-simulator.com.

Cornelius Fichtner

g U E ST S P E A k E R

HR A SUPPLEMENT OF THE ZWEIg LETTER AUgUST 8, 2011, ISSUE 922

9

W O R k P L A C E

Policies and guidelines help keep social media in check— but are not widespread.

By LIISA SULLIVANCorrespondent

Some companies are doing it; some planning for it, and others don’t

feel they need it. What is it? A cor-porate social media policy— a set of guidelines that employees can turn to when navigating unfamiliar situations.

For instance, at Government Ser-vices Integrated Process Team (Lar-go, MD), a 102-person architecture, en-gineering, planning, program manage-ment, and construction management firm, they allow employees free access to the Internet and social media.

“The company does not have a social media policy; however, we do have an acceptable use policy that must be read and agreed to prior to receiving log-in information to our systems,” says James Marcotte, human resource di-rector. “This policy states that e-mail is company property and that the com-pany reserves the right to monitor ac-tivity of the employee while using the company equipment, the Internet, and while on the company network.”

The firm is allowed to monitor com-puter and Internet usage, and if it is deemed to be excessive or inappropri-ate content being accessed, the com-pany follows its progressive discipline process.

When it comes to protecting confi-dential and proprietary information, the company has each employee sign an agreement that they have read and un-derstand the acceptable use policy, and each employee must also sign a non-disclosure agreement that they will not divulge the firm’s private information.

“Social media is an ever-expand-ing communication tool and pres-ence on the Internet, and the com-pany sees this as an area to take ad-vantage of communicating be-

yond its web site,” Marcotte says.

Planning in place. Pam D’Arcy, human resources director at Basker-vill (Richmond, VA), a 93-person archi-tecture, engineering, and design firm, says the company does not have a so-cial media policy, but she keeps hearing that they need to develop one, and they are in the beginning stages of doing so.

“Currently, our com-munications and Inter-net policies are pretty inclusive, so we’ve re-sisted creating a specif-ic social media policy, but the time has come,” D’Arcy says.

In addition to a Facebook and Twit-ter presence, Basker-vill also has a blog that is primarily for de-

signers to discuss design. It’s most-ly the intern architectural staff that writes for the blog. D’Arcy adds that they are probably the staff most comfortable with the medium.

A corporate policy that works. Amy Phillips, manager of marketing for Cuhaci & Peterson Ar-chitects Engineers Planners (Orlan-do, FL), a 95-person firm, has worked to stay ahead of the social media curve.

In June 2009, with input from various em-ployees, they imple-mented a social me-dia policy and also de-signed four work ses-sions for employees to attend and learn/ques-tion the new initiative.

“We were in the pro-cess of creating a cor-porate LinkedIn, Face-book, and blog and re-alized that, on a dai-ly basis, individuals

from our company would be network-ing with these online interfaces and needed guidance regarding their per-

sonal and professional uses,” says Phil-lips. “We try and keep everyone who has a LinkedIn professional account, or is otherwise connected to our main company account so that they can be viewed and human resources is aware of any interaction.”

In many cases, unless someone is ac-tively searching posts and information on employees, it is entirely possible to miss inappropriate behavior.

“Therefore, our policy stresses how our employees’ behavior affects the company and their coworkers and to ‘respect and protect’ as opposed to punishment for inappropriate behav-ior,” Phillips says.

To date, Cuhachi has not had any problems other than some instances

Social media policies vary by firmtop fIvE soCIAl MEdIA polICy fEAturEs

The below was provided by Amy Phillips, manager of marketing for Cuhaci & Peterson Architects Engineers Planners (Orlando, FL).

1) Do not comment on the company’s financial information.

2) Protect our business partners, clients and suppliers— do not cite or identify without prior approval.

3) Respect your audience and coworkers— do not be afraid to be yourself but do so respectfully.

4) Add value. “Our company is best represented by its people and make sure that you understand that everything you publish reflects upon it,” Phillips says.

5) Don’t forget your day job— make sure your online activities do not interfere with your jobs and commitments to customers.

Pam D’Arcy, HR Director, Baskervill.

See SOCIAL MEDIA, page 10

Amy Phillips, Manager of Marketing, Cuhaci & Peterson.

“Our communications and Internet policies are pretty inclusive, so we’ve resisted creating a specific social media policy, but the time has come.”



HR BRIEFSsoCIAl nEtWorkIng And hr: A recently released survey found that 47% of U.S. adults use social networking sites— up from 26% in 2008. Experts say that rise has implications for human resource professionals who must be careful that they do not violate regulations when recruiting candidates.

Highlights from the survey released in June by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project include the following:

xz Nearly twice as many men (63%) as women (37%) use LinkedIn, and most users of that site have at least one college degree.

xz The average age of social networking site adult users has increased from 33 to 38 since 2010.

xz More than half of social networking site adult users are over the age of 35.

xz About 85% of LinkedIn users and 78% of Facebook users are white.

“Facebook has become the dominant social networking platform of both number of users and frequency of use, and it is striking to note that the makeup of the population is changing,” said Lauren Sessions goulet, co-author of the report.

ExErCIsE CAutIon In ChoosIng BEnEfIts BrokEr: Choosing the right broker to handle employee benefits plans has always been important. HR professionals must ensure that companies are managing plan costs while meeting employees’ needs. In the era of health care reform and other compliance priorities, a strong broker relationship takes on even greater importance.

As the key elements of U.S. health care reform take hold over the next several years, employers can expect a good broker to help guide them through the changes and plan ahead to deal with new responsibilities. A broker that is content to offer only transactional support to employers when they sign up for specific employee benefits plans, during open enrollment, and when the plan comes up for renewal, might not be the right choice.

Beyond that, the definition of a good broker will depend on the organization’s needs and what the broker can do to meet them. Brokers who take a consultative approach that focuses on finding solutions to client challenges, rather than on selling products, can provide employers with the knowledge and tools to manage their benefits plans, costs, communication strategies, and compliance obligations more effectively.

ON THE MOVEChAzEn hIrEs: Chazen Companies (Poughkeepsie, NY), a 150-person engineering, surveying, environmental, planning, and landscape architecture services firm, has hired david Ardman as the new senior director of business development. Ardman has 30 years of experience in a variety of business development and public relations roles. In his new position, Ardman will be responsible for all of Chazen’s business development and marketing activities across all of its offices in the Hudson Valley, Capital, and Adirondack regions. Before joining Chazen, Ardman served as business development manager for a full-service engineering, environmental, and planning consulting firm for the last 10 years. Before that, Ardman held positions at the NYS Thruway Authority and the NYS Senate.

Ardman earned a B.A. in communications and mass media from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. He serves on the boards and committees of a number of charitable organizations and foundations, including Capital Region Center for Arts in Education, Wildwood Programs, and the Engineers WeekFuture City Competition.

Chazen also welcomed Jeffrey Econom as the new director of municipal engineering in the firm’s Hudson Valley office. Econom has approximately 27 years of both private and public engineering experience. He is a licensed professional engineer in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and is a NYS Certified Building Code Enforcement Officer. His nationally recognized certifications include: CPESC (Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control), CPSWQ (Certified Professional in Water Quality), CMS4S (Certified Municipal Storm Sewer System Specialist). Econom has served on the council board for each of these certifications.

thornton toMAsEttI proMotEs: thornton tomasetti (New York, NY), a 650-person engineering and architecture firm, announced the promotion of kyle krall to senior

principal in the U.A.E. office.

krall, formerly a principal at Thornton Tomasetti, is the office manager of the firm’s Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices. He has more than 22 years of structural engineering experience in the design of commercial, sports, residential, and mixed-use buildings and has extensive experience in the design of both steel and concrete structures.

Ctl hIrEs: At the quarterly board of directors meeting, Ctl Engineering (Columbus, OH), a 270-person consulting engineering, testing, inspection, and analytical laboratory services firm, announced the addition of a new member. bruce beverly is currently the managing director of Beverly Management Consulting, LLC, a management consulting firm formed to assist leaders and managers of architecture, engineering and consulting firms with strategic planning, leadership and management issues, succession planning, and governance matters associated with running an AEC business.

Beverly was previously president and CEO and former the chair of the board of directors of Haley & Aldrich, Inc. As had been planned by him since July 2005, he retired from active service at Haley & Aldrich in early May 2010.

skElly And loy hIrEs: skelly and loy (Harrisburg, PA), a 180-person environmental engineering consulting firm, hired steven Witthar as assistant vice president/engineering manager in its Wise, Virginia, office. Witthar is responsible for evaluating mining operations and practices; examining maps, mineral deposits, drilling, and other geologic information to determine the viability of mining operations; completing mineral reserve assessments including quality and quantity aspects; preparation of permit applications for mining operations; coordinating and managing work of technicians, engineers, scientists, and other project personnel; and preparing reports and adhering to schedules and cost estimates involved in completing project assignments.

SOCIAL MEDIA, from page 9

where extensive use of a Facebook or other networking service was noted. As a result, access was limited during busi-ness hours because it was difficult to determine what was personal and pro-fessional. As far as protecting confiden-tial and proprietary information goes, social computing blurs many of the tra-ditional boundaries regarding what is considered internal and external com-munication.

“We try and stress asking permission before posting pictures or blogs regard-

ing conversations or what could be con-sidered private information. Everyone within the company knows that we try and not release any information regard-ing a project or client until permits are obtained other than the people direct-ly involved in the project,” says Phillips.

The bottom line: You either need to foster a very strong and active outlet for your employees with social media and police it well, or know that there will be some use and just try and foster an environment of respect within the company to appreciate views and use your best judgment.

FINANCE A SUPPLEMENT OF THE ZWEIg LETTER AUgUST 8, 2011, ISSUE 922

11

S T R AT E g Y

Leading firm provides advice on how to attain both, and it doesn’t happen overnight.Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series.

By JULIE kYLE Editor

Growth and profitability are oppos-ing forces. Growth eats resources

and needs to be funded; profit is what’s left over after services are provided. The balance between the two is neces-sary for firm success. Focusing solely on growth can leave cash and reserves drained, leading to a disaster and zero or negative profit. A profit-only men-tality is usually unsustainable and can lead to a stagnant organization— or sluggish revenue growth.

The definition of growth is wider than just an increase in size and revenue.

There are two kinds of growth, ac-cording to the leader of the number one firm on The Zweig Letter’s 2010 Hot Firm list, Fentress Architects of Den-ver, Colorado.

Agatha Kessler, CEO of the 190-per-son architecture firm, says those types of growth are growth by breadth, re-sulting in the expansion of a business (people, market sector, geographic re-gion, etc.) and growth by depth, result-ing in greater expertise and skills.

“Both types of growth are essential to the success of a company, but growth of talent is paramount,” Kessler says. “A company is not always driven to get bigger, but it must always be driven to get better.”

With that in mind, there is no doubt that profit and growth are both vital for a successful business. But profit for profit’s sake is not inspiring for the company or the client, and growth for growth’s sake is not sustainable. Each serves its own purpose at its own time, and together they form a symbiotic partnership.

“At Fentress, we are conscientious of

balancing profit and growth,” Kessler says. “Together they nurture an environment where we can freely pursue our mission of creat-ing ‘Inspired Design for People’.”

For profit and growth to thrive, Kessler be-lieves a company must have a solid founda-tion. “This foundation

is built upon four pillars, which I be-lieve are essential for sustaining a suc-cessful business,” she says.

They are:

1) Attract talented people whose values align with those of your company

2) Nurture an environment that allows these people and their creativity to thrive

3) Establish sound business practices and operational excellence

4) Pursue disciplined, continuous improvement

“If you have a well-run business, you can nurture profit and growth simulta-neously,” Kessler says.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.There are certainly times when firms must allocate resources differently. Kessler illustrates this through the use of metaphors.

“A sprinter runs quickly toward a fin-ish line, using everything in his or her reserve to win,” she says. “An approach like this may be necessary for a compa-ny to get through a month, a quarter, or a period of challenging times. But in a longer race the sprinter— or the com-

pany— would collapse using this strat-egy.”

Companies must perform like mara-thon runners to succeed, using a disci-plined approach and coordinated strat-egies to build sustainable high quality performance, Kessler says.

“Like training the lungs and muscles for endurance running, the growth of your people is essential,” she says. “At Fentress, talented people who continu-ously learn and grow are the oxygen on which we thrive.”

The company has an in-house training and leadership program, Fentress Uni-versity. “It’s here that we strive to en-sure the individual success of our peo-ple, which we believe contributes to our overall success as a firm,” Kessler says.

In 2009, the firm invested an average of $2,000 and 37.5 hours per person on professional development.

That investment doubled in 2010, with leadership training for everyone and management coaching for princi-pals.

While training is an event, coaching is continuous, Kessler says.

“We encourage coaching at all levels,” she says. “We employ a mutual mentor-ship approach, with people on our staff sharing their skills with one another. It is a way for us to celebrate our greatest assets.”

While a company like Fentress may focus on profit and growth at differ-ent times to varying degrees, its busi-ness fundamentals do not change dur-ing good or bad economic times.

“While we may pay more attention to certain factors like cash flow during lean times, we never take our eyes off those things we consider most impor-tant: Our people and our promise to our clients,” Kessler says.

Balancing growth and profit is the secret

Agatha Kessler, CEO, Fentress Architects.

“Both types of growth are essential to the success of a company, but growth of talent is paramount. A company is not always driven to get bigger, but it must always be driven to get better. At Fentress, we are conscientious of balancing profit and growth.”



T R A N S AC T I O N SFIRms mERgE: mark thomas & Company, Inc. (San Jose, CA), a surveying, civil, and structural engineering firm, has formed a strategic business partnership with mts Engineers, Inc. (Irvine, CA).

This strategic partnership will allow MTS Engineers and Mark Thomas & Company to combine their engineering and technical resources to better serve transportation and public works clients throughout the California, according to a release. MTS specializes in delivering transportation projects from inception through construction. MTS has expertise in managing the planning and engineering phases of civil and transportation projects for road, highway, transit, and rail grade separation projects.

The principals at MTS have served all major transportation clients in Southern California, including Caltrans, Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC), San Bernardino Associated governments (SANBAg), and Los Angeles Metro. Mark Thomas & Company has provided civil, structural, and surveying services since 1927.

Mark Thomas & Company was the first consultant to design the widening of a freeway as part of the first ½-cent sales tax measure program in Santa Clara County in 1984.

Mark Thomas & Company and MTS combined have over 230 employees located in nine offices in California.

WoolPERt buys: Woolpert (Dayton, OH), a 650-person design, geospatial, and infrastructure services firm, has acquired geomatics data solutions (gDS), an international hydrographic and bathymetric survey firm. Through this acquisition, Woolpert will expand its aerial and land surveying services to include hydrographic surveying, according to a release. gDS will complement Woolpert’s geospatial capabilities with technology and expertise in hydrographic surveying and data processing, which is critical in providing accurate nautical charting and improving marine navigation.

“Acquiring two of the world’s leading hydrographic and bathymetric surveying experts, Woolpert will be able to expand its geospatial capabilities to provide complete hydrographic solutions across the globe,” said Jeff Lovin, Woolpert vice president and director of photogrammetry and remote sensing. “Through this acquisition, federal clients such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. geological Survey will be able to obtain coastal and shallow water mapping data through a single resource.”

gDS co-owners Carol Lockhart and Dushan Arumugam join Woolpert with more than 30 years of combined experience developing spatial workflows and processing marine and terrestrial survey data.

Widely recognized as international experts in the hydrographic and bathymetric surveying profession, Lockhart and Arumugam have served as lead hydrographers on numerous multibeam and LiDAR projects across five continents since 1999. Lockhart and Arumugam are two of only a handful of professionals in the world who have worked with LADS, SHOALS and HawkEye II bathymetric LiDAR data. Most recently, they reduced the processing time for HawkEye II LiDAR data by 75%.

“This acquisition is very exciting for us,” said Lockhart. “It allows us to continue to grow our hydrographic services, within a company that shares our strong commitment to high quality and outstanding customer service.”

klEINFEldER buys: kleinfelder (San Diego, CA), a 2,000-person engineering and architectural consulting firm, recently acquired Insite Environmental Inc. (Stockton, CA), an environmental planning and permitting service firm.

All seven of InSite’s employees have moved to kleinfelder’s Stockton office, bringing total employment there to 45. The two firms had a strong working relationship for more than 15 years, said Bill Siegel, president and chief executive of kleinfelder.

“As part of kleinfelder, their capabilities and existing client relationships will undoubtedly strengthen our ability to provide turn-key services to our clients,” Siegel said.

Charlie Simpson, president and owner of InSite, added, “By joining forces, we’ll be able to offer an even broader range of the quality-centric services our clients have come to expect from us.”

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

FIRms JoIN FoRCEs: VFR design and JCl Architecture, both of Fort Collins, Colorado, have merged, forming Vaught Frye larson Architects (VFLA).

With partners Frank Vaught, Joe Frye, and Justin Larson and their combined, experienced staff of 12, the VFLA team offers leading architectural services and award-winning design, according to a release.

gENIVAR buys two: gENIVAR Inc. (Montréal, QB), a 4,400-person engineering consulting firm, has acquired Québec-based groupe optiVert inc. and Alberta-based JmH Environmental solutions ltd., two environmental consulting engineering firms. OptiVert specializes in forest management

consulting services, while JMH specializes in oil and gas environmental consulting. The firms have a combined total of 35 permanent employees, a number which can double during the high season.

“We are very happy with the acquisition of OptiVert as their team of professionals has developed a fine-tuned expertise in forest management consulting” said André-Martin Bouchard, vice-president, Environment of gENIVAR.

“This acquisition, which nicely adds to our current array of expertise in environment, will enable us to strategically position gENIVAR in anticipation of large-scale environmental projects that Plan Nord will catalyze, such as access roads and forest products optimization. OptiVert capabilities are 100% complementary to our existing ones.”

gENIVAR has also acquired JmH, a firm which is mainly active in Western Canada.

“The acquisition of JMH is well-aligned with our growth objective and also provides the capabilities to increase our services to current clients. As environmental services related to the oil and gas industry are booming, this will allow us to diversify the services we offer this customer group,” said John Nielsen, vice president, Alberta of gENIVAR.

“Joining forces with gENIVAR enables us to be involved in larger-scale projects while leveraging their network and global client base. We will also be able to meet the growing needs of our clients, who require a fully integrated scale of consulting services,” said André Carle, president of OptiVert, and Jason Herzog, president of JMH. “gENIVAR’s dynamic entrepreneurial culture is perfectly aligned with our respective management approaches, and our employees will be able to develop their skills while enjoying enhanced career opportunities.”

fInAnCIAl pErforMAnCE survEy: The 2011 Financial Performance Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms contains more than 30 different major financial performance statistics so you can find out exactly where your firm stands among your peers.

And these statistics are just the beginning of this comprehensive report developed in collaboration with the American Council or Engineering Companies.

For more information or to buy a copy, call 800-466-6275 or log on to www.zweigwhite.com/zw-1071.aspx.