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BUSINESS NEWS PENNONI OPENS MIAMI BEACH OFFICE Pennoni (Hot Firm # 48 for 2016), an award-winning multidisciplinary firm, has announced the opening of a new office location in Miami Beach, Florida. The office is located at 350 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, Flordia. Miami area office initiatives are led by Steven Elias, PE, a civil/site division manager at Pennoni. While leading the efforts in Miami Beach, Elias is responsible for managing and developing the office and offering support to existing customers in the Southeast through the recruitment of regional staff and the launch of business development initiatives.

“We are very excited on the opening of our office in Miami,” says Senior Vice President and Director of Strategic Growth Joseph Viscuso. “The type of projects that are being contemplated align very well with the skill sets of our firm and we look forward to working with clients in the region in the development of innovative solutions moving forward.” Elias earned his B.S. in civil engineering and his master’s in environmental engineering from Pennsylvania State University. With more than 24 years of engineering experience, Elias has led master planning efforts for more than 18 significant and diverse municipal

infrastructure programs for transportation, water, wastewater, reuse, solid waste, and storm water infrastructure in Florida. He also holds an adjunct professor position at Florida Polytechnic, teaching engineering project management and master planning. Elias is affiliated with such organizations as the American Society of Civil Engineers, the National Society of Professional Engineers, Rotary International, Polk Vision’s Economic Development Team, Winter Haven Economic Development Council (as vice chair), and is involved in several education system and STEM committees.

JUNE JEWELL, from page 5

where many firms don’t have the cash flow to buy out their older owners, and the ones that do have found themselves strapped and limited in how they can grow. The commoditiza- tion of A/E services has affected many of today’s owners by limiting their options and extending their retirement ages. 3)Lack of qualified emerging leaders. As discussed, today’s younger staff are not as excited about firm ownership, and less likely to want to work for the same firm their entire lives. They are often thrown into project manager roles with little to no training which has also affected the financial success of many firms in this competitive market. The lack of business acumen at the PM level is a real issue, and often a contributor to the lower profit margins that many firms are experiencing. This combination of lack of interest and loyalty, and absence of business management skills is causing many firm prin- cipals to have to hold on much longer than they wanted or planned. So what is the answer to this problem? I believe that A/E firm leaders need to develop a strategy to improve profitability, finance their retirement over a longer period of time, and develop leaders who can take over for them. This will involve a multiple-stage approach to improving business operations and resulting project profit margins by eliminating scope creep, improving win rates and utilization, and training today’s PMs to gain business management competency. JUNE JEWELL is president of AEC Business Solutions. Connect with her on LinkedIn and learn more about how to improve your firm’s financial performance at aecbusiness.com. “We are investigating the attributes of a truly successful architecture firm culture. These attributes include a focus on professional development and work- life balance. This focus also includes transparency between firm/project leadership and staff, diversity and inclusion, and a conspicuous application of a collaborative studio environment.”

that are keeping today’s leaders from retiring, and solving these problems could require some extreme measures and investment of time: “I believe that A/E firm leaders need to develop a strategy to improve profitability, finance their retirement over a longer period of time, and develop leaders that can take over for them.” 1)Firm valuation. The Great Recession has caused many firm founders and principals to have to wait to retire many years later than planned. Financial setbacks caused by firm shrink- age has meant that leaders hopeful to sell their firms years ago found that either there weren’t any buyers, or their firm value has shrunk too low to get the price they were looking for. Another fallout from the recession was a litany of bargain basement shoppers looking for desperate owners that had to sell lower. It has been hard for many smaller firms to bounce back from that. In many areas, there are more sellers than buyers making it a buyer’s market. For many owners, an M&A exit just doesn’t have the same appeal that it had before the Great Recession, and in most cases, a much lower payout. 2)Low profit margins. Another effect of the recession is lower profit margins. More competition has led to low-bidding and clients expecting more for less. This has led to a scenario

SUICIDE, from page 7

“Occupational groups with higher suicide rates might be at risk for a number of reasons, including job-related isola- tion and demands, stressful work environments, and work- home imbalance ….” A big reason why the CDC conducted the report is to iden- tify the problem so that solutions can be found, particularly for people already in their professions. “The workplace is one of the best places we have to reach an adult,” McIntosh says. If you are suicidal or if you are around someone who might be suicidal, the free 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Life- line is 800-273-TALK (8255).

THE ZWEIG LETTER October 24, 2016, ISSUE 1173

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