TZL 1447

TRANSACTIONS THE HFW COMPANIES FORMS STRATEGIC GROWTH PARTNERSHIP WITH GEORGIA-BASED CRANSTON TO ACCELERATE EXPANSION The HFW Companies, a fast-growing professional services firm with a national focus on the architecture and engineering industry, announced a strategic growth partnership with CRANSTON, a legacy engineering, landscape architecture, planning, and surveying firm that has been serving Southeast communities for more than half a century. The new partnership allows CRANSTON to accelerate its strategic vision for growth and expand even more aggressively throughout “the heart of the Southeast” with additional services, locations, and people, according to Scott Williams, PE, president of CRANSTON. “CRANSTON, with record growth over the past few years, recently had set its long- term sights on expanding its reach and empowering every community across the heart of the Southeast to thrive,” said Williams. “This new partnership with HFW gives us a platform on which to achieve

that vision much faster and with much greater opportunity for both our hard- working team and the communities we serve while allowing us to forge ahead in growing the CRANSTON brand. We’re excited to align ourselves with HFW and its network of AE brands.” CRANSTON grew out of a merger in 1967 between Baldwin Engineering Company and Cranston Associates. The combined firm, headed by CRANSTON founder Craig Cranston, became Baldwin & Cranston Associates and, eventually, CRANSTON. Today, the firm employs 75 people and serves its project partners and communities from offices in Augusta, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina, and Hilton Head, South Carolina. CRANSTON, in partnering with HFW, joins a growing network of growth- oriented AE firms whose teams will be able to share best practices, economies of scale, and unique areas of expertise, according to Michael Hein, AIA, chief executive officer of St. Louis-based HFW. HFW’s business model, he said, is designed to retain and leverage each

partnering firm’s own brand identity, loyal employee base, and the allegiance of its project partners to build what he describes as a nationwide “house of brands” network of member firms. “CRANSTON’s brand legacy has such great long-term growth potential,” said Hein. “It aligns nicely with our growth strategy of investing in architecture and engineering firms that serve metropolitan and infrastructure markets and are open to aligning with a partner for growth. “This investment represents another significant step in our effort,” he added, “to build a nationally preeminent network of AE firms concentrating on the country’s infrastructure. We’re looking forward to growing together.” Based in St. Louis, HFW is an AEC industry professional services company investing in architecture and engineering firms that serve metropolitan and infrastructure markets and are open to aligning with a partner for growth.

But I better stop here or I will find myself once again writing a treatise on cliches and buzzwords – something I feel obligated to do every couple of years! I prefer fiction as it gets me out of my work mode better. That said, I will have a new book coming out later this summer. Confessions of an Entrepreneur is one I am very excited about. I promise an easy and entertaining read, and something you or anyone who owns or is considering starting a business could benefit from. But more on that in the future! Whatever you do this summer for your vacation, my advice is to keep it simple! Don’t try to go too many places or do too many things, or it will not be relaxing and you will need a vacation after your vacation when you get back! This trip is one of several we plan to make this summer. We started going out to New Mexico on our adults-only, no kids trip every year. My sister-in-law lives way out in the middle of the national forest near Santa Fe, and we have a quiet little inn we like in Taos (The Inn on La Loma Plaza), which is really off the beaten path and sort of downmarket. A great place to shift gears into a slower lifestyle. Happy summer to you all! Stay positive in spite of the many current and future struggles you could worry about. Everything will be OK if you can keep your head on straight and your emotions in check. We live in an amazing time and have so much to be thankful for! Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.

MARK ZWEIG , from page 11

or credits, they all stay in your account. For example, we cancelled a trip to Austin during COVID and thought we lost our money, only to find out we had a large credit sitting there that we used a year later. I really like Travelocity. Packing has always been easy for me. We have bags for all sizes and types of trips. I keep my toiletry bag stocked so all I have to do is grab it and go. I can pack for anywhere in 10 minutes or less. When I travel for business, I have found I can keep everything on hangers and roll it up and it still fits in a single carry-on. Then when I get to my destination I hang it and turn the shower on hot and it all looks perfect. One good thing about traveling is it gives you a chance to read. I have a stack of 10 books next to the bed and I will take three along with me. Those of you who know me know I dislike most business books. They make everything sound too easy and the cliches annoy me. Everyone is “leaning in” to everything these days. We have all “pivoted” and “deep dived” enough. “Happy summer to you all! Stay positive in spite of the many current and future struggles you could worry about. Everything will be OK if you can keep your head on straight and your emotions in check.”

THE ZWEIG LETTER JUNE 27, 2022, ISSUE 1447

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