3
OPINION
Gary Bowman marked his firm’s 30th anniversary by ringing the Nasdaq opening bell.
Reflecting on 30 years
Building a firm that attracts people, not just transactions, requires balancing scale, preserving culture, and investing in long-term success.
W hen I founded Bowman in 1995, I couldn’t have predicted what the next three decades would look like, let alone that we’d be here today, celebrating our 30th anniversary with a team of more than 2,000 people across the country. Like so many in this industry, our path has been shaped by challenges, adaptation, and a drive to build a company that endures – not just for our clients, but for our people.
Gary Bowman
As I reflect on our journey, one thing becomes clear: resiliency isn’t something you develop on the fly when times get tough; it’s something you have to build into your DNA from the start. That mindset – what I’d call resilient by design – is what I believe makes a firm attractive, not just to clients, but to potential merger partners and seasoned executives looking for their next chapter. BALANCING SCALE AND IDENTITY. The AEC industry is currently undergoing a shift. Economic volatility and demographic transitions are pushing firms to move beyond traditional delivery models. For many companies, scale is becoming a necessity – not just for efficiency, but for the flexibility to evolve. At the same time, cultural cohesion and
entrepreneurial identity have never been more important. Clients and employees alike are seeking relationships grounded in trust and shared purpose. There’s a real tension here: how do you grow fast enough to stay competitive without diluting what made you successful in the first place? That’s a question we’ve learned to address, but it’s one that many leaders in the industry are now facing head-on. CREATING OPTIONALITY. At Bowman, we’ve pursued a strategy of intentional expansion by growing through a combination of organic opportunity and acquisition. What we’ve been building is optionality
See GARY BOWMAN, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 15, 2025, ISSUE 1601
ELEVATE THE INDUSTRY®
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker