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TRANSACTIONS COLLINS COOPER CARUSI ARCHITECTS JOINS DLR GROUP The global integrated design firm DLR Group announced that Atlanta-based Collins Cooper Carusi Architects has joined the firm. The addition of CCCA marks a strategic expansion of DLR Group’s presence in the Southeast, establishing a permanent operation in Atlanta that complements its existing offices in Charlotte, Durham, Nashville, and Orlando. Founded in 1987, CCCA is a community focused design firm with expertise in early learning and K-12 education, higher education, on-campus student housing, recreation centers, and design for public and private sector clients. In addition to receiving recognition for design from the AIA, IIDA, ALA, and other industry organizations, CCCA was honored as Georgia AIA Firm of the Year in 2020. CCCA’s design philosophy is grounded in active listening and creative visioning which inspires innovative design
solutions for clients. The firm’s recent projects include Emory University’s Convocation Hall; Kennesaw State University’s The Summit First Year Student Housing residence; Joseph W. Jones’ Ecological Research Center at Ichauway in Baker County, Georgia; the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wormsloe State Park Visitor Center in Savannah; and additional work for elite public and private school clients in the Southeast. “Collins Cooper Carusi’s passion for thoughtful, responsive design and its strong connections in education and civic work in the region make it an ideal cultural and strategic fit,” said DLR Group CEO Steven McKay, AIA, RIBA. “CCCA immediately strengthens our expertise in on-campus student housing and our entire higher education portfolio. An established office in Atlanta also gives us a base to meet the design needs of our civic, cultural, federal, healthcare, sports,
and private market clients throughout the Southeast.” The firm’s 40 design professionals will operate as DLR Group|Collins Cooper Carusi from its existing office at 3391 Peachtree Road NE, in Atlanta. Eric Richardson, AIA; Sandy Cooper, AIA; Fiona Grandowski, AIA, IIDA; Jeff Juliano, AIA; and Clayton Daspit, AIA, LEED AP, will join DLR Group as Principals, ensuring leadership continuity and a seamless transition for clients and staff. “Joining DLR Group will bring significant advantages to our clients. We gain access to more design resources and expertise to keep us at the forefront of design and allow us to compete as true peers with the largest firms,” said Richardson, president of CCCA. “Just as exciting, our team members can become employee owners and tap into the strength of DLR Group’s multidisciplinary, global platform – an opportunity that will be truly career- defining.”
your people – especially those in the first 10-15 years of their professional careers – four times a year. Better yet, adjust their pay any time you feel they deserve it. 5. Overhaul your bonus programs. Once again, the typical AEC firm has an annual bonus program. But once a year is not often enough if you really want it to be motivational because the reward is too far removed from the activity that generated the profit that allowed the firm to pay out the bonuses. How about having a quarterly or monthly bonus program? I’ve found the resistance to doing this is typically based on management’s fear they will make money one quarter and lose it the next, but rolling losses forward into the next month or quarter to be made up before any monies are paid out will mitigate this. 6. Shine a spotlight on your most productive people. Many firms will promote the successes of their people in terms of getting professionally registered, or winning design awards, or selling work. But how many promote the successes of those with the greatest productivity? Very few in my experience. Make it part of the culture and celebrate those people versus not talk about them as if they are freaks. I’m out of time and space here or I could probably go on. But the point of all this is to stop wondering why your people don’t put in more time than they do when we live in a culture that celebrates leisure over productivity, and when your own management practices make no attempt to overcome that by being different from everyone else’s who are in the same business you are. Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.
MARK ZWEIG, from page 5
1. Hire the right people in the first place. That is those who are hungry. Those who had to work hard to get through school. Those who have clear goals they are working toward because they want to elevate their financial success. Those who realize that making more money improves the lives of their families. Yes – these people do exist. 2. Be a company with a REAL purpose. Have a purpose that resonates with your people and makes them feel their work makes a difference in the lives of others. Again this is not always easy, but it’s a heck of a lot easier in our business where we do make the world a better place through our work than it is in many other types of businesses. It cannot be made up and full of empty cliches. The founder and leaders need to live it. They need to continuously remind the people in the firm why they are doing what they are. 3. The leaders have to exemplify the behaviors they expect from their people. If the leaders cut out early – if the leaders are unwilling to burn the midnight oil to accomplish the impossible – if the leaders check out at night or on weekends – you can pretty well expect the rest of the people to follow suit. It’s not “do as I say,” but rather “do as I do.” This is fundamental. 4. The rewards have to be there. Most firms in this business do not really reward hard work and extreme productivity in spite of their claims that they do. They instead base salaries more on education and registrations and where someone is in the hierarchy – and then look at that on annual intervals. Stop doing that. Look at what you pay
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THE ZWEIG LETTER NOVEMBER 3, 2025, ISSUE 1608
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