2009 EDITION. The current economic climate is uncertain at best and AEC firm leaders need solid information to plan their strategy for the coming year.

• What can your design or construction firm expect in 2009?
• What are the business trends that are changing the AEC industry?
• What is the outlook for your firm’s target markets?
• What are the strategies AEC firms will be using to grow in 2009?

Knowing the answers to these questions can give your architecture, engineering, construction, or environmental firm an edge on the competition. And you’ll find the answers in ZweigWhite’s 2009 AEC Industry Outlook: Strategy and Insight for Design & Construction Firms.

Drawing from analysis from ZweigWhite’s expert management consultants, data from ZweigWhite’s management surveys, interviews with industry leaders and forecasters, and a survey of AEC firm leaders, this timely report will provide you with a wealth of knowledge that you can use to help you make 2009 a successful year in spite of all the economic uncertainty.

• Develop more informed and accurate strategic business and marketing plans for 2009 with this valuable and timely information
• Know what to expect in your target markets in 2009 so you can position your firm to profit
• Identify which markets will be hot—and which will be cold—in 2009
• Stay a step ahead of the competition by capitalizing on the business trends that will shape the AEC business in 2009 and beyond
• Find out which opportunities and obstacles to expect in 2009, so you can take advantage or take cover
• Eliminate the hassle of “do-it-yourself” market research and save thousands of man-hours of labor

Arm yourself with market insight to make 2009 a successful year in spite of all the economic uncertainty

The past few years have brought prosperity to many design and construction firms, with broad-based growth in most sectors of the AEC industry. However, the economic crisis that hit in the second half of 2008 has put a severe damper on expectations for 2009 and beyond, and has raised many questions about what 2009 will hold for the AEC industry.

In these extraordinary times, AEC firm leaders need access to extraordinary insight and information about what to expect and how to handle the myriad of challenges currently facing them. Will the housing market bottom out or will the slowdown persist throughout the year? How bad will the spillover effect from the housing crunch be for nonresidential markets in 2009? Just how tight will credit get, and when might it start to loosen up? How long will the recession last, how high will the unemployment rate rise, and when can AEC firm leaders expect to see some light at the end of the tunnel?

Knowing the answers to these questions can give your firm an edge on the competition. And you’ll find vast research and discussion of these and many other issues in the 2009 AEC Industry Outlook: Strategy and Insight for Design & Construction Firms, a new research report from ZweigWhite. This report will tell you what opportunities and obstacles you can expect to face in the coming year so you can make informed and accurate decisions about the future of your design or construction firm.

This year’s report is the longest, most detailed AEC Industry Outlook ZweigWhite has ever produced, covering more economic trends in the broader economy and expanding on information we’ve gathered in the past. This report is the most up-to-date and comprehensive market outlook report available, written exclusively for design and construction leaders. Competing reports produced as recently as October or November of 2008 are now out-of-date and can’t contain the breadth of new information about the economic crisis that ZweigWhite’s report contains.

The 2009 AEC Industry Outlook will provide you with comprehensive information and forecasts of all the major markets served by the AEC industry: commercial real estate, education, environmental, health care, power and energy, residential real estate, transportation, and more. Find out which markets will be “hot” and which ones will be “cold” in 2009 so you can develop your strategic and marketing plans for the year accordingly.

Filled with charts and tables, the 2009 AEC Industry Outlook provides a comprehensive forecast for the U.S. economy as a whole along with breakdowns of economic and AEC industry activity for each region of the U.S. The report also includes information on select international markets, so you can get information on markets around the world or in your backyard— all in one place.

Hundreds of design and construction firms have used the exclusive insight in this annual report, featured in the pages of The Wall Street Journal and other publications, to make their firms more successful. Make 2009 as successful as possible by ordering your copy of ZweigWhite’s 2009 AEC Industry Outlook today!

• Recession
• Increased Government Intervention in the Marketplace
• The Anticipated Infrastructure Stimulus Package
• Residential Real Estate Downturn
• Stalled Merger and Acquisition Activity
• A Changing Labor Market and Labor Expenses
• Globalization of the AEC Industry
• Green Building

• Commercial real estate
  

  • Lodging

  • Manufacturing
  • Office
  • Retail
  • Mixed-use development
• Education
  

  • K-12
  • Higher education
• Environmental
  

  • Air pollution
  • Brownfields/Remediation
  • Solid waste/Hazardous waste
  • Water/wastewater
• Health care
• Power and energy
• Residential real estate
  

  • Single-family
  • Multi-family
• Transportation
  

  • Aviation
  • Highways and bridges
  • Ports and waterways
  • Railroads
  • Transit
• Other markets
  

  • Amusement/recreation
  • Criminal justice
  • Government
  • Religious
  • Telecommunications
• “Hot” markets
  

  • Three “Hottest” Markets
  • Three “Coldest” Markets

• U.S. summary
• Regional summaries
  

  • New England
  • Middle Atlantic
  • East North Central
  • West North Central
  • South Atlantic
  • East South Central
  • West South Central
  • Mountain
  • Pacific
• International summaries

Chapter 4: 2009 AEC business trends survey results