WAYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS— ZweigWhite announced the complete rankings of the 2009 Hot Firm List in this week’s special issue of The Zweig Letter. Growth may be elusive in lean 2009, but the firms on The Zweig Letter 2009 Hot Firm List prove it is possible. For the 10th year in a row, The Zweig Letter has ranked the fastest-growing architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms. While many first-timers made this year’s list, Hill International, Inc. (Marlton, NJ) which ranked second in 2008, took this year’s number one spot.

Hill International, Inc. grew 239% between 2005 and 2008, thanks to strong international expansion through acquisitions and 40% organic growth in the last few years. “We’re a very aggressive grower,” says David Richter, Hill International president and chief operations officer. “That will absolutely continue, even in this market.” Richter continues, “I think one of the key drivers of our growth, unlike other firms on the List, is that we got into the international market very early. You’ve got to go where your competition isn’t.”

Richter will serve as a speaker in one of three sessions on Exploring International Opportunities at the 2009 Hot Firm Conference. He will present an insider's perspective on lessons learned from international deals, including identifying candidates, negotiating with foreign companies, cultural nuances, and more.

This year’s Hot Firm Conference will also honor Hot Firm winners with a special awards reception and banquet. The conference takes place October 28-30, at Green Valley Resort in Las Vegas.

The rankings of The Zweig Letter 2009 Hot Firm List are:

1. Hill International, Inc. (Marlton, NJ)
2. Stantec Consulting Inc. (Irvine, CA)
3. WSP Group (USA) (New York, NY)
4. URS Corporation (San Francisco, CA)
5. Natural Resource Group, LLC (Minneapolis, MN)
6. Trow Global Inc (Brampton, ON)
7. Woodward Design+Build (New Orleans, LA)
8. RW Armstrong & Associates (Indianapolis, IN)
9. Hargrove and Associates, Inc. (Mobile, AL)
10. X-nth (Maitland, FL)
11. Perkins+Will (Chicago, IL)
12. ARCADIS (Highland Ranch, CO)
13. Cubellis (Boston, MA)
14. TolTest, Inc. (Maumee, OH)
15. ENGlobal Corporation (Houston, TX)
16. gkkworks (Irvine, CA)
17. AK Environmental, LLC (West Trenton, NJ)
18. Sovereign Consulting Inc. (Robbinsville, NJ)
19. Vector Engineering, Inc. (Grass Valley, CA)
20. Structural Integrity Associates, Inc. (San Jose, CA)
21. HDR (Omaha, NE)
22. Golder Associates (Mississauga, ON)
23. River Consulting (Columbus, OH)
24. Stress Engineering Services Inc. (Houston, TX)
25. SSOE, Inc. (Toledo, OH)
26. DOWL HKM (Anchorage, AK)
27. Paul C. Rizzo Associates, Inc. (Monroeville, PA)
28. SHW Group (Plano, TX)
29. Watermark (Lowell, MA)
30. Riverside Technology, inc. (Fort Collins, CO)
31. Francis Cauffman (Philadelphia, PA)
32. EMR Inc. (Lawrence, KS)
33. Callison (Seattle, WA)
34. EN Engineering, LLC (Woodridge, IL)
35. Allana Buick & Bers, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA)
36. SB Architects (San Francisco, CA)
37. CHA (Albany, NY)
38. McDonough Bolyard Peck, Inc. (Fairfax, VA)
39. T Baker Smith, Inc. (Houma, LA)
40. TEC Inc. (Charlottesville, VA)
41. Tetra Tech (Pasadena, CA)
42. E M C Engineers, Inc. (Lakewood, CO)
43. NELSON (Philadelphia, PA)
44. Perkins Eastman (New York, NY)
45. JBA Consulting Engineers (Las Vegas, NV)
46. KJWW Engineering Consultants (Rock Island, IL)
47. Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. (Waltham, MA)
48. Pond & Company (Norcross, GA)
49. Treanor Architects (Lawrence, KS)
50. Corgan Associates, Inc. (Dallas, TX)
51. Wight & Company (Darien, IL)
52. R.W. Beck, Inc. (Seattle, WA)
53. ENVIRON Holdings Inc. (Arlington, VA)
54. DLR Group (Omaha, NE)
55. Anshen & Allen, Architects, Inc. (San Francisco, CA)
56. Clark Nexsen (Norfolk, VA)
57. DLT&V Systems Engineering (Phoenix, AZ)
58. TEAM Integrated Engineering Inc. (San Antonio, TX)
59. Halcrow North America (New York, NY)
60. Schnabel Engineering, Inc. (Glen Allen, VA)
61. Apex Companies, LLC (Rockville, MD)
62. Vanderweil Engineers (Boston, MA)
63. GATE, LLC (Houston, TX)
64. EDSA, Inc. (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
65. Smolen Emr & Associates Architects, Inc (Rockville, MD)
66. Ghafari Associates, L.L.C. (Dearborn, MI)
67. Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. (Nashville, TN)
68. Kirksey (Houston, TX)
69. Terracon Consultants, Inc. (Olathe, KS)
70. Van Boerum & Frank Associates, Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT)
71. Luchs Consulting Engineers, LLC. (Meriden, CT)
72. Parametrix (Auburn, WA)
73. MTE Consultants Inc. (Kitchener, ON)
74. Testengeer Inc. (Port Lavaca, TX)
75. CirclePoint (San Francisco, CA)
76. Photo Science (Lexington, KY)
77. BKF Engineers (Redwood City, CA)
78. Trihydro Corporation (Laramie, WY)
79. HNTB Cos. (Kansas City, MI)
80. Coler & Colantonio, Inc. (Norwell, MA)
81. Aquaterra Environmental Solutions, Inc. (Overland Park, KS)
82. Nelson Nygaard Consulting Associates (San Francisco, CA)
83. Huckabee (Fort Worth, TX)
84. Foss Architecture & Interiors, Inc. (Fargo, ND)
85. RJ O’Connell & Associates, Inc (Stoneham, MA)
86. Wiser Company (Murfreesboro, TN)
87. Tsoi Kobus & Associates (Cambridge, MA)
88. KSA Engineers, Inc. (Longview, TX)
89. SCS Engineers (Long Beach, CA)
90. Pennoni Associates Inc. (Philadelphia, PA)
91. Gafcon, Inc. (San Diego, CA)
92. Enermodal Engineering (Kitchener, ON)
93. GUNDA CORPORATION, INC. (Houston, TX)
94. Group2 Architecture Engineering Ltd. (Red Deer, AB)
95. CB Engineers (San Francisco, CA)
96. King & King, Architects LLP (Syracuse, NY)
97. FXFOWLE Architects (New York, NY)
98. Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. (Raleigh, NC)
99. Marstel-Day, LLC (Fredericksburg, VA)
100. GEI Consultants Inc. (Woburn, MA)
101. Bergmann Associates (Rochester, NY)
102. Baldridge & Associates Structural Engineering, Inc. (Honolulu, HI)
103. ESI Consultants, Ltd (Naperville, IL)
104. Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (Watertown, MA)
105. Brandow & Johnston, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA)
106. Groundwater & Environmental Services Inc. (Neptune, NJ)
107. Cherokee Enterprises, Inc. (Miami Lakes, FL)
108. KCI Technologies Inc. (Sparks, MD)
109. EAPC (Grand Forks, ND)
110. Crafton Tull Sparks (Rogers, AK)
111. ERRG (Martinez, CA)
112. Horizon Engineering Associates, LLC (New York, NY)
113. JRS Architect, P.C. (Mineola, NY)
114. Interstates Engineering, Inc. (Sioux Center, IA)
115. Process Plus, LLC (Cincinnati, OH)
116. McKim & Creed (Raleigh, NC)
117. Berger Devine Yaeger, Inc. (Kansas City, MS)
118. Perez & Perez Architects Planners (Miami, FL)
119. Weaver Boos Consultants (Chicago, IL)
120. Environmental Resolutions, Inc. (Lake Forest, CA)
121. Primera Engineers (Chicago, CA)
122. Moody Nolan, Inc. (Columbus, OH)
123. Fentress Architects (Denver, CO)
124. Arora Engineers, Inc. (Chadds Ford, PA)
125. Fehr-Graham & Associates LLC (Freeport, IL)
126. Tectonic Engineering & Surveying Consultants P.C. (Mountainville, NY)
127. P.W. Grosser Consulting, Inc. (Bohemia, NY)
128. Woolpert (Dayton, OH)
129. Lowe Engineers LLC (Atlanta, GA)
130. HAKS Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors, P.C. (New York, NY)
131. Baseline Engineering (Golden, CO)
132. H2Engineering Inc (Tallahassee, FL)
133. Collins Engineers, Inc. (Chicago, IL)
134. M/E Engineering PC (Rochester, NY)
135. Dvirka And Bartilucci Consulting Engineers (Long Island, NY)
136. Harper Houf Peterson Righellis Inc. (Portland, OR)
137. Jacobs Associates (San Francisco, CA)
138. Woodard & Curran (Portland, ME)
139. Mead & Hunt, Inc. (Madison, WI)
140. Potomac-Hudson Engineering, Inc. (Bethesda, MD)
141. McGill Associates, PA (Asheville, NC)
142. BJAC pa (Raleigh, NC)
143. Ruby+Associates, Inc. (Farmington Hills, MI)
144. GARY GUY WILSON, AIA, PC (Las Vegas, NV)
145. V3 Companies Ltd (Woodridge, IL)
146. Walker Partners (formerly known as G. E.Walker & Associates, L.L.C.) (Waco, TX)
147. BLRB Architects, p.s. (Tacoma, WA)
148. Langan Engineering and Environmental Services (Elmwood Park, NJ)
149. EM-Assist, Inc. (Folsom, CA)
150. Hood-Patterson & Dewar, Inc. (Norcross, GA)
151. PGAL (Houston, TX)
152. LS3P Associates, Ltd. (Charleston, SC)
153. Hipp Engineering & Consulting, Inc. (Raleigh, SC)
154. H2M Group (Melville, NY)
155. DCI Engineers (Bellevue, WA)
156. CMX Inc (Manalapan, NJ)
157. RAND Engineering & Architecture, PC (New York, NY)
158. Finley Engineering Company, Inc. (Lamar, MO)
159. Hanson Professional Services Incorporated (Springfield, IL)
160. Barton & Loguidice, P.C. (Syracuse, NY)
161. Sam Schwartz Engineering (New York, NY)
162. Merrick & Company (Aurora, CO)
163. Degenkolb Engineers (San Francisco, CA)
164. Dekker/Perich/Sabatini (Albuquerque, NM)
165. Farnsworth Group, Inc. (Bloomington, IL)
166. Ulteig Engineers, Inc. (Fargo, ND)
167. Caruana & Associates (Long Beach, CA)
168. Harrison French & Associates, LTD (Bentonville, AR)
169. Dagher Engineering (New York, NY)
170. Lochner (Chicago, IL)
171. Birdsall Services Group, Inc. (Sea Girt, NJ)
172. Jaster-Quintanilla (Austin, TX)
173. PE-Services (Lebanon, OH)
174. Sparling (Seattle, WA)
175. Cobb Engineering Company (Oklahoma City, OK)
176. Array Healthcare Facilities Solutions, Inc. (King of Prussia, PA)
177. RPA Associates Inc. (Wyomissing, PA)
178. Chen and Associates (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
179. Converse Consultants (Monrovia, CA)
180. Long Engineering, Inc. (Atlanta, GA)
181. Gilsanz Murray Steficek (New York, NY)
182. Dudek (Encinitas, CA)
183. Cuningham Group Architecture, P.A. (Minneapolis, MN)
184. YU & Associates, Inc. (Elmwood Park, NJ)
185. NAC|Architecture (Spokane, WA)
186. Perkowitz+Ruth Architects (Long Beach, CA)
187. ACAI Associates, Inc (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
188. BrightFields, Inc. (Wilmington, DL)
189. Core States Group (Atlanta, GA)
190. Daniel B. Stephens & Associates, Inc. (Albuquerque, NM)
191. Mabbett & Associates, Inc (Bedford, MA)
192. Calvin, Giordano & Associates, Inc. (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
193. JONES & CARTER, INC. (Houston, TX)
194. Wier & Associates, Inc. (Arlington, TX)
195. Passero Associates (Rochester, NY)
196. Sherlock, Smith and Adams, Inc. (Montgomery, AL)
197. CPH Engineers, Inc. (Sanford, FL)
198. Traffic Planning and Design, Inc. (Pottstown, PA)
199. ECOM Engineering, Inc. (Sacramento, CA)
200. GH2 Architects, LLC (Tulsa, OK)

The Zweig Letter 2009 Hot Firm List is based solely on gross revenue for both fiscal year 2005 and fiscal year 2008, as verified by financial statements or income tax returns reviewed by third parties. The list is limited to firms based in the United States and Canada deriving the majority of their revenue from the practice of architecture, engineering, planning, environmental consulting, or allied disciplines. Design/build firms are also eligible. Only firms that were in business as of January 1, 2005, and had 2005 revenue of $1 million or greater, were eligible. Firms were ranked from 1 to 200 based on percentage growth and dollar growth. Dollar growth and percentage growth were weighted equally to give both small and large firms an opportunity to make the list. Each firm’s two rankings were added together, and the 200 firms with the lowest combined rankings comprise the list.

About ZweigWhite: ZweigWhite is the nation’s leader in enhancing business performance for architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms. The ZweigWhite team consists of experts in strategy, mergers and acquisitions, business valuation, ownership transition, human resources management, finance, marketing, market research, project management and project delivery methods who collectively produce a comprehensive suite of products and services, including advisory, consulting, newsletters, industry reports, executive training, business conferences, and more covering virtually every aspect of firm management. The firm is headquartered in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with additional offices in, Chicago, IL, Durham, NC, Natick, MA, and Washington, DC. The ownership of ZweigWhite are investors Eli Global and BIA Digital Partners, with management including Mark Zweig and Ed Friedrichs.  For more information contact Sonya Stout at 479.582.5700, or sstout@zweigwhite.com.