Blogs

AIA Small Firm Exchange Awards

By Jeremiah S. Russell AIA posted 28 days ago
To all my fellow small firm architects and small firm owners, Over the last several months the Small Firm Exchange Board has been working to craft recommendations to expand AIA National Awards for Small Firms and Small Firm Architects. And earlier today we submitted a letter to the AIA Awards Task Force asking for the addition of the following awards programs specifically geared to Small Firms and Small Firm Architects: Proposals: The SFx Board and our membership appreciate the efforts of the Awards Task Force and respectfully offer the following recommendations to expand national AIA award opportunities for small firms. 1. Establish an "AIA Small Firm ...

Small Firm Guide to AIA25

By Scott Busby AIA posted 03-21-2025
The AIA national Small Firm Exchange board hand-selected the following sessions and events for small firm leaders at AIA25. WEDNESDAY JUNE 4 First-Timers Orientation: AIA Conference on Architecture and Design 8:30am-9:15am EV102 Stronger by Design: Architecture Firm Business Recovery & Resiliency Post-Crisis 9:30am -10:30am WE105 Legal Best Practices for Architects 9:30am-11:30am WE102 AIA Annual Business Meeting 1:00PM-4:00PM EV104 Streamlined Financial Habits for Busy Firm Owners 4:00PM-4:30PM WE140 One Foot in Your Mouth, the Other in a Grave 4:00PM-4:30PM WE145 THURSDAY JUNE 5 David vs. Goliath: How Small ...

Current SFx State Representatives

By Kathleen McCormick posted 01-16-2025
State Representative Email Alabama Barrett Penney, AIA barrett@fosheecompanies.com Alaska Tim Whiteley, AIA tim@welshwhiteley.com Arizona Devan Porter, AIA devan.porter@dsp.design Arkansas Tim Maddox, AIA mad@demxarch.com California VACANT Colorado Emily Adams, AIA emily.adams@neoerainc.com Connecticut Karin Patriquin, AIA karin@patriquinarchitects.com Delaware Willard F. Hurd, AIA whurd@footprintarch.com Florida Alex Silva, AIA Asilva@silvaarc.com Georgia Jordache K Avery, AIA jordache@xmetrical.com Hawaii VACANT Idaho ...

Current SFx Board

By Kathleen McCormick posted 01-16-2025
2025 SFx Board Table Legend: Bold = Chair / Bold = Executive Committee Board member Email Alyse Makarewicz, AIA Alysem@ambarchitects.com Bart Shaw, FAIA bart@ibanezshaw.com Christopher Hong, AIA chris@whisperarchitects.com Dana Ellis, AIA dana@outpoststudioco.com Darguin Fortuna, AIA dfortuna@flow-design-studio.com Jen Wright, AIA jwright@rallymade.com Jeremiah Russell, AIA jeremiah@roguearch.com Joshua Zinder, AIA jzinder@joshuazinder.com Julie Carpenter julie@aiacincinnati.org Lewis Matthew Miller, AIA lewismmiller@outlook.com Nathan Kipnis, ...

FAQ: What is a small firm?

By Kathleen McCormick posted 06-12-2024
FAQ: What is a small firm?* Approximately 74% of all firms within the AIA are small firms (less than 10 employees), which equates to 14,895 small firms within the organization. ~27.51% = sole practitioners = 5,505 ~32.39% = 1-5 employees = 6,481 ~14.54% = 5-10 employees = 2,909 For context, small firms share of staff is 11.5% and share of billings is 7.40% . We need to find ways to leverage that size for collaboration and influence, just like the individual large firms do. *Data based on AIA 2024 Firm Survey Report.

The AI Age

By Dana L. Ellis AIA posted 03-11-2024
William Martin, AIA and Brian Penschow, AIA both of AIA New Jersey are on a mission to get small architecture firms on board the Artificial Intelligence (AI) train. Their motivation for speaking to architects is profound: the best way to move the profession forward is to extract a seemingly complex concept in a way that small firm practitioners can immediately start to understand and apply. When a new technology seems complicated, it’s hard justifying taking time away from practical concerns to explore it. For many, AI has an added fear. Will this make designers irrelevant? What does it do to the value of creativity and design? William and Brian are dedicated ...

The small firm guide to AIA24

By Scott Busby AIA posted 03-05-2024
5 Reasons to attend AIA24 for Small Firm Architects: This year we all meet up in Washington DC for the AIA Conference on Architecture & Design. And just like last year we have come up with the 5 best reasons for you, a small firm architect, to join a few thousand other colleagues on the convention floor. 5. Museums out the Wazoo - #centerofdemocracy #monuments #whitehouse #history #82museums 4. Up Your Game - #knowledge #weallneedthis #progress #stepoutsideyourcomfortzone 3. Small Firms Rule - #wearethemajority #theAIAneedsus #yourvoicematters 2. Have a Seat at the Table - #roomwhereithappens #homeoftheAIA And finally the number one ...

Welcome from the 2023 SFx Chair

By Janet Bloomberg FAIA posted 02-14-2023
Welcome to AIA SFx 2023! The year ahead looks very exciting, with an energetic group of board members leading the way. It’s our second year with state representatives as part of our network, and we have quite a few new states joining the fold. This increases our overall national footprint and allows us to have a much larger impact around the country. The state representatives – new and continuing – are enthusiastic and motivated, and their contributions to our group will be extremely valuable. Our theme this year is Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), so this will guide our overall goals and initiatives. We’ll discuss strategies for small firms to be more ...

SFx All-Call resources for small firms

By Bruce T. Fallon AIA posted 09-16-2022
Each month the SFx Board and SFx State Representatives meet virtually to learn about resources available to help small firms improve their practices. The summaries below describe the topics discussed along with any resources that could be helpful to you in running your firm. To get more information, contact your SFx State Representative . January 2022 On our first call of the year, the AIA Trust shared resources available for small firms. Insurance options including life, liability, business owner, cyber liability, disability, auto, home, healthcare, long term care, travel and pet health insurance. AIA Trust Legal Network where you can ...

Applying for AIA Fellowship as a Small Firm practitioner

By Janet Bloomberg FAIA posted 07-26-2022
Fellowship is the highest membership honor you can receive from the AIA, and only approximately 3% of our members are elevated. Therefore, it’s common to feel that your work might not rise to this distinction. As a small firm practitioner, it may seem even more difficult – many believe that Fellowship is more attainable for architects who work for large firms. However, I would say that those who own or work for small firms have some distinct advantages that they may not be aware of. Fellowship is based on the architect’s full career, but it is not an autobiography – you will create a thesis statement and support that thesis. You will not tell all that you’ve ...

My Startup Firm Story: The Outpost Studio

By Dana L. Ellis AIA posted 03-18-2022
It was Spring Break 2021 and I had a pile of printed material that I had found and downloaded from the AIA Trust’s website. These included “ Creating and Maintaining a Professional Practice ”, “ Making the Transition to Running Your Own Firm ”, and “ How to Start and Run Your Own Firm ”. I had recently decided to start an Architecture practice with my husband after 12 years with the same firm. I started my professional career with this firm following graduate school. My primary mentors were the two founding principals and I didn’t feel comfortable given the circumstances, to ask them for advice. Instead, I turned to Google and the AIA. The resources ...

Welcome from the 2022 SFx Chair

By Bruce T. Fallon AIA posted 03-17-2022
It’s just been a few weeks since we returned from the 2022 Small Firm Exchange (SFx) Annual Board Meeting held in San Diego, California and I couldn’t be more excited about the future and the work of the SFx board for this year. During our meetings, the members of the American Institute of Architects SFx Board met to discuss the needs and issues that affect small architectural firms. In some ways, we left with more questions than answers, but in many ways the trajectory of the AIA Small Firm Exchange is exploding for the new year. As we move forward, our focus is on the mission of the SFx to Advocate, Inform and Share for the growth and benefit of all small ...

2021 Letter from the Chair

By Matthew Clapper AIA posted 01-09-2021
Happy New Year Everyone, 2020 was a crazy and difficult year for everyone, and the AIA’s Small Firm Exchange (SFx) Member Group was no exception. We plan most of our efforts during an annual, in-person, meeting at the beginning of every year. We were able to hold that meeting in-person in 2020 and then just two weeks later we found ourselves in an entirely new world and our country in lockdown. Just like every other organization last year, we adjusted. We put a focus on creating digital content, articles, webinars, and social media so that small firms across the country would still be provided with resources during these trying times. I want to ...

Episode 08: Architects Mickey Jacob, FAIA and Mel Price, AIA

By Jason Tapia AIA posted 11-12-2019

Episode 07: Architects Chyanne Husar, AIA and Matt Clapper, AIA

By Jason Tapia AIA posted 11-11-2019

Using the AIA Trust to Stay Competitive in the Hiring Market

By Jason Tapia AIA posted 10-08-2019
Small Business Challenges In order for a small firm owner to be competitive in a local hiring market, we often find ourselves needing to keep up with the benefits offered by larger firms. I started my office in 2010 and over the years I found I could only afford entry level staff to help me meet my contractual obligations. My strategy was to train young professionals to be able to support the production workload and accelerate their capabilities with intensive one-on-one time. What often occurred, though, was that after 2-3 years the staff member would get a better offer (more money and better benefits) from a larger firm and then leave. By the fourth departure ...

Zack/deVito Architecture: Designers and Master Builders

By Mark D. English AIA posted 09-10-2019
“I like to make things. You can do things structurally with metal that you can’t do with other building materials. Steel is strong, so you need less of it, less bulk, to create a structure. It’s about tinkering, and paring down… how slender can I make this piece of steel and still have it work? Working with stairs, the question is, can I make a particular structural element any smaller?” – Jim Zack “When you become the client, you realize how hard it is to be a client. Working on our own homes has given me a lot more empathy for the role of the client. When you live in your own projects… you get a heightened understanding of where things should go, and how ...

Episode 06: Architects Michael Lejong, AIA and Teri Coates, AIA

By Jason Tapia AIA posted 07-26-2019