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Who We Are

The mission of the AIA Small Firm Exchange (SFx) is to advance the mutual interests of architects practicing in small firms. The objectives of the AIA SFx are three-fold:

1. Advocate the value of small firms, the national SFx, and local SFx groups, both within the AIA and to the public.

2. Curate and disseminate the most pertinent resources and information, from the AIA & elsewhere, that benefit small firms.

3. Inform the AIA of current issues facing small firms and areas in which current resources/information are lacking.

Approximately 75% of all firms within the AIA are small firms (less than 10 employees), which equates to 14,459 small firms within the organization.

~26.8% = sole practitioners = 5,173

~33.5% = 1-5 employees = 6,459

~14.7% = 5-10 employees = 2,827

For context, small firms share of staff is 16.0% and share of billings is 12.0%

We need to find ways to leverage that size for collaboration and influence, just like the individual large firms do.

   

  

  • 1.  RFP/RFQ sites

    Posted 01-06-2017 08:29 PM

    How do YOU find architectural design RFP/RFQ's?

    Do you scour your local towns' websites hoping they've posted one? Or stay on top of your states BGS site? Maybe you've found one of the many sites that list RFP's for many different services/categories and taken a fleeting stab at design ones. I've found a couple of decent sites such as the one the AIA has partnered with (cmd insight, forgot the link). But I'm wondering if there's something better...

    If you have a site you've had success with, care to share the link with the masses?

    If you don't know of any good sites, is there a need for one specific to our services? I envision a site where developers and building owners can post RFP's that architects can reply to and drum up some healthy competition within our profession. I imagine it would benefit developers to get different proposals so they can better select an architect, and not just based on the cost of services or someone they've used in the past. And it would help us architects find projects.

    I'm struggling to find projects in my area, and yet I'm hearing of a couple of out-of-state firms opening branch offices in my state (Maine) because they're so busy.

    So... why is a LOCAL (to Maine) fully qualified, experienced, educated, Maine licensed and fully insured architect having such a hard time finding LOCAL (Maine) work?

    How do YOU find clients, besides repeat business and referrals?

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    Michael Pednault AIA

    Windham, ME
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