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2026 A/E Firm Operational Excellence Awards

Countless awards recognize great architecture and engineering. These awards recognize the business behind the buildings.

The A/E Firm Operational Excellence Awards use real business data to recognize firms excelling at managing their projects, people, and finances to build stronger businesses and deliver exceptional work.

Register for Next Year
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The Best-Run A/E Firms, Proven by the Numbers

These architects and engineers show what’s possible when great teams pair strong operations with the power of CORE.

No Judges. No Popular Vote. Just Performance.

What makes the Operational Excellence Awards different? The results are backed by real business data. Participating CORE firms are evaluated using industry benchmarking metrics tied to the factors that matter most to the health of an architecture or engineering business.

Forget the judges' panel — using real performance data from BQE CORE, we recognize firms demonstrating exceptional profitability, efficiency, financial health, client value, talent productivity, and overall business performance.

 

2026 Winners & Honorable Mentions

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Profitability
& Growth Award

Winners:
  • Architecture: Butler Armsden Architects
  • Engineering: Mbroh Engineering
Honorable Mentions:
  • Architecture: ID & Design International, Alloy Architecture
  • Engineering: Trotter and Associates, PRVN Consultants
Metrics:
Recognizing firms turning great work into sustainable, profitable growth. 
Profit per FTE
Profit Margin
Multiplier Achieved
Average Contract Value (ACV)
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Operational
Efficiency Award

Winners:
  • Architecture: STITCH Design Shop
  • Engineering: Clark Land Resources
Honorable Mentions:
  • Architecture: ARKO Architecture, Evergreen Design Group
  • Engineering: Edwin Hancock Engineering Co., Kurt Fischer Structural Engineering
Metrics:
Recognizing firms getting more from their resources without simply spending more.
Revenue per FTE
Expense per FTE
Profit per FTE
Realization Rate
Average Collection Period
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Financial
Health Award

Winners:
  • Architecture: JP Architecture and Design
  • Engineering: QSPEC Solutions
Honorable Mentions:
  • Architecture: Summerour Architects, Meier Architects
  • Engineering: Avalon Mechanical Consultants, C-P Systems Corporation
Metrics:
Recognizing firms with the financial discipline and stability to thrive for the long haul.
Breakeven Multiplier
Overhead Multiplier
Billing Multiplier (multiplier achieved)
Average Collection Period
Backlog
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Client
Value Award

Winners:
  • Architecture: Hereford Dooley Architects
  • Engineering: Arc Surveying & Mapping
Honorable Mentions:
  • Architecture: ADM Group, Risepointe
  • Engineering: Edison Engineers, VP Engineering
Metrics:
Recognizing firms delivering incredible value while building strong, sustainable client relationships.
Realization Rate
Multiplier Achieved (billing multiplier)
Average Contract Value (ACV)
Backlog
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Talent
Productivity
Award

Winners:
  • Architecture: Brandstetter Carroll
  • Engineering: Shear Structural
Honorable Mentions:
  • Architecture: Abacus Architects, Forge Craft Architecture + Design
  • Engineering: Contour Engineering, Arrow Consulting Group
Metrics:
Recognizing firms creating outstanding results from their greatest asset: their people.
Revenue per FTE
Expense per FTE
Profit per FTE
Utilization Rate
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Balanced
Excellence Award

Winners:
  • Architecture: DMS design
  • Engineering: Northeast Infrastructure
Honorable Mentions:
  • Architecture: Webber + Studio, Collaborative Design Architects
  • Engineering: Dynotec, Globex Corporation
Metrics:
Recognizing firms that deliver exceptional performance across the business.
Profit Margin
Average Contract Value (ACV)
Revenue per FTE
Expenses per FTE
Utilization Rate
Realization Rate
Collection Period
Backlog
CORE CUSTOMERS

Think your firm is one of the best-run in the country? Prove it.

If you're a current CORE customer, your business data could put your firm among next year's Operational Excellence Award winners. No nominations to write, no judges to impress, no popularity contest.

The firms above didn't win because they told us they were exceptional. Their performance showed it. Next year, it could be yours.

Register for the Operational Excellence Awards

Earn It. Display It. Share It.

Operational excellence deserves recognition beyond your own four walls. Winners receive a collection of physical and digital assets designed to help their firm celebrate the achievement with employees, clients, prospects, and the wider A/E industry.
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A Custom-Engraved Trophy
Winners receive a custom-engraved trophy for displaying proudly.
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Industry-Wide Media Exposure
Winners are featured in BQE's blog and in an awards announcement.
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Visibility to 30,000+ Professionals

Winners are promoted to BQE’s LinkedIn audience.

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Digital Award Badges

Winners get exclusive digital badges recognizing their win.

Past Honorees

Operational excellence isn't a one-year achievement. Each year, the A/E Firm Operational Excellence Awards recognize architecture and engineering firms demonstrating exceptional performance across their projects, people, and business.

Explore the firms that have earned their place among our Operational Excellence Award winners in previous years.

 

2025 Operational Excellence Award Winners

Profitability & Growth Award

  • Winners: Form Function Studio; Trotter and Associates
  • Honorable Mentions: Tina Barnard Designs; Webber + Studio; Civil Core Consulting; Carter and Kaye Engineering

Operational Efficiency Award

  • Winners: Evergreen Design Group; Contour Engineering
  • Honorable Mentions: Brandstetter Carroll; DMS design; AEGIS Engineering; 2N Civil

Financial Health Award

  • Winners: Forge Craft Architecture + Design; Clark Land Resources
  • Honorable Mentions: Bryan May Architecture; Tina Barnard Designs; Arc Surveying Mapping; Pacific Stormwater Solutions

Client Value Award

  • Winners: Butler Armsden Architects; Civil Core Consulting
  • Honorable Mentions: PRVN Consultants; Evergreen Design Group; Form Function Studio; Clark Land Resources

Talent Productivity Award

  • Winners: AEGIS Engineering; Cotton Architecture + Design
  • Honorable Mentions: Butler Armsden Architects; Advanced Engineering Concepts; Trotter and Associates; Collaborative Design Architects

Balanced Excellence Award

  • Winners: Risepointe; Advanced Engineering Concepts
  • Honorable Mentions: PLACE Landscape Architecture; Pinnacle Engineering Group; Collaborative Design Architects; Legacy Engineering Group

What Do the Best-Run A/E Firms Do Differently?

Operational excellence isn't guesswork. Explore BQE's benchmarking research to see how firms perform across profitability, utilization, staffing, and other measures of firm health — then find where your firm stands.

2026 Architecture Benchmarking Report

See how architecture firms stack up across the metrics that matter.
Download

2026 Engineering Benchmarking Report

Compare your engineering firm's performance against industry benchmarks.
Download

What to Track and How to Track It: Essential KPIs for A&E Firms

Turn performance data into better decisions for your projects, people, and business.
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