Executive Corner: Why Do Some A/E Firms Trade at Higher Valuation Multiples?
As I reflect on my 36 years in the advisory industry, I find it valuable to share insights on what I prioritize when evaluating A/E firms and understanding the drivers of their value. Many appraisers heavily rely on experience and key metrics to determine value, but have you ever wondered why some firms command higher valuation multiples than others within the same sector? Key Variables Influencing Valuation Among the key variables influencing valuation multiples are earnings capacity, gro...
Thoughts from Engineers: FEMA: An Agency Long Linked to Crisis and Risk Prevention
Few U.S. agencies are so regularly at the center of the public’s attention like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It’s an agency with many responsibilities and statutory obligations, including oversight and administration of the National Flood Insurance Program and multiple grant programs, crisis-response duties, and other tasks. Its performance record is routinely examined—and routinely criticized. Despite some truth to claims that its size, expanding responsibilities and burea...
Transportation Troubleshooting: YARD Work: Harnessing Advanced Technologies for Efficient Transit Operations
Transit agencies across the United States continue to face major budget restraints and staffing shortages. This is why opportunities for innovative research and development are becoming even more crucial, such as the greater implementation of automated vehicles (AVs). In April 2025, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy unveiled the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s new AV Framework. The first actions of this framework are meant to accelerate the modernization of Federal...
Engineering the Future: Does Civil Engineering Have the Courage to Change?
About a year ago, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) executive committee established the task committee on “Transforming our Workforce.” It was to be a “blue-sky” exercise, first to use a blank sheet of paper to design how we would approach outreach, multiple pathways toward becoming a civil engineer, what the undergraduate curriculum should look like and how we would tackle licensure. After we had a vision, the committee was to plot the course to achieve the vision. It has been a...
From the Editor: Contemplating the Interconnected Role of Humans and Nature
I’ve been reading about the role the environment plays in our society—past, present and future—and it’s raising questions I don’t know the answer to, but questions that absolutely need answers. Many of our readers know more about this topic than me, but I want to review some of the roles our environment plays, at least so I can frame some of the questions that come to mind. Our Journey Long ago, people settled near rivers as a water source. They chose the geography to better plant and harv...
Future Forward (Powered by ACEC): The Tax Debate: A Pivotal Moment
Powered by: The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) ushered in substantial changes to the American tax code, promoting economic growth and providing businesses with the tools needed to invest, expand and innovate. It has been a catalyst for the engineering industry’s stratospheric growth in recent years, which, in turn, has supported millions of direct and indirect jobs and injected billions of dollars into the overall U.S. economy. To paraphrase an often-misquoted line: what’s good for...
Infrastructure Outlook: Engineering Future-Ready and Stormwater-Resilient Infrastructure Projects with Porous Pavers
The challenges posed by urban flooding and stormwater issues continue to weigh heavily on the shoulders of engineers, planners and their clients. Water, flowing rapidly over impervious surfaces such as concrete and asphalt, causes more than just ecological damage. In extreme weather events, the sheer volume of uncontrolled water can severely damage infrastructure by cracking foundations, flooding basements and accelerating soil erosion. These issues compromise the structural longevity of buildin...
Engineering the Future: Public Safety Is Paramount in All Aspects of Engineering
Nothing is more important than the core tenet of our profession’s ethics: protecting public health, safety and welfare. When we do not do our jobs right, people can die. I remember a few years into my career, on Dec. 3, 1984, more than half a million people in Bhopal, India, were exposed to the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant. It was the world’s worst industrial disaster, resulting in 2,259 immediate deaths and another 10,000 deaths throug...
The Joy of Watching Engineers Graduate and Take the Next Step
I’ve been privileged to lead the senior class at Valparaiso University through the two-semester Senior Design Course for civil and environmental engineers for the last five years. This gives me the opportunity to experience what our future engineers are thinking. Granted, I only interact with 20 or so engineering students each year, so my observations are based on a small representative population. But, as I have said in previous columns, it’s rewarding to come to know and understand what this g...
Transportation Troubleshooting: During a Disaster, Get By with a Little Help from Your Friends
Severe natural and man-made disasters now are more commonplace and expensive. In 2024 alone, the United States experienced 27 extreme weather events that each resulted in more than a billion dollars in damage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Whether it’s a hurricane, flood, wildfire, earthquake, bridge collapse, mudslide, tornado or another occurrence, transportation infrastructure is among our hardest-hit assets—and getting roads and tunnels, trains, buses,...
Video: Crashes Drop Measurably After Rural Road Safety Improvement Project on US 521 in Lancaster County
AdventHealth Weaverville Hospital
June Issue 2026
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