Architectural firms changing with times - Dayton Business Journal:

http://dbaby.com/help/settings/index.htm
But local architects are hopeful that by the end of this their drafting tables will be littered with By increasingmarketing efforts, reachinvg out to potential clients and staying on top of the lates t design technology, officials want to be readh when business starts to come back. Alan president of Dayton-based , noticerd a down tick in busineszlast summer. He said his five-persohn firm has tightened its belt, but still has a steady work In 2008, Scherr’s billings dropped 33 percent, from $1.2 millioj to $800,000. He expects this year’s billings to decrease 20 percent from last The biggest problem for his firm has been increasedd competition from outsidethe region.
Peter managing principal of Englewood-based , said his firm is facing similar “We’re holding our own, it’s just a little slower,” Harshj said. App saw a slight increase in billings, $2.13 millionb in 2007 to $2.23 million last year, but Harsh doesn’t expect another hike this Rising competition is one of themain challenges. Architects say the numbet of firms bidding on projects has doubled in the past The increased submissions are from firmss outside of Dayton looking for and larger firms submitting for smaller projects as a way to keep theifremployees busy.
For example, nearly 30 firms submittec proposals for the second building indowntown Dayton’sx TechTown, which Alan Scherr was ultimately awarded. And firms from as far away as Chicagp were looking to landthe work. Scher r said this isn’t a small but just a few years ago, about half as many firmds would have submitted forthis project. “Everybody’ chasing the same piece of the pie,” Scherr “The pie is the but the firms that were workinf for larger clients no longer havethose commissions.” John Poe, presidenr of Dayton-based , said larger firms goinh after smaller projects are cutting their fees just to keep theire employees working.
“That doesn’t help anyone,” Poe said. And with companiesw pulling back on new buildings and there is less work inthe pipeline. The designs architecturse firms perform now are a good indicatot of the work construction companies will be doing six to nine monthsfrom now. Local construction companiesa arebusy now, but many are facing backlogs that are lookinb increasingly sparse. On a national level, indicators show the potentiakl foran upswing. The past two months have show strong inquiries for new according tothe , a leadinfg economic indicator of constructionn activity. In March and the index was above 40 for the firsg time since August and September oflast year.
A scord above 50 indicates an increassein billings. Nevertheless, to combat the recentr slowdown, architectural firms are: • keeping up-to-dated with technology.