ACEC Career Center

Hiring engineering talent? The ACEC Engineering Career Center connects employers with qualified candidates looking for opportunities across the engineering and design services industry.

During September, save 15% on premium job posting packages with promo code ACECSeptDeal26. Get started  here.

Business of Design Consulting (BDC) Virtual Program – Registration Closing Soon

 ACEC's long-running Business of Design Consulting is back for its online six-week course and there’s still time to register!

Join us weekly starting Tuesday, October 6 for interactive sessions, peer discussion, case studies, and best practices to help participants strengthen the management and business expertise needed to lead an A/E firm in an ever-changing business environment. Click here to learn more and register.

ACEC Coalitions

ACEC's Small Firm Coalition is excited to partner with PSMJ to offer Managing Small Projects Successfully: How to Prevent Small Projects from Becoming Big Problems, a four-part course to help firms ensure profitability on projects with tight margins. The course starts November 3, 2026 and you'll earn 8 PDHs! Click here for full details. 

ACEC Coalitions – Connect with Your Peers 

ACEC Coalitions connect members with peers across the country for practical education, candid peer exchange, advocacy engagement, and professional connections. Coalition participation is included with ACEC membership.

Upcoming Roundtables

Peer-led roundtables give members a place to compare notes, talk through current challenges, and hear how others in their practice area are approaching similar issues.

Professional Surveyors Roundtable 
November 12 | 2:00–3:00 PM ET | Virtual | Free for ACEC Members

Upcoming Online Education – Earn PDHs 

AI-Assisted Data Extraction for Professional Surveyors 
October 21 | Virtual | For Professional Surveyors (registration link to come)
A look at how AI tools can speed up data extraction and processing work for survey professionals.

Preventing Small Projects from Becoming a Big Problem 
November 3 & 5 | Virtual | Open to All ACEC Members | Earn 8 PDHs
Small projects can create outsized problems when scope, budgets, schedules, and client expectations aren't managed carefully. This series provides practical strategies for improving project management and protecting firm performance and profitability.

Breaking Ground: The Realities of Data Center Land Development 
November 10 | 1:30–2:30 PM ET | Virtual | For Land Development Professionals | 1 PDH
Data center development has become one of the most active and complex sectors in land development. This moderated panel will explore how projects are moving through the development process today and where the market may be heading next.

Participants will hear how infrastructure demands—including power, water, transportation, and utilities—are influencing feasibility and site selection; learn about the biggest challenges affecting data center development; and hear practical strategies for addressing community concerns while advancing successful projects.

Digging for Talent: Recruitment and Retention in Geotechnical Engineering 
November 18 | Virtual | For Geoprofessionals
A conversation on recruiting and retaining talent in geotechnical engineering.

Powering the Build: MEP Engineering Realities in Data Center Development 
December 10 | 1:30–2:30 PM ET | Virtual | For MEP Professionals | 1 PDH

Data center development is accelerating rapidly, putting MEP engineers at the center of the power, cooling, utility, and infrastructure decisions that determine whether projects can be delivered on time and at scale.

Upcoming Advocacy Connection Series – Free for ACEC Members 

The Advocacy Connection Series gives members direct access to ACEC's advocacy team for practice-area-specific conversations about legislative and regulatory issues affecting their firms.

Land Development – December 1 | 1:00–2:00 PM ET 
Geoprofessionals – December 2 | 1:30–2:30 PM ET 
Professional Surveyors – December 8 | 1:00–2:00 PM ET 
MEP – December 10 | 1:00–2:00 PM ET 
Structural Engineers (CASE) – December 15 | 1:00–2:00 PM ET 
Small Firm Leaders – December 17 | 1:30–2:30 PM ET 

All Virtual Advocacy Connection sessions are free for ACEC members. 

Market Intelligence Resources

ACEC's Fall 2026 Commercial & Residential Real Estate Market Brief was just released highlighting five trends creating engineering opportunities, including data centers, office-to-multifamily conversions, housing affordability initiatives, senior housing development, and transit-oriented development. The brief also includes business development insights on migration trends and project pipelines. Read the full brief and subscribe for future market intelligence updates.

Catch up on a new Market Edge podcast featuring veteran journalist and broadcaster Llewellyn King, discussing the concept of the "New Weather" and its implications for infrastructure, migration, economic development, and investment. Topics include the economic impact of a potential Super El Niño, heat and water constraints, resilient infrastructure, adaptation funding challenges, and how AI may help predict and prepare for future risks.

Join the new ACEC Market Intel Regional Insights Working Group on September 24. The working group will research data sources, test analytical methods, explore emerging trends and AI tools, and evaluate opportunities for ACEC to deliver region-specific market intelligence that supports member firms' strategic planning and growth. To join the next call contact Diana at dolare@acec.org.

Registration is now open for the next ACEC Market Intel Exchange, focused on the Manufacturing Market, taking place November 18. Moderated by Mark Baum of BW Design Group, the discussion will explore manufacturing market outlooks, opportunities in automotive, EV battery, semiconductor, life sciences and defense-related manufacturing, reshoring strategies, workforce challenges, automation, and speed-to-market demands affecting engineering firms. Register here.

The Business Development & Marketing Forum will convene more than 100 industry professionals in Cleveland this October, making it the largest BDM Forum in ACEC history. The program will feature sessions on AI, business development, marketing strategy, client engagement, leadership, and emerging industry trends, providing valuable peer-to-peer networking and professional development opportunities. To join the online community, visit here.

The Market Intelligence Committee will meet live at ACEC's Fall Conference on October 27 in Phoenix. Featured speaker Evan Forrest, Vice President of Zonda Advisory, will present the latest housing market intelligence and discuss how evolving residential development trends may influence business planning and growth opportunities across the AEC industry. Register here.

ACEC Research Institute

Latest Research from the ACEC Research Institute

The ACEC Research Institute released the latest Firm of the Future study, Leading Through AI Risk: The Enterprise Framework for Engineering Firm Leaders. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in engineering practice, firms face new opportunities to improve productivity, decision-making and client value — but also new risks that extend far beyond the technology itself. The ACEC Research Institute’s Leading Through AI Risk: The Enterprise Framework for Engineering Firm Leaders provides firm leaders with a practical framework for identifying and managing AI-related risks across eight interconnected areas, including professional liability and standard of care, data governance and intellectual property, workforce development, cybersecurity, financial and business model risk, and enterprise governance. Drawing on research and interviews with leaders across the engineering ecosystem, the report emphasizes that AI risk is not simply an IT issue; it requires coordinated leadership across the entire firm. The report offers engineering leaders a roadmap for adopting AI responsibly while protecting clients, preserving professional standards and positioning their firms to capture the opportunities AI creates. The report was released in conjunction with the Institute’s Future of Engineering Roundtable, Managing AI When You Don’t Understand Its Risks, moderated by Joe Bates and featuring Jim Compton, Chief Technology Officer at ESP Associates, and Emily Honerbrink, Principal and Director of Artificial Intelligence at Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc.

>Download your complimentary copy today!

Engineering Business Sentiment Q3 2026 

Engineering firms continue to operate from a position of strength, even as uncertainty about the broader U.S. economy persists. The ACEC Research Institute’s Engineering Business Sentiment Q3 2026 report provides a timely look at how engineering firms are assessing current business conditions and the year ahead, including firm and industry confidence, market-sector performance, backlogs, hiring expectations and workforce trends. The latest findings show durable workloads, with half of responding firms reporting backlogs of one year or more, while 88% report at least one open position. Sentiment remains particularly strong in sectors including Data Centers and Water/Wastewater, although firms are taking a more cautious view of the broader economic outlook. The report gives engineering firm leaders valuable benchmarking data to understand how their peers are performing, where opportunities are emerging and which economic and workforce issues may shape the industry over the next 12 months.
>Download your complimentary copy