Design Firms Have Cash to Spend

(I-Newswire) August 23, 2010 - WAYLAND, MA—Despite the languishing economy, CFOs at architecture and engineering firms across the country say they have extra cash available for capital improvements such as IT systems and even to consider making a deal or two.

In an article in the August issue of AEC Finance News, Wendy Raffaeli, vice president and controller at The RMH Group, Inc., a consulting engineering firm in Lakewood, CO, said the company has a solid pipeline of excess cash.

“Several years ago, we set up a separate fund to repurchase shares of stock from our shareholders, both now and in the future,” she says. “This fund provides both an emergency reserve in case we need it for operations (requires board approval to use funds for operations) and also provides some assurance, although not a guarantee, to our shareholders that when they retire, the company will have cash to repurchase their shares and the shareholder won’t have to worry about selling their shares to other shareholders, etc.”

Candace Tobin, CFO at Cambridge Systematics, Inc., a policy, planning, and analytical consulting firm in Cambridge, MA, said the firm’s conservative approach has helped grow cash reserves.

The firm builds its cash up over time as it looks for growth opportunity and plans for its sustainability, Tobin says. That plan has worked well and is helping the company these days, when many firms are looking to sell as their bottom lines get worse.

“We do have excess cash and we’re looking for ways to put it to work,” Tobin says.

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ZweigWhite is the nation’s leader in enhancing business performance for architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms. The ZweigWhite team consists of experts in strategic business planning, business valuation, ownership transition, human resources management, finance and administration, mergers and acquisitions, market research, marketing, project management and project delivery methods who collectively produce a comprehensive suite of products and services, including newsletters, industry reports, executive training, business conferences, and advisory services covering virtually every aspect of firm management. The firm is headquartered in Wayland, MA, with additional offices in, Chicago, IL, Durham, NC, Fayetteville, AR and Washington, DC. The ownership of ZweigWhite are investors Eli Global and BIA Digital Partners, and management including Mssrs. Zweig and Friedrichs.

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