...and network for integrated projectdelivery work. “We’re having to shed our sub-consultant mentality and proactively seek our own opportunities,” she says. The firm also has resolved “operational challenges” with building information modeling, implemented now as a key marketing tool, Lupton adds.

Mergers and acquisitions are regaining traction, as prices stabilize and firms search out strategies for quick market penetration and diversity. Deal brokers are predicting heightened activity in 2010. “Even if you are outstanding at one thing and you believe the outlook for that one sector is terrific, at least have one back-up area of expertise,” says Paul Zofnass, president of EFCG, a New York City financial and M&A advisory firm.

Growing as a global player is an RTKL priority, boosted by its acquisition by Holland-based Arcadis a few years ago. “With the growing globalization of business, strategic partnerships and joint ventures may be the wave of the future,” says RTKL CEO Lance K. Josal. “We’ve been retooling our workforce to be more global and more agile. This has taken time, but it has paid dividends.” He says the firm’s health-care and technology-design prowess, a staple of U.S. work, “has proven the great differentiator in the Middle East.”

Engineer SSOE, Toledo, has turned its global focus on India and China. Its Shanghai office is now the company’s second largest, says CEO Tony Damon. With manufacturing still booming in China, SSOE has found a new niche for its expertise and also says it is “well positioned” in alternative-energy markets, he adds. “SSOE’s focus on energy efficiency helps cut costs for our clients and has created a niche for us even in markets that are not experiencing robust growth,” says Damon.

Adds MACTEC President Ann Massey, “The expansion and reach of international and global players in the engineering and construction market is worth watching, especially as the global recession eases.”

Finding the right deal through acquisition or joint venture can benefit all parties if done correctly, but making it work isn’t always easy. “Collaboration on a regional or global level delivers more to the client than going it alone, and each firm benefits when the arrangement is right,” says Christine Brack, Chicago-based principal of management consultant Zweig White. However, adds FMI’s Rice, “Both sides must bring something to the table.”

Even as recession strategies are being implemented, industry firms are seeing signs of improvement in even hard-hit markets. Architect FXFowle, New York City, is actually seeing some upswing in its commercial prospects related to master-planning and exterior building upgrades, says senior partner Guy Geier.

Likewise, TRC Solutions, Lowell, Mass., sees a pickup in its “exit strategy” practice, which manages the environmental liabilities of real estate that is being readied for transfer, particularly when foreign buyers are involved, says Senior Vice Presdient Cynthia Retallick. “This revival is just starting, and we anticipate slow but steady growth throughout 2010,” boosted somewhat by increased foreclosure and bankruptcy activity, she points out.

For Timmons Group, Richmond, Va., the recession’s impact on private development has decimated 50% of its market share, says principal Tim Davey. But the firm is using stimulus funding to help clients develop innovative...