The 2026 Trifecta Award: Three Pillars, One Extraordinary Achievement

By Luke Carothers

The strongest AEC firms rarely excel in just one area.  They build workplaces where people want to stay, deliver projects that leave a lasting impact, and create businesses capable of sustaining that success. Those strengths reinforce one another, turning individual achievements into lasting momentum. 

That philosophy is the foundation of the Zweig List. People, Practice, Projects—these three pillars recognize firms that invest in their employees, produce meaningful work, and operate with the vision to succeed in a competitive industry. 

The Trifecta Award recognized the organizations that manage to bring all three together. These firms have demonstrated excellence across every pillar, proving that lasting success is built not on a single accomplishment, but on a balanced commitment to culture, client impact, and business performance. 

The 2026 Trifecta Award winners represent different markets, specialties, and firm sizes, but they share a common belief in practice that exceptional firms don’t choose between great people, great projects, and great business practices. They invest in all three. 

People: Building Places Where Talent Grows 

Every successful project begins with people, but the strongest firms know success starts long before the first drawing or client meeting.  It begins with creating an environment where employees feel supported, challenged, and invested in the firm’s future. That’s the foundation of the Best Firms to Work for Award, which measures culture through the experiences of employees themselves. 

This year’s Trifecta winners prove there is no single blueprint for a great workplace. Some have spent more than a decade refining award-winning cultures, while others continue to build on a shorter but equally impressive track record. What they share is a workforce that consistently describes feeling valued and connected to the firm’s mission. 

Bowers+Kubota exemplifies that consistency.  As a Legacy Best Firms to Work For winner, the firm has remained among the top performers for a decade, with employees praising leadership’s genuine commitment to supporting its people. 

At Above Group, culture is defined by intentional leadership. After earning the top ranking in its category for the third consecutive year, employees point to authentic values, strong collaboration, and a workplace where they feel seen and heard. 

Patel, Greene, and Associates has sustained the same commitment through growth. Now a six-time Best Firm to Work For winner, employees consistently highlight transparent leadership, opportunities for development, and a culture that values both client success and work-life balance. Meanwhile, O’Connell Robertson demonstrates that great cultures continue to evolve, investing in the systems and flexibility needed to support employee growth through periods of rapid growth. 

Together, these firms show that exceptional workplaces aren’t created overnight, but are built through years of intentional leadership, trust, and a commitment to putting people first. 

Projects: Telling Stories That Matter 

Engineering projects shape communities, but the stories behind them shape how firms are perceived and remembered.  Great marketing captures the ideas, relationships, and purpose that often go unseen, transforming technical work into something people can connect with.  That’s what the Marketing Excellence Awards recognize. Projects that go beyond communication to create lasting engagement. 

This year’s Trifecta winners display four very different approaches to that challenge. 

For LJA, the story is centered on the people behind the projects.  Rather than distributing a traditional holiday gift, the firm invited employees to share family recipes and the stories behind them. The result was a regional cookbook that transformed into a celebration of culture, community, and connection. 

McAdams focused inward, replacing routine company updates with The Experience Network (TEN).  This entertaining internal newscast uses personality and storytelling to keep employees informed while strengthening culture across a growing, multi-office organization. 

For ISG, marketing became an opportunity to lead a broader industry conversation.  The Arkansas Mass Timber Conference brought together designers, educators, students, and professionals to explore an emerging area of practice while establishing the firm’s presence in a growing market. 

Meanwhile, Tamarack Grove Engineering demonstrated that great marketing can strengthen communities as well as brands.  Clays for a Cause combined philanthropy, networking, and industry relationships into an event that continues to expand its impact and support local youth organizations. 

These projects demonstrate that the most effective marketing doesn’t simply promote a firm. It builds culture, strengthens relationships, and creates experiences that people remember.  

Practice: Turning Momentum Into Lasting Success 

Strong firms don’t stand still; they evolve with changing markets, pursue new opportunities, and continue investing in the future long after reaching early success.  The Hot Firm Award recognizes organizations that have translated vision into sustained business performance. 

This year’s Trifecta Award winners demonstrate that momentum can take many forms.  For Colliers Engineering & Design, it means remarkable consistency.  The firm earned its fifth consecutive appearance on the Hot Firm list and its fourth straight finish in the top twenty, reinforcing its position among the AEC industry’s top-performing firms. 

For EMA Engineering & Consulting, momentum reached a new milestone with its first appearance on the Hot Firm rankings after years of recognition as a Best Firm to Work For.  SWBR continues to build on nearly a decade of sustained growth, remaining a familiar name on the rankings since 2017. 

ANS achieved its highest Hot Firm ranking yet, coming in a #5 while earning its fourth consecutive appearance.  Likewise, CobbFendley returned to the rankings after first breaking onto the list in 2015, which serves as a reminder that lasting success is measured over years and not in a single season. 

Three Honors.  One Achievement. 

Success in the AEC industry can’t be measured by a single achievement.  It comes from building a workplace where people can find success, creating work that inspires and connects while developing a business positioned for long-term growth.  The firms recognized with the 2026 Trifecta Award have demonstrated excellence across all three. 

This makes this recognition especially meaningful.  Earning distinction in one of the Zweig List pillars is an accomplishment in iteself.  Achieving it across all three is a reflection of organizations that excel from the inside out. 

Congratulations to the 2026 Trifecta Award winners.  Your commitment to your people, your work, and your business sets a standard for the industry and represents the very best of what the Zweig List was created to celebrate. 

source https://zweiglist.com/the-2026-trifecta-award-three-pillars-one-extraordinary-achievement/