Standing Out

摘要

The Federal Reserve, after 17 straight interest rate hikes since June 2004, decided not to raise rates for this cycle, citing increases in energy prices and a cooling of economic growth. Just as the Fed has made the decision to take a stand and "stop the bleeding," engineering firms have similarly been pushed to take a stand against an unfortunate trend in their industry: engineering expertise becoming a commodity, resulting in lower fees. Multiple firms in this year's CSE Giants survey lamented this phenomenon. But they aren't taking it lying down. In order to stay at the top of their profession, as well as keep from fading into the background of the building team picture, this year's respondents communicated two key tactics in battling the trend of commoditization: innovative design tools and energy expertise.