ISG Pushes Boundaries and Status Quo - Leads Change and Midwest A/E Rankings

ESOP Firm Continues to Expand Geography and Market Share While Earning Coveted Engineering-News Record Top 500 Spot

May 7, 2018 (Mankato, Minnesota) – ISG, an architecture, engineering, environmental, and planning firm that celebrated its 45^th anniversary in March 2018, was recently recognized, again, as one of the country’s leading design firms by the Engineering News-Record (ENR) magazine’s annual industry rankings. The firm continued its upward trajectory coming in at #324 in 2018, up from #349 in 2017 and jumping over 125 spots from its position in 2016.

The firm has embraced characteristics and behaviors that truly make it “different.” Of more than 50,000 architecture and engineering (A/E) firms in the nation, ISG is the 324^th largest on the list in terms of revenue. “To us at ISG, growth is more than a revenue number,” says ISG President and CEO Chad Surprenant, PE. “It comes with the opportunity to deliver solutions from more and better resources, and to intentionally develop ever-improving teams for our clients as well as greater potential for our employee-owners.”

Maintaining the firm’s focus on the future, Chad reaffirms that landing the #324 spot only amplifies ISG’s culture of growth and continuous improvement. “We have grown and don’t intend to look back. We are humble about our beginnings, and passionate that doing the right things/good behaviors leads to positive results all around; which our ENR ranking validates. We are continually working to strategically align our talent, decisions, and opportunities with a trajectory that surpasses industry standards,” states Chad. “We want to create a sustainable growth cycle for our clients and their businesses, our partners, and diverse ISG employee owners/firm. Providing strategic solutions and 360 degree engagement come first – revenue and important rankings like the ENR are a bonus.”

The ENR Top 500 Design Firm list is used to directly rank and outline the largest United States based design firms, both publicly and privately held, based on design-specific revenue. ISG, a firm that transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership in January 2017 through a firm-wide ESOP structure, is the fastest growing firm in the Midwest as well as the central United States. Nationally, ISG is the 3^rd fastest growing firm, 2015 to present according to ENR. ISG is also only one of 69 firms to successfully maintain or increase their rank during the past 4 years and has the second highest growth curve during this time period.

Recent ISG growth has included a new Sioux Falls, South Dakota office and acquisition of reputable StruXture Architects in Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa, along with several talent additions and industry leading groundbreakings throughout the Midwest and Southeast.

ISG will also unveil its current internal share price amongst its 270+ employee owners this summer, solidifying the hard work that is illustrated with the firm’s 2018 ENR ranking. A ribbon cutting and social event for the firm’s newest office previously mentioned in South Dakota will occur June 13, 2018.

Note: Statistics provided within the release are unbiased and taken directly from ENR’s full Top 500 historical list.