Last year may have been the beginning of the market downturn, but you would never know it from revenue figures posted by ENR's Top 500 Design Firms. The Top 500 generated a record $48.27 billion in revenue in 2001, an 11.0% increase over 2000. Domestic revenue rose a healthy 10.3% last year from the year before, to $39.61 billion. And international work rose an impressive 14.5% over 2000's total, to $8.66 billion.
Many firms see the recessionary side of the current market as a temporary glitch, rather than a cause for serious concern. "The recession seems to have passed its low point and early front-end work on major projects seems to be appearing again," says Frank DeMartino, president of Parsons Corp. "Through all the hoopla about a recession in the industry, our firm has seen very little of a downturn, except in spots," says Gerry Salontai, CEO of Kleinfelder. "The big impact is that team leaders complain that they are only two people short instead of six people short."