AIA National Small Firm Exchange (SFx) for International Region Chapters
Fiona Mckay
The 2020 members of the AIA's SFx at E. Fay Jones' Thorncrown Chapel
Three quarters of all architectural firms in the United States meet the definition of a ‘small firm’, having fewer than 10 employees. Approximately 30% of AIA members work for small firms. AIA National’s Small Firm Exchange (SFx) Member Group’s mission is to advance the mutual interests of architects practicing within small firms, promote leadership and professional development in small firms, plus facilitate and support small firm networks.
One of the specific challenges facing the International Region Chapters is how to leverage AIA National’s resources such as SFx to be relevant and have their unique membership needs identified and met. A virtual round table conversation is being planned for later this year to start a conversation with the IR’s small firm members to capture concerns specific to each region. If you are interested in joining SFx, please reach out to Lara and follow the instructions later in this article to be included in the invite. An Announcement will also be sent to all members about the round table closer to the – as yet undetermined – date.
AIA National’s SFx Annual Meeting was recently held in northwest Arkansas on 2 March through 4 March 2020. Representatives from the AIA’s 19 national regions, 1 international region and AIA National staff met at Haizlip Studio’s Amazeum to discuss issues facing small firms and to strategize objectives for 2020. The purpose of the 2-day meeting was to establish goals for the coming year through focused dedicated Workgroups:
Practice - The 2020 Practice Workgroup aligns with the AIA national's existing document portfolio, which focuses the working group’s efforts to collect, curate, create and make accessible resources to help small architecture firms be more successful.
Influence - Integration with the AIA national influence portfolio of information and combines efforts with the work of the national Advocacy Workgroup from a small firm perspective.
Conference - The SFx supports the small firm architect at the annual nation conference through targeted small firm sessions, forums, events, and guides. The Conference Workgroup will continue to make the conference experience as meaningful and impactful as possible for small firm architects.
Outreach - The SFx Outreach Workgroup will support the efforts of all the working groups to communicate with small firm architects and engage them in meaningful conversation about the profession. Leveraging the ever-expanding array of communication technology, the working group will reach out to small firm architects where they're at and ensure they have the resources they need at their fingertips.
How to Get Involved with SFx
The foundation of the SFx is to connect small firms to a curated list of the many general resources available through AIA National and to facilitate business-to-business conversations; this is especially important during the current global economic conditions where your firm might have the exact solution to a challenge another firm is facing.
Members can join the specific AIA SFx KnowledgeNet by navigating here and once logged in, search for the Small Firm Exchange under the Communities tab. The SFx dashboard includes opportunities to join in conversations with other small businesses via discussion forums, access the available library of documents and be a contributor to this library.
Additional Small Firm Resources can be found here:
NEW! The Small Firm Compensation Report is out!
Visit AIAU Small Firm Series! We have worked with AIAU to collect its top small firm continuing education sessions into one easy location on their website. Check it out!
SFx continues to seek feedback on its Business Plan Beta Template for Small Architectural Firms. Aspects of marketing, virtual practice and small firm practice finances are being added. The results of the SFx / SPD / CRAN survey can be found here: Business Models for Small Architectural Firms.
AIA Trust: Small Firm Programs & Resources
Written by: Lara Presber, AIA, AAA, AIBC, MAA, OAA, NCARB, 2020 National Small Firm Exchange, International Regional Representative.
Contact lara@studiopresber.com
