A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT: Positive Economic News for Landscape Architects

I was delighted to see that the latest ASLA Business Quarterly economic survey of more than 4,000 landscape architecture firms was just as positive as the previous two quarters, indicating a continued strong demand for landscape architecture services. Here are a few highlights:

• Fifty-five percent of respondents described their firms' billable hours as "average" to "well above average."
• When asked to compare Q1 2008 with Q1 2007, 53 percent said billable hours were either "higher" or "about the same."
• New inquiries in Q1 2008 were similarly positive: 54 percent reported "average" to "well above average" inquiries.
• When asked to compare Q1 2008 with Q1 2007, 52 percent said that new inquiries were either "higher" or "about the same."
• As with the past two quarters, approximately 40 percent of firms are hiring new employees.

The Q1 survey also included interesting questions about client demand for sustainability. If you haven’t already, please be sure to read the whole survey article in the latest Business Quarterly. If you’re a nonmember or would like to send the results to a nonmember, please use this link.

It's going to be another strong year for the landscape architecture industry...another great thing to celebrate during National Landscape Architecture Month.