Another key: Lasting relationships with universities and hospitals. Though the firm has 800 people nationwide, we chose to speak with just Chicago principals on Friday, Rod Vickroy, Noel Bryan, Angie Lee, Jens Mammen, and Carolina Lopez, who tell us they're working on everything from state-of-the-art training centers for Microsoft and Deloitte, to an electrical and computer engineering building at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to a cancer research hospital at Louisiana State. The Chicago office has grown to fifty members, with some, like Noel and Carolina, joining from other offices across the country.

Diversity is also found in employee personalities. (Ever honest, Noel is sure he wouldn't want to work with a bunch of people just like him.) They say the result is a fun office where people dress up for Halloween and host potlucks during lunch hours. They hope to grow their office over the next two years with the help of the GSA Region 5 IDIQ  they were awarded earlier this year.