Congratulations to Ohio’s Early Professional Friendly Firms!

The goal of the AIA Ohio Early Professional Friendly Firm program is to celebrate firms who offer exceptional support and opportunities for their early professionals. Additionally, the program seeks to foster a dialogue within firms across the state with the objective of creating new policies and practices that promote innovation, development, and progressive workplaces for the future members of the design profession.

An early professional is defined as someone who is part of the architectural staff and fills one of the following roles: architectural students, recent graduates, unlicensed emerging professionals within 10 years of graduation, or architects licensed within the last 10 years.

There are two designations possible for a firm to receive. The Early Professional Friendly Firm Designation and the Early Professional Friendly Firm Plus+ Designation.

    • EP Friendly Firm Designation is earned by receiving a passing score of 70% (75 points) or above on the 2025 EP Friendly Firm questionnaire
    • EP Friendly Firm Plus+ Designation is earned by receiving a score of 80% (85 points) or above on the 2025 EP Friendly Firm questionnaire

AIA Ohio is pleased to announce that the following firms earned the Early Professional Friendly Firm Plus+ Designation in 2025:

Bialosky
Buehrer Group Architecture and Engineering
DS Architecture
Elevar Design Group, Inc.
GBBN Architects, Inc
HSB Architects + Engineers
IKM Architecture
Meyers + Associates
Moody Nolan
Phillips Sekanick Architects, inc | PSA Architecture
PIVOTstudio
R.E. Warner & Associates, Inc.
RWA Architects, Inc.
The Collaborative
ThenDesign Architecture (TDA)
Thomas Porter Architects
WSA Studio

Additionally, AIA Ohio is pleased to announce that the following firms have earned the Early Professional Friendly Firm Designation:

+Detail
App Architecture, Inc.
BBCO
BSHM Architects Columbus
BSHM Architects Youngstown
CBLH Design
ESM Architects
GUNZELMAN architecture + interiors
Hiti, DiFrancesco and Siebold, Inc.
JPA Architecture
MA Design
Perspectus Architecture
PMBA Architects, LLC Cincinnati
PMBA Architects, LLC Perrysburg
Reztark Design Studio
Richard L. Bowen & Associates, Inc.
TC Architects

These EP Friendly Firm designations are a one-year designation, with the option to renew the designation annually. Firms are expected to maintain the policies and practices they have implemented at the time of submission throughout the designation period. Applications for the EP Friendly Firm program will be accepted annually, from February 1 to March 15.