As executive director of the Memphis chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Heather Baugus Koury knows firsthand how the industry has been and continues to be ravaged by a soft economy.

She said many firms don’t broadcast layoffs, but the most recent numbers from the local chapter indicate that fewer architects have jobs today than a year ago. Individual membership in AIA Memphis slipped from 275 members in 2008 to 235 as of mid-August, with the dropoff attributable to layoffs during the past year, and more are expected.

On the other hand, AIA Memphis counts among its members 65 firms ranging from a sole proprietorship to large corporations, and the only AIA member firm to close because of the economic slowdown came when the Mississippi-based firm of Johnson Bailey Henderson McNeel Architects shuttered its Memphis satellite office in June.

Koury spoke with The Daily News about trends in the architectural and design industry and how they’re impacting local firms.

Q: How are Memphis architectural and design firms and the local AIA coping with the downturn?

A: We’re pretty much in line with national trends. Obviously, non-residential construction spending is down. Even though I had high hopes for it to recover this year, all the numbers I’ve seen are showing a continued decrease by about 16 percent. We’re looking at maybe 12 percent in 2010, so it’s not looking great. Hopefully it’s going to pick up next year, but it sounds like we’re still going to be on a downward spiral for a while. I would say the local architectural and design community is experiencing pretty much what everyone is experiencing on a national level. With funding going down, of course, projects drop, and when projects drop, jobs drop. We’ve seen layoffs beginning from mid-last year and we’re continuing to still see layoffs.

Q: Do you think we’ll see some merger and acquisition activity or other organizational transitions as the economy continues on this path?

A: I can say there’s a lot going on in the architectural industry behind closed doors. I know that generally speaking operations are being re-evaluated and obviously staff being re-evaluated. Growth, in terms of purchasing or being purchased, is starting to become a consideration. We’re seeing that nationally; I would not be surprised if that doesn’t happen locally at some level. A lot of the larger firms that are still viable are starting to look for the smaller firms that just aren’t able to survive in this economic time. I think some of that is going to come to Memphis. I can’t really say that I’m aware of any that are definitely going to happen here, but it’s a national trend; I have no doubt that it’s going to hit us locally or regionally.

Q: Are the companies that are diversified and flexible in the types of projects they seek better positioned to weather the current economy?

A: The ones that have a stronger and a longer business model that’s focused on diversification of project type, it’s not that they haven’t been impacted, but I think they’re a little better prepared to survive. We do have a few (member firms) that have been able to manage no layoffs, and that’s pretty amazing. That says a lot about what their business models (have) been historically.

Q: Talk about Architecture Month, which is in September.

A: We’ve been doing this for six years, and it’s just an opportunity for us to spend a month trying to bring an increased awareness of the built environment to the community primarily through education, whether it’s the architecture tours or bringing in national speakers. We throw in some fun events, obviously. We are very interested in K-12 education and so we always try to do something for the kids so they have some exposure to what architects do and what role they play in the community.

Q: What else is important to know about the state of the industry today?

A: I’d say that unfortunately what we’re going to see, which is always the case with recovery, is that construction always lags behind. So even though things may start to pick up and everybody’s spending attitude might get back to normal, once they actually see the recovery start up, there’s still going to be a little ways to go. I think people being hired on is probably going to be the last thing to happen, and unfortunately right now if things follow what people are predicting, we might be looking at 2011 before it stabilizes. We’re going to cross our fingers and hope that if we haven’t hit the bottom hopefully we will soon and move forward.