The 2022 Fastest Growing Firms: Emergent Method

Number of Billable Consultants: 170

Client Industries Served: Construction, engineering, technical professional firms, Economic Development Organizations, Education, Energy, Engineering, Finance, Financial and private equity, Health Care, Hospitality, Information Technology, Local, state, federal government agencies, Nonprofit organizations, Public Sector

Consulting Service Lines: Disaster Recovery/Grant Management, Human Resource consulting/Talent Recruitment, Information Technology System Implementation, Program Management, Strategic Communication, Strategic Planning, Training and facilitation, Web Design/Development

Website URL: https://emergentmethod.com/

Emergent Method is a Louisiana-based management consulting firm focused on helping organizations innovate, grow, improve performance, and achieve their missions. Our firm does this by bringing people and ideas together to understand opportunities, let ideas emerge, and create multifaceted solutions with results greater than the sum of their parts.

Consulting: What were the main factors that contributed to your firm's exceptional growth?

Speyrer: Our continued growth is, as it always has been, attributed to building meaningful client relationships rooted in trust in the abilities and dedication of our team. However, our more recent growth is attributed to embracing change, remaining adaptable, and expanding capabilities to serve the shifting needs of our clients. Like virtually every industry and organization, we too faced new, unprecedented hurdles in the last couple of years – and so did our clients. Amidst all the ongoing unknowns and ever-changing circumstances, our team remained flexible and client-focused. In doing so, we expanded services, embraced virtual and hybrid work environments, and added team members who brought in additional expertise. We've been able to build support and structure internally that allowed us to maintain trust, credibility, and be viewed as a reliable partner to our clients as they navigated increasingly complex challenges across all industries.

Consulting: How would you say you've managed to maintain growth during the unprecedented past three years?

Speyrer: Our firm is incredibly fortunate to experience continuous growth at a time where businesses across the globe have struggled to overcome the challenges associated with COVID-19, natural disasters, and a changing economic landscape. We believe this is a direct reflection of the level of dedication each of our team members has to solving whatever challenges our clients come to us with and our firm's willingness to be adaptable and nimble in meeting client needs. Whether it be learning new skills, adding new team members, or dedicating extensive time and on-site availability to engrained consultants into client teams, we pride ourselves on being the firm that clients turn to for any challenge they face, no matter how big or small.

Consulting: How is this year shaping up for your firm?

Speyrer: Emergent Method has seen significant expansion in our work this year. We've added new clients in our home state of Louisiana and throughout the country, including North Carolina, Oregon, and Kansas, to name a few. We're proud to say that we're operating at a scale greater than ever, running large-scale projects across the country and competing with firms double and triple our size. So far this year, our strategic communication, program management, and strategic communication disciplines have expanded to lead and support a growing number of disaster recovery programs, in addition to securing a wide range of new contracts within higher education. We are actively growing and strengthening our fields of expertise, which is beneficial not only to our current clients, but to our future clients as well. As our range of projects and services continues to grow, our team is excited to roll up our sleeves, get to work, and leave the communities we serve better than we found them.

Consulting: How would you describe your firm's outlook for 2023? Where do you see the most opportunities?

Speyrer: Our firm operates with a growth mindset — whether facing challenges or celebrating success, we're grounded in the idea that the best is yet to come. Our continued evolution is an opportunity to better serve our clients and respond to the challenges facing their organizations. Further, being a Louisiana-based company, we empathize with the thousands of residents in Louisiana and beyond who are still recovering from multiple major storms that made landfall over the last two hurricane seasons. We feel fortunate not only to support disaster recovery and resiliency work across the state, but to lead innovation and efficiency in this space through our policy, program management, and strategic communication disciplines. Further, our commitment to growth allows our work to expand and meet emerging trends, and thus the needs of our clients, in areas including large-scale strategic planning to support economic recovery and growth, organizational assessment and business plan development, and resiliency programming related to coastal, energy, and community infrastructure initiatives.

Consulting: What would you say are your firm's biggest challenges in 2023?

Speyrer: With growth comes growing pains; our biggest challenges for 2023 are a direct result of our growth. Adding new team members quickly and maintaining client work all over the country presents its challenges in maintaining the tight-knit culture we fostered as a small consulting firm. We grew from 20 employees all based in Louisiana to more than 200 employees scattered across the country in short order, in addition to adding clients in nearly 20 states. We are intensifying our focus on connectivity to protect the culture that makes our firm special, which began when we shifted to a hybrid working environment during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Since then, we've taken steps to maintain the culture that has been historically built on our in-person interactions. We will continue to address this challenge as our workforce expands by implementing unique ways to connect our team and our clients — and create room for continued growth.

Consulting: What does being named one of Consulting's Fastest Growing Firms mean to your firm, your employees and your clients?

Speyrer: We operate under the method that our success is dependent upon the success of others. We could not experience continued growth without our clients or the intense dedication of our team. So, I hope this recognition makes each and every one of them proud of their own work and accomplishments, as this award is a direct reflection