Business developmentforIndianapolis AEC firms.
BD-AEC embeds a business development department for Indianapolis architecture, engineering, and construction firms. Senior leadership, market intelligence, creative capacity, and consistent execution give your principals a team behind their next stage of growth.
Outsourced growth infrastructure
A department behind your growth
Leadership, intelligence, creative capacity, and follow-through, working together as part of your firm.
01
Strategy
Choose the work worth pursuing. Market intelligence and Creative Mapping connect your strengths with the right buyers, partners, and opportunities.
02
Creativity
Give buyers a reason to remember you. Positioning, story, and proposals turn technical expertise into a clear case for choosing your firm.
03
Execution
Keep the work moving. Outreach, relationships, pursuit coordination, and regular reviews turn decisions into a repeatable business development practice. Kinetic Rebalance adjusts the effort as evidence changes, including doing less.
Strategy + Creativity + Execution = Growth
The strategy + creativity principle comes from our partners at BLDG Brands. BD-AEC adds execution.
Scott leads the relationship as CEO and Strategic Partner. The department brings the capacity around him. Your principals stay involved in technical decisions and key relationships; we establish the rhythm and carry the work forward together.
Explore the embedded departmentThe Indianapolis market
Who buys design and construction here
Indianapolis runs on one outsized buyer first, and the rest of the market orbits it. About 678 design and construction firms compete across the metro, including 404 engineering firms, all chasing a pipeline anchored by Eli Lilly's pharma buildout, a $4.3 billion hospital consolidation, and a downtown convention and sports engine.
Indianapolis buys design and construction on the back of pharma money first. Eli Lilly's Indiana capital program now tops $21 billion since 2020, roughly $18 billion of it at the IEDC-led LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon, where the $4.5 billion Lilly Medicine Foundry pulls research, process development, and manufacturing under one roof. Meta broke ground at the same district in February 2026 on a $10 billion, 1,500-acre data center campus. Downtown, IU Health's $4.3 billion campus is consolidating Methodist and University hospitals into three 16-story towers due to take patients in late 2027, the $710 million Indiana Convention Center expansion and its 800-room Signia by Hilton are finishing, and Hendricks Commercial Properties is turning the old Circle Centre Mall into the $600 million Traction Yards district.
It's a deep, competitive market, not an open one. Homegrown primes headquarter here and hold the owner relationships nationals fly in to chase: American Structurepoint, in Indianapolis since 1966, RATIO and CSO Architects among the largest design firms in the state, and BSA LifeStructures on the healthcare and research side, which teamed with RATIO and CSO in the CURIS Design joint venture to go after health-system work together. Cleanroom, utility, and process scope flows to firms that already know pharma owners, so a stranger underbidding goes nowhere. The plant engineers, health-system facilities directors, and IEDC and INDOT program managers hire the firms they already trust by name.
Lilly and LEAP program managers, health systems, INDOT, and airport owners shape Indianapolis opportunities. A coordinated pursuit effort connects those relationships with a clear case for your firm. BD-AEC brings strategy, creativity, and execution together in an embedded department, connecting market intelligence with relationships, positioning, and pursuit support. Your principals contribute the technical judgment; our team helps carry the work forward.
U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (NAICS 5413, 2022)
Pharma & life sciences
Eli Lilly's Indiana capital program, now past $21 billion since 2020, the $4.5 billion Lilly Medicine Foundry, and the IEDC-led LEAP district in Lebanon, where Meta also broke ground on a $10 billion data center campus.
Healthcare systems
IU Health's $4.3 billion downtown consolidation of Methodist and University hospitals into three 16-story towers, plus Community Health Network, Ascension St. Vincent, and Franciscan Health.
Public infrastructure
INDOT and the roughly $500 million Clear Path 465 interchange rebuild, IndyGo's 24-mile Blue Line BRT, Citizens Energy Group's water and DigIndy tunnel work, and the Indianapolis Airport Authority's $1.5 billion capital program.
Convention, sports & downtown
The Capital Improvement Board of Marion County's $710 million Indiana Convention Center expansion with its 800-room Signia by Hilton, and Hendricks Commercial Properties' $600 million Traction Yards rebuild of Circle Centre.
Higher education
The newly split IU Indianapolis and Purdue University in Indianapolis campuses, both building downtown, including Purdue's $187 million Academic Success Building and IU's $110 million multi-sport arena.
RFPs and bids
Where Indianapolis architecture and engineering work gets advertised
These are the agencies and institutions that put architecture and engineering work out to bid in Indianapolis, and the portals where they post it. Bookmark them. Winning the work is a different job from finding it, and finding it is the part you can do yourself.
City of Indianapolis Department of Public Works (Indy DPW)
Planning, design and construction engineering for right-of-way, bridges and stormwater under the Mayor's five-year $1 billion capital infrastructure plan; solicited through the consolidated City-County Office of Finance and Management, Purchasing Division.
Indiana Department of Transportation, Greenfield District
Road, bridge, traffic and construction-inspection design for the 15-county east-central district containing Marion and Hamilton counties, run from an Indianapolis sub-district.
Citizens Energy Group
Water, wastewater, gas and deep-tunnel civil and environmental engineering for the Indianapolis utility systems; suppliers are qualified and invited privately rather than through an open bid board.
Indianapolis Airport Authority
Terminal, airfield, pavement and landside design plus general aviation facilities across IND and its satellite airports.
Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation (IndyGo)
Corridor, station, transit-center and bus rapid transit design plus supporting planning and construction management.
Indiana Department of Administration, Public Works Division (DAPW)
Architectural and engineering design for state buildings, heavily concentrated in the downtown Indianapolis government complex; historically over 1,000 design and construction projects annually statewide.
Indianapolis Public Schools
School facility architecture, renovation and capital referendum work, solicited alongside Marion County township districts on a shared education procurement hub.
Where solicitations are posted
How selection works here
Indiana's architecture and engineering selection statute for local agencies, IC 5-16-11.1 (Procurement of Services of Architects, Engineers, and Land Surveyors), is permissive rather than mandatory: Sec. 5 says a public agency "may" contract on the basis of competence and qualifications, and Sec. 4 expressly allows the agency to "determine not to provide any notice," so a meaningful share of Indianapolis city, county, township and school architecture and engineering work is awarded off standing relationships and on-call lists and never appears on a public bid board. INDOT is the opposite and is the metro's most formal gate: Marion County sits in INDOT's Greenfield District (which runs an Indianapolis sub-district), and a firm must first be prequalified by work type through the Professional Services Contracting System (PSCS) inside ITAP, per the Consultant Prequalification Manual, before it can submit a Letter of Interest on either an INDOT RFP or a Local Public Agency RFP, with INDOT citing IC 8-23-2-12 as the basis for merit-based selection. For the state office buildings clustered downtown, IC 4-13.6-4 requires the Public Works Certification Board to pre-qualify every designer and planner before bidding, and City of Indianapolis contracts layer on Office of Minority and Women Business Development participation goals of 15% MBE, 8% WBE, 3% VBE and 1% DOBE, with the city's XBE certifications deliberately narrow to local firms.
The Indianapolis bid watchlist
Finding the work is a job in itself. Once a quarter we send this page's market to your inbox: new federal awards in the Indianapolis metro, buyer moves, and portal changes. No pitch, just the market.
Email scott@bd-aec.com with the subject "Indianapolis bid watchlist" and we'll add you.
Federal market
Federal AEC spending in Indianapolis
Federal agencies obligated $43M for architecture, engineering, and construction work in the Indianapolis metro over the last twelve months. Enough to matter as one channel among several, and small enough that a handful of firms hold most of it.
Obligated, 12 months
$43M
Across the 11-county Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN area.
Largest buyer
Department of Defense
$26M of the total.
Firms winning it
- Shrewsberry-Mead & Hunt SB Joint Venture · $14M
- Guidon-SES JV LLC · $7M
- Artisan Construction Enterprises Inc · $6M
- Rolls-Royce Corporation · $5M
Federal prime contract awards, USASpending.gov, twelve months to August 2026. Federal work is one slice of this market and excludes state, municipal, institutional, and private owners.
By discipline
BD-AEC in Indianapolis, by discipline
We embed a coordinated BD department for Indianapolis AEC firms. We represent one firm per discipline, project type, and market. Open your discipline’s Indianapolis page on the main site for the local picture.
Civil Engineering
Indianapolis business development for civil engineering firms.
Structural Engineering
Indianapolis business development for structural engineering firms.
Architecture
Indianapolis business development for architecture firms.
Land Surveying & Geospatial
Indianapolis business development for land surveying & geospatial firms.
Landscape Architecture
Indianapolis business development for landscape architecture firms.
Construction Management
Indianapolis business development for construction management firms.
Transportation & Traffic Engineering
Indianapolis business development for transportation & traffic engineering firms.
Testing & Special Inspection
Indianapolis business development for testing & special inspection firms.
Why us, here
An embedded BD department for Indianapolis
BD-AEC runs business development in Indianapolis, and Scott knows the owners, primes, and agencies who decide here by name. In a market where the same plant engineers, health-system facilities directors, and INDOT and IEDC program managers recur on job after job, that knowledge is the difference between a cold proposal and a warm introduction. We work these relationships directly, not from a distance.
By policy, BD-AEC represents one firm per discipline, project type, and market, an ethical line that protects every client's pipeline. For an Indianapolis firm, that means an exclusive BD partner who'll never walk your relationships across the street to a competitor chasing the same Lilly, LEAP, or IU Health work.
Questions
Straight answers
Does BD-AEC know the Indianapolis market?
Yes. BD-AEC runs business development in Indianapolis, and Scott knows the owners, primes, and public agencies here by name, from the Lilly and LEAP program managers to the health-system facilities directors and the INDOT and airport owners. He works them directly, not from a distance.
What kind of AEC firms do you represent in Indianapolis?
Principal-led architecture, engineering, construction, and specialty firms, typically $500K to $20M in annual revenue, that need a more consistent growth function. We bring leadership, intelligence, creative capacity, and execution around the principals. By policy, we represent one firm per discipline, project type, and market, so we don't represent competing interests.
How is an embedded BD department different from hiring a BD director?
A strong internal hire can be the right choice when you have the budget, support, and work to sustain the role. BD-AEC brings a coordinated function: senior leadership, market intelligence, positioning, proposals and SOQs, relationships, and execution. If you're looking for fractional business development, this is a department model with capacity around the leader. We still need onboarding, access to your expertise, and your principals' participation in key decisions.
So much of the capital here sits with Lilly and the LEAP district. Can a smaller firm break in?
Yes, but not by underbidding. Pharma owners and their program managers hire on trust and proven process, and much of the cleanroom, utility, and commissioning scope runs through prime-and-sub teams that get assembled long before an RFQ posts. We position your firm with the people who build those teams, so you're a known quantity when the packages break, not a stranger reading about them.
How do we start?
Tell us about your firm and your market using the form below. Scott will respond within one business day to set up a discovery call and tell you honestly whether your discipline and market are open.
Your next move
Build your next chapter in Indianapolis.
Tell us where you want your firm to go and what's getting in the way. We'll look at your market, your current capacity, and whether an embedded BD department is the right fit.
Scott Mann
CEO | Strategic Partner
Scott will respond within one business day. Your first conversation covers your goals, availability in your discipline and market, and a practical next step.
Let's talk about your firm
A few details help Scott prepare for a useful conversation.
This requests a conversation. Scott will follow up to arrange a time. How we use your information.