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SMPS is pleased to announce that PCL Construction has been honored with the 2026 Marketing Innovation Firm of the Year Award. Team member Damion Morris, CPSM, accepted the company’s award during Amplify A|E|C, the Society’s annual conference, on July 28 in Las Vegas. The award recognizes an AEC firm that demonstrates innovation in marketing and business development while advancing firm growth, strengthening client engagement, and elevating the profession.
At PCL, marketing innovation begins with a simple belief: meaningful business results are built by investing in people. Guided by that philosophy, the firm transformed its marketing and communications function from a traditional support role into a business-critical driver of enterprise growth.
Since 2022, PCL has expanded its fully in-house MarComm team to more than 160 professionals across corporate and district offices. Embedded within local markets and aligned through a centralized strategy, the team supports pursuits, communications, brand management, business development, and employee engagement across the organization.
One of the firm’s most significant innovations has been the creation of an integrated marketing and communications strategy that amplifies brand visibility and market influence. Building on an award-winning brand refresh, MarComm implemented a coordinated approach that combines earned media, thought leadership, digital storytelling, social media, and AI-driven strategies. These efforts generated more than 5,300 earned media mentions and helped position PCL among the most visible construction firms across North America.
The firm has also strengthened how it engages clients and supports business development. They approached this through a scalable content system designed to support client engagement and pursuit positioning. Partnering with sector leaders and district teams, MarComm developed a robust library of articles, videos, web content, and targeted campaigns that increased audience engagement while showcasing the firm’s expertise. In particular, they increased website visitors by 20% and received close to nine million social impressions.
PCL’s commitment to innovation extends to pursuit excellence. MarComm led the development of a standardized pursuit system adopted across 31 offices, aligning cross-functional teams around a consistent, client-focused approach to winning work. The team also developed a proprietary platform that integrates data from multiple business systems into a single source, enabling pursuit teams to spend less time searching for information and more time focused on strategy and client engagement. These efforts have delivered measurable results. Between 2023 and 2025, PCL increased new work by 97 percent and more than 250 technical professionals completed interview training through the pursuit excellence program.
Beyond external marketing and business development, MarComm has played a key role in strengthening organizational alignment and employee engagement. Through initiatives such as PCL Connects, executive communications, and strategic partnerships with HR, the team has helped enhance onboarding, recruitment, and employee experience. During this period, PCL experienced significant workforce growth, increased employee engagement, and recognition as one of the nation’s top employers.
PCL’s approach demonstrates how MarComm can serve as a catalyst for firm-wide performance. By building internal expertise, developing scalable systems, and aligning marketing strategy with business objectives, the firm has created a model that influences how it competes, wins work, and scales across markets while offering a model for what marketing leadership can look like in the AEC industry.
Congratulations, again, to PCL Construction on being named the 2026 Marketing Innovation Firm of the Year.