Keeping it in-house.

Unlike many developers who outsource much of their expert tasks, "We do nearly everything in house," said Partner Michael Wise of the 50-person J.H. Snyder firm.

Added partner Clifford Goldstein, "Development expertise, marketing, financing, construction and leasing--all are managed in house," he said. "We hire architects as outside consultants. Architecture needs to be kept fresh."

More unusual, perhaps, is the active participation of each of the firm's four partners--Jerry Snyder, Goldstein, Wise and Milton Swimmer--in nearly every project.

"We don't assign different projects to different people," Wise said. He added, "Each of us works on every project, with each partner taking a different role."

Founder and senior principal Jerry Snyder takes an active role in conceptual planning, government relations and the entitlement process.

Wise, who once described himself as the "partner of minutiae," is actually in charge of securing both equity and debt financing for projects.

Milton Swimmer, who worked in the design field for 20 years before joining the firm in $987, is responsible for both government relations and oversees Snyder's in-house construction department.

Goldstein, who joined Snyder in the mid 1980's, collaborates closely with Snyder on strategic decision making; he is credited with introducing both retail and mixed-use development to the firm. He also oversees marketing and leasing of the J.H. Snyder Company's projects.

A nearly equal distribution of responsibility is not an accident according to the firm's founder. Although the company bears his name, "I realized years ago that the J.H. Snyder Company is much more than Jerry Snyder," he said, adding, "This is not a one man operation."