Education keeps Freese and Nichols on top
There arenÂ’t many companies in Fort Worth that have had the opportunity to serve North Texas for more than 100 years.
Freese and Nichols Inc. passed that landmark and published a book celebrating its centennial back in 1994. A photograph on the back jacket shows men seated at a table getting ready to enjoy a dinner inside a giant pipeline with concrete arches over them, typical of the services the firm performed then – and now.
Just a year after the company started, its staff designed and oversaw the construction of three dams on the Clear Fork of the Trinity River. Freese and Nichols is currently involved in the overhaul the Trinity River areas will receive as part of Trinity River Vision.
Robert Pence, president and CEO of Freese and Nichols, has been with the company for an extended period and took his current position in 2002. He said although the company is old, its ideas and approaches are continually renewed due to a companywide focus on learning and refining techniques.
Part of that constant education comes from training inside the company on technical and leadership skills, and there is a futures committee dedicated to looking at how each part of the company will move forward to meet its mission in the future.
“Their job is to look at 10 and 20 years and look at what’s going on out there and what we need to do right now to deal with that,” Pence said.
Planning ahead also means working with potential future members of the firm. Freese and Nichols has been recruiting partnerships with Texas universities, including Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, the University of Texas and its local schools, such as UT-Arlington.
Once someone is a part of the company, they are given the opportunity to continue training through what Pence refers to as F&N University. This lets employees learn from the history of the company and its senior members.
“I’m not going to let someone else raise my children, and I’m not going to let someone else teach our folks how to do things,” Pence said.
By hiring carefully and making sure not to overstaff the company, Freese and Nichols also is better prepared than some companies to weather the economic downturn, he said. Just as the company has a long history with Fort Worth, Pence said he hopes each employee will have a long relationship with the company.
“Our deal is, when we hire here, we hire you with the hope you’ll retire here,” he said.
