Olaf Growald
Freese and Nichols, the Fort Worth engineering and architecture firm enjoying its 125th year, has got a lot on the table. The company’s preparing to move its headquarters to downtown’s Burnett Plaza next year from southwest Fort Worth. The move puts the company closer to major clients like the City of Fort Worth and Army Corps of Engineers and will be a quality-of-life boost for employees, Brian Coltharp, the CEO, says. “A lot of good things have happened downtown.”
The firm continues the national expansion it began in 2013. Today, it has more than 900 employees in 20 offices, up from 450 employees in 2010. The company’s foundation is in water and wastewater, but today, it’s also in engineering, architecture, environmental science and services, construction, public transportation, urban planning, and educational planning and design. A couple of markets the company has invested substantially in and is moving deeper into: transportation and federal work.
Growth goals: Freese and Nichols has been growing at more than 10 percent annually, with annual revenue today at about $140 million, Coltharp, a civil engineer who joined the firm in 1992 and became the CEO in 2017, says. “We’re targeting 10 percent growth. We’ve been able to maintain our culture and have had success growing at that rate.”
Growth vehicles: Freese and Nichols started opening new offices outside Texas five years ago, which has helped maintain its growth, Coltharp says. New offices have included Raleigh, North Carolina; Oklahoma City; Atlanta; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Greensboro, North Carolina; Tulsa; Charlotte; New Orleans; Winston Salem, North Carolina; and Las Cruces, New Mexico. “We hire local people. That’s helped us maintain our culture.”
Competing in the tight labor market: “Nationally, the unemployment rate is the lowest it’s ever been. Anybody who wants a job has a job.” The company has focused on employees, client relationships, financial stability and growth. “We’re not all about growth and profitability. We’re about all four of those things. We want this to be a great place to work. If we want to maintain our culture, the first thing we have to do is define our culture. Our vision is to be the firm of choice.”
The company’s values include learning continuously, engaging as a family, acting with integrity, delivering quality and serving. “We have 20 offices now. We do a lot of things together as a company. We fly people in.” New employee orientation occurs at the Fort Worth headquarters, and the downtown location will be an asset, enabling new employees to stay downtown and avoid renting cars. “We’re going to generate a lot of synergy.”
Ten years from now: Coltharp figures the company will be at around 1,800 employees.