Freese and Nichols said it promoted two longtime managers into executive vice president posts, including one who will become chief operating officer in 2022.
In his new role, Jeff Payne oversees Freese’s South Central operations, covering Texas and Louisiana. “Payne is in line to become chief operating officer in 2022 when current COO Larry Eckersley steps down from that role,” Freese and Nichols said in. release.
Tricia Hatley, in her new hole, oversees the firm’s operations in North Carolina, Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida.
Payne has 24 years in infrastructure operations and designing/leading urban and rural water transmission and wastewater conveyance projects. He managed the nationally acclaimed Lake Texoma to Wylie Pipeline project for the North Texas Municipal Water District.
Payne graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy and received a master’s degree in engineering and environmental management from U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology. He spent 20 years on active duty and in the reserves as a military engineer, including three tours in the Middle East. Payne retired as a lieutenant colonel. He is a member of the American Public Works Association, American Society of Civil Engineers, and Society of American Military Engineers.
Hatley will retain her role as Oklahoma division manager while also managing the firm’s continuing expansion across the Southeast, Freese and Nichols said. She has 30 years experience, with technical expertise in transportation planning and design, drainage analysis and capital improvement planning, and proficiency at managing large multidiscipline projects.
Hatley has played key roles in developing the firm’s offices in Dallas, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. She also has held multiple state and national leadership roles in professional associations and currently serves as President of the National Society of Professional Engineers.
She received her civil engineering degree from Oklahoma State University and is a member of WTS and the American Public Works Association.
Freese and Nichols is a professional consulting firm serving clients across the Southeast and Southwest United States, planning, designing and managing infrastructure projects.