FORT WORTH, TX — Freese and Nichols, Inc., promotes Jeff Payne, PE, a longtime manager with nationally recognized leadership experience, to Executive Vice President as the company prepares for succession changes. As a new members of the Executive Team, Payne oversees South Central Operations, which covers Texas and Louisiana.

Payne has 24 years of experience in infrastructure operations and designing/leading urban and rural water transmission and wastewater conveyance projects. A key example: He managed the nationally acclaimed Lake Texoma to Wylie Pipeline project for the North Texas Municipal Water District.

He 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. His 20 years of active duty and reserves service as a military engineer included three tours in the Middle East, and he 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.

Payne is in line to become Chief Operating Officer in 2022 when current COO Larry Eckersley steps down from that role. Mike Nichols, a member of the company-namesake family, retired in 2021 as a COO overseeing offices in the Central Plains and Southeast U.S. regions.