Performance Excellence
Through Continuous Improvement

Performance excellence is a cornerstone of Freese and Nichols’ 130 years in business, and continuous improvement is our key to excelling in all that we do. Continuous improvement focuses on methodical planning, measuring, analyzing and refining. By instilling accountability and transparency, it empowers all our employees to make their work better, ultimately resulting in exemplary service to our clients.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Quality is Our Foundation

For almost three decades, FNI has focused on continuous improvement as a key driver to delivering quality. Continuous improvement requires methodical planning, measuring, analyzing and refining to create processes that can apply across the company and repeatedly result in successful projects. Our systematic approach instills accountability and transparency, empowering employees to make individual improvements in the workplace.

Our commitment to quality and continuous improvement has been recognized nationally, with FNI twice receiving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. We’re among only 13 organizations to earn this distinction as a repeat recipient. We also are the first engineering/architecture firm chosen for the award, the highest level of recognition for performance excellence in the United States. The Baldrige program’s integrated management framework and assessment tools have helped our firm improve practices and measure results so we can continue delivering exceptional service.

We are also one of a select few Baldrige-winning organizations chosen as Trustees of the Baldrige Foundation’s Institute for Performance Excellence (2022). The business practices that led to these Baldrige recognitions align with our LEADS values and provide the foundation for how we operate. Those same practices bring superior results to our clients, communities and employees.

View our profile with the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

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Recent Project Awards

American Society of Civil Engineers

2025 Outstanding Civil Engineering Honor Award

Bois d'Arc Lake Program

Design-Build Institute of America, Southeast Region

2025 Design-Build Project/Team Award

Gwinnett County Eastern Regional Infrastructure

American Planning Association

2025 Vernon Deines Award for Outstanding Small Town or Rural Plan

Brownwood Downtown Plan

Engineering News-Record, Texas & Louisiana Region

2025 Regional Best Projects Award

Cleburne Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion and Indirect Reuse Program

U.S. Society on Dams

2025 Excellence in Constructed Project Award

Bois d'Arc Dam

National Association of Flood & Stormwater Management Agencies

2024 Excellence in Innovative Water Project Award

Texas Regional Flood Plans

American Public Works Association, Texas Chapter

2025 Public Works Project of the Year

Spurs Ranch Road Reconstruction

American Society of Landscape Architects, Oklahoma Chapter

2025 Award of Excellence

Stephenson Park Master Plan and Park Improvements

Associated Builders and Contractors, Central Florida Chapter

2025 Excellence in Construction Award

Westside Regional Water Reclamation Facility Influent Pump Station

Incubating Innovation

We’ve found that our focus on quality and continuous improvement provides a natural incubator for innovation. Our level of innovation in our project work, client programs and internal processes helps our clients solve their business needs. We see the impact of these innovative techniques through our high client satisfaction scores, repeat business, and our many project awards.

Read more about our Ideas & Innovation
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Ready to Learn More?

Contact us today to see how we can work together.

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