November 14, 2024

Leaders and Legacies: Jeff Taylor

As part of our 130th anniversary celebration, we’re recognizing past leaders whose vision continues to drive us forward.

Jeff Taylor was a cornerstone in the growth and development of our Houston office. When he joined the firm in 2008, the Houston office was in its infancy and Freese and Nichols was much smaller. His contributions drove the expansion of our local footprint and significantly impacted our clientele base and community involvement.

Growth and Strategies

Jeff implemented several strategies to drive the growth of the Houston office. Two primary strategies — really philosophies — that we embraced early in the development of the Houston office were aggressive growth and acquisition of talent and unwavering client service. Jeff was very supportive and gave us many runways to make hires well before having a workload to support those hires.

We also held excellent client service as a nonnegotiable part of our business and sometimes even at our short-term financial detriment. However, Jeff maintained a long-term view of our business and supported the team, going the extra mile to build and foster client relationships that continue to benefit us.

Client Development

After Jeff’s arrival, our local clientele base evolved considerably. His efforts in relationship building and client management have played a crucial role in this transformation.

Early on, our water district and river authority clients helped establish us and allowed us to invest in additional staff and other markets in the early years. We were fortunate to be selected by our clients to lead some really large and visible projects like the San Jacinto River Authority Lake Conroe Raw Water Pump Station, SJRA GRP Transmission System, Harris-Galveston Subsidence District Regulatory Plan Update, Region H Regional Water Plan and other high-profile projects in the region that provided us with a backlog of work to build off and hire talent and also made a splash in the market that Freese and Nichols was here to stay.

One particular story I think about often was when the firm competed against AECOM for the Region H contract sometime around 2011. AECOM was the incumbent, having held the contract for more than a decade. At the short-list interview, only Jeff and I were present – Jeff, as usual, was sporting jeans and a sweater. AECOM came with a large team of firms and individuals. In the end, Freese and Nichols won the day primarily based on our historical relationships we had with the group.

Building Relationships

Jeff’s experience on the client side influenced his approach to relationship building. Before joining Freese and Nichols, he served as the City of Houston’s Director of Water and Wastewater Operations. He was also heavily involved as a consultant in the initial State Water Planning efforts in Texas. Jeff developed relationships with many water-minded people throughout our industry during both career stints.

As a city director, Jeff often “stood on the other side” of many of our clients regarding managing water supply and wastewater operations in the greater Houston area. However, he maintained respect among his peers even when there were significant differences of opinion between the city and other regional water supply players.

Making an Impact on the Community

He was also deeply involved in various community and professional organizations, including the Texas Water Conservation Association and the Bayou Preservation Association.

Early in my career, I observed Jeff “work the room” at many TWCA conferences, and I recognized his respect among the water leaders at the time. That inspired me to get involved and eventually establish myself as an active member and now a Board member with TWCA. His approach gave me and others the freedom to pursue initiatives, which fostered a culture of innovation and autonomy within the team.