Baldrige Foundation Announces Newest Mac Baldrige Society Member: Freese and Nichols

Professional Consulting and Engineering Firm Becomes Lifetime Trustee of Baldrige Institute

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Jan 20, 2022, 13:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Freese and Nichols, a professional consulting and engineering firm based in Fort Worth, Texas, became the sixth and newest member of the Mac Baldrige Society, the Trustees of the Baldrige Foundation's Institute for Performance Excellence. In 2010, Freese and Nichols became the first engineering or architecture firm to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

"The Foundation established the Institute for Performance Excellence in June 2020," said Al Faber, President and CEO of the Baldrige Foundation, "to be a thought leader on performance excellence, leadership, and management."

"The Mac Baldrige Society, limited to 20 elite members," continued Faber, "are the Trustees of the Institute which, by their commitment, demonstrate they and their organizations recognize the importance of the Baldrige Foundation's mission: to promote organizational performance excellence in the United States and throughout the world by supporting the Baldrige Program."

"Our continuous improvement journey and our relationship with Baldrige began in the 1990s and since then has helped elevate our level of service to our clients, our employees, and our communities," said Brian Coltharp, President and CEO of Freese and Nichols.

"The leaders of virtually every Baldrige Award-winning organization testify the true value of Baldrige is the process, not the award," continued Faber. "And that is equally true for Freese and Nichols."

According to Coltharp, "The Baldrige focus on building and maintaining long-term client relationships, ethical and fiscal accountability, disciplined strategic planning, as well as operational efficiency, aligns perfectly with our firm's values and culture. Those same practices also bring superior results to our clients and communities. Because of our first-hand knowledge of the benefits of the Baldrige Excellence Framework, we are proud to become a founding member of the Mac Baldrige Society."

"The Institute Trustees," said Faber, "are making a commitment to preserve and promote the Baldrige Framework and to help ensure that Baldrige remains relevant for future generations of organizations across all sectors of the economy."

Freese and Nichols Chairman Bob Pence was CEO when the firm won the Baldrige Award and later served on the Baldrige Board of Overseers. He noted, "We began weaving the Baldrige best practices into our operations and sales because we wanted to be a better, higher performing engineering firm for our clients and employees. As a result, we are able to provide innovative solutions to our customers, offer meaningful work for our staff, and help make our communities a better place to live. We have reaped tremendous rewards and growth by implementing those continuous improvement tenets in all that we do."

"Simply put, Baldrige helps improve organizational performance," concluded Faber, "and we are grateful for the organizations who choose to promote that reality for other organizations as Trustees of the Institute for Performance Excellence and members of the Mac Baldrige Society."

About The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Inc.
The Baldrige Foundation was created as the private partner to the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program in 1988. Its mission is to ensure the long-term financial viability of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and to support organizational performance excellence throughout the U.S. and the world. The Baldrige Program located at NIST within the U.S. Department of Commerce, is a separate entity and is solely responsible for managing and administering the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. For more information on the Baldrige Award process please visit: https://www.nist.gov/baldrige/baldrige-award.

About Freese and Nichols
Freese and Nichols is a professional consulting and engineering firm serving clients across the southern United States. With client service and continuous improvement in mind, Freese and Nichols plans, designs and manages major water and infrastructure projects for a variety of local municipalities and counties, as well as federal, state, and regional clients. It is the first engineering/architecture firm to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Learn more at www.freese.com.

SOURCE Malcolm Baldrige Foundation