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Company History
Wade & Delcine Johnson started FWJ Engineering in January of 1995. Wade Johnson was a graduate of Texas A & M and was a licensed civil engineer. Delcine Johnson was a business graduate of the University of Texas at Tyler and handled the administrative duties of the company.
Wade Johnson always thought it odd that there were engineering firms and surveying firms, but very few combined firms; after all, engineering and surveying go hand-in-hand. In order to make the land development process easier for clients, Wade Johnson combined his talents with Surveyor, Lonnie Pace, II to create Johnson & Pace, a one-stop shop for both surveying and engineering services.
In January of 1998, the firm brought on board a recent graduate of Texas Tech, Joe Hart, III. Today, Mr. Hart serves as a Principal in the firm and manages a staff of engineers, EITs and engineering technicians. He is also a registered Surveyor-in-Training and is undergoing his internship to become a Professional Land Surveyor.
In the early part of 2003 the firm added Robert Cooper, P.E. as a Senior Project Manager. Mr. Cooper came to Johnson & Pace from Integrity in Shreveport, Louisiana and brought over 30 years of experience with him. He also brought with him several engineering technicians during the year. Later that year, in July, Wade Johnson bought Lonnie Pace's part of the company, Pace Surveying, and merged the engineering and surveying companies together.
At the start of 2004, the firm moved its location from downtown Longview to a much bigger building on Loop 281. The firm had filled its space at the previous office and with their continuing growth needed more space. Later that year Doug Camp, AIA came onboard as the Staff Architect and shortly thereafter the company added several architectural technicians.
November of 2004 was the most active month in the history of Johnson & Pace. Hart Engineering Co., a 70-year old engineering and surveying company in Longview, was purchased by Johnson & Pace and about 20 employees and 70 years of files were moved over. This overnight growth and addition of files and equipment brought a lot of excitement to the current employees. Lee Newman, PE, PLS, who served as a Project Manager on both engineering and surveying projects brought over 45 years of experience to Johnson & Pace. Survey Coordinator, Terry Nealy, who had been with Hart Engineering for 30 years came on board to handle all of the oil and gas surveys. Several engineering and surveying technicians also came on board, as well as an additional 3 survey field crews. This addition put Johnson & Pace at just under 50 employees.
Over the next couple of years Johnson & Pace brought on board Mechanical Engineer, Charles Thomson and Structural Engineer, Richard Lewis, and created two new departments at the firm. Technicians and E.I.T.'s for both departments were added shortly thereafter.
In 2008 Johnson & Pace brought Mr. Richard Tuck, Architect & interior Designer on board who brings over 15 years of experience. Johnson & Pace also added engineer Mark Emery in 2009, who brought 25 years of engineering experience in the transportation industry.
Johnson & Pace continues to add staff in all departments and has a current staff size of 60.
Johnson & Pace's offices have reached the maximum amount of space available for employees and yet the staff size continues to grow. It is Johnson & Pace's goal to design and build a new office complex in 2009-2010 to facilitate the firm's growth.
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