Johnson & Pace in the News
November 18, 2011
Johnson & Pace Achieves One-Year, Accident-Free, Safety Record
Longview-based Johnson & Pace is celebrating a one-year, accident-free workplace; during that time, 70 employees completed 158,179 man-hours without any safety incidents.
The Safety Coordinator at Johnson & Pace, Marilyn Petty, calls the year free of accidents a "huge milestone." The safety program at Johnson & Pace involves regular training, monthly meetings, and daily checklists to help prevent accidents, as well as additional safety orientations offered by organizations such as SafeLand USA. Part of the proactive safety program has been to join other companies in using internet-based systems, such as PEC Premier, ISNetworld, BROWZ, and DISA, to get the best training available, track progress, and make safety program statistics available to clients.
While acknowledging that a commitment to safety takes a great deal of work, Petty is quick to point out that not only has "Johnson & Pace management been 100% on-board," but that many of their clients "have helped and guided us in our pursuit of company-wide safety." Petty says that training and focus is the key to workplace safety to prevent distractions, to ensure that each employee is aware of the potential dangers of any task. Petty says she is "elated" to have had a year without any accidents and is eager to continue to improve the safety program and maintain an excellent safety record. "Now that we have seen that it is possible to work safely and efficiently," Petty explains, "we're going to try for a repeat: accident-free in 2012!"
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) seeks to help reduce and prevent workplace accidents by requiring employers to provide workplace safety training and education, and to keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses. Aside from the benefits to morale and reputation, there are additional financial reasons for companies to seek to reduce workplace injuries, including lower worker's compensation insurance rates and the chance to be selected for work by companies that require or prefer to work with companies with a better-than-average safety rating.
August 28, 2011
Johnson & Pace Engineer Achieves Certified Floodplain Manager Status
The Texas Floodplain Management Association has awarded Joe Hart, III, with Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) status. The CFM certification is nationally accredited through the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM).
The role of floodplain managers is expanding due to increases in natural disaster losses and the need to alleviate the cycle of damage-rebuild-damage. This certification ensures that highly qualified individuals are available to meet the challenge of breaking the damage cycle and stopping its drain on the nation’s human, financial, and natural resources.
Hart, a professional engineer at Johnson & Pace Incorporated, is registered to perform work in 19 states. "When clients are affected by flooding or a client wants to develop within a floodplain, this certification helps them understand that we have the knowledge and experience to back up our recommendations," explains Hart.
Hart has worked at Johnson & Pace for 13 years, providing highly recommended engineering and project management resources for customers in Longview and across the nation.
July 11, 2011
Johnson & Pace Incorporated Receives 2010 Best of Business Award
Johnson & Pace Incorporated has been selected for the 2010 Best of Business Award in the Engineering Services category by the Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA).
The SBCA 2010 Award Program recognizes the top 5% of small businesses throughout the country. Using statistical research and consumer feedback, the SBCA identifies companies that have demonstrated what makes small businesses a vital part of the American economy. The selection committee chooses the award winners from nominees based on statistical research and also information taken from monthly surveys administered by the SBCA, a review of consumer rankings, and other consumer reports. Award winners are a valuable asset to their community and exemplify what makes small businesses great.
This is the second "Best of" award for Johnson & Pace. In May, they were named as Longview's Small Business of the Year by the Longview Chamber of Commerce. Wade Johnson, president of Johnson & Pace, is excited about the award. "We are very fortunate that our customers recognize the quality of the engineering, architectural, and surveying services we provide." Johnson & Pace formed in 1995 and currently has three offices in Longview, Tyler, and Shreveport.
May 4, 2011
Johnson & Pace Earns Title "Longview Small Business of the Year"
The Longview Chamber of Commerce named Johnson & Pace "Small Business of the Year" and awarded the company a trophy at the Longview Small Business Awards Luncheon on May 2, 2011. This prestige is awarded to one business annually and honors the entrepreneurial spirit, innovative business strategies, and positive impact the company has on the local community. Congratulations to all Johnson & Pace employees; their dedication to quality workmanship helped the company earn the award.
Mike Bell, with the 2010 recipient of the award, Kirby Restaurant Supply, said in fewer than 15 years, the firm has grown to include offices in Longview, Tyler and Shreveport. “Johnson & Pace puts a priority on communication and innovation and encourages the entrepreneurial spirit throughout their organization,” Bell said. He said the company’s majority owners, Wade and Delcine Johnson, also have been active participants in the community and have encouraged their staffs to be involved in a variety of causes and groups.
October 25, 2010
Johnson & Pace Paves Way for Kilgore's New Generator
State and local officials gathered Monday afternoon for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate a new generator at Kilgore's water treatment plant.
This is the first of 632 projects (and $1.3 billion) statewide to be completed from a grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and Texas Department of Rural Affairs as a result of Hurricanes Dolly and Ike in 2009.
The 400-kilowatt generator serves as a backup when electricity is out. It keeps the pumps running and Kilgore's water flowing. A second, 230-watt generator was installed at the pump station, City Manager Jeff Howell said.
"Ultimately, Kilgore was the first one that was in place, tested, fixed up and ready to go," said Randy Young, deputy executive director of the Texas Department of Rural Affairs. "We scrambled and we worked with your local offices and county governments," he said.
He praised the engineering firm, Johnson & Pace, for getting everything going so quickly and the city council for responding when the money became available.
"We really got the ball rolling as fast as we could. They took it from there and made sure everything proceeded," Howell said. The two generators are specifically engineered for what is needed at the two locations, he added.
October 1, 2010
Johnson & Pace Named Top Design Firm
Texas Construction presented its annual Texas Top Design Firms feature with 95 participating firms in October.
The firms were ranked by instate revenue from the previous calendar or fiscal year for work performed in Texas. Johnson & Pace made the top 95 list as number 70 in 2010. They were not named to this list in 2009. Johnson & Pace received an additional distinction in the Distribution and Warehouses category as number 4 in the state.
July 4, 2010
Johnson & Pace Announces Staff Additions
From the Longview News Journal
Johnson & Pace in Longview announced several staff additions to its engineering, architecture, and surveying consultants.
Diane Borgwardt joined the staff as marketing director. She has several years of experience in marketing and proposals. Kathy DeVaux joined the staff to provide engineering support as a technician in the mechanical/electrical/plumbing engineering department. Scott Hunter joined the land development group as an EIT. Scott was an EIT for eight years in the Houston area before joining Johnson & Pace. Kellie Ronan joined the accounting department. She came with experience managing medical offices.
With these new staff members, Johnson & Pace grows to more than 75 employees. “These staff additions will help us serve our new Tyler and Shreveport offices in addition to our Longview office,” stated Wade Johnson, president of Johnson & Pace. “When companies expand their facilities in East Texas or even other states, we can serve them as they grow.”
Johnson & Pace provides multi-disciplinary engineering services, providing continuous customer service from design through construction. For more information, visit www.johnsonpace.com.
April 25, 2010
Engineering, Surveying Firm Bucks Recession
From the Longview News Journal, reported by Mike Elsworth
The Longview-based engineering, architectural and surveying firm of Johnson & Pace has not seen much fallout from the national economic recession, according to Wade Johnson, president.
Quite the contrary. Johnson said the past few years have been ones of rapid growth for the company. The volume and scope of projects have broadened tremendously while the staff of professionals has grown through hiring and through acquisitions, he said.
He credits the firm's diversity with helping weather the economic downturn. Johnson said the company, in which his wife, Delcine Johnson, serves as vice president, has about 75 employees who handle a variety of different types of business. While he oversees the engineering and design side of operations, she handles the business side. One of the firm's most recent expansions was tied to the acquisition of a related Shreveport firm. "They'll mostly focus on industrial projects," Johnson said. That balances out the Longview headquarters offices, which can handle a wide variety of projects, and the Tyler office with an emphasis on municipal projects and other government-related engineering jobs such as road construction, he said.
"When one area slows down, it seems like another one picks up," he said. "Our 2009 was just 2-to-3 percent below 2008, and for that we feel very fortunate." Johnson said there was a period when it seemed like nearly everything on the development and construction horizon was put on hold. "Our people hunkered down and worked harder," he said. Hard work with a good product made for satisfied customers, and that combination has kept Johnson & Pace growing over the years. "Probably 80-to-90 percent of our business is from repeat customers," he said. Churches, industrial plants, mining operations and transportation related projects such as widening or relocating roads are among the types of jobs the firm has received repeat business from.
The firm is licensed in 20 states, which also has contributed to growth. From residential subdivision design work to doing surveying for the oil and natural gas industries, with some retail and commercial development work thrown in, Johnson & Pace staffers have been keeping busy, Johnson said. "We have one group that does land development that have been involved in a number of new Big Box stores throughout Texas," he said. The firm also provides planning and engineering duties for industrial plants and mechanical and structural engineering for everything from timber processing facilities to mining operations.
The firm's Tyler office has a solid history of providing services for East Texas cities like Kilgore, Henderson, Tyler and others. Those projects range from water and sewer plant work to the broad range of other needs cities and towns have. The Tyler office opened a few months ago and has been in the process of adding engineering technicians and administrative staff to the Longview office. While the Longview office offers a full range of services, Johnson said the Tyler location initially has only engineering capabilities. "We hope to add architects there at some point," Johnson said.
The firm got it start when engineer Johnson and surveyor Lonnie Pace joined forces to go into business together in 1995. Johnson bought out Pace's interest in 2003. In 2004 the firm bought out the former Hart Engineering. Wade Johnson was a graduate of Texas A&M University 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 said he always thought it odd that there were engineering firms and surveying firms, but very few combined firms, since engineering and surveying go hand-in-hand.
He said that was the genesis of Johnson & Pace when it was founded -- to provide a one-stop shop for both surveying and engineering services. In the early part of 2003 the Johnsons 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, Johnson said. In 2004 Johnson & Pace acquired Hart Engineering Co., a 70-year old engineering and surveying company in Longview. That move added about 20 employees to the staff and 70 years of solid East Texas history.
Johnson said he expects business to remain on the side of growth in coming months as the nation moves out of the recession. In the meantime, he and his staff are grateful for the work that has come their way.