1192

ON THE MOVE NOELWATSON, JOHN COYNE RETIRE FROM JACOBS BOARD OF DIRECTORS; ROBERT MCNAMARA JOINS BOARD JACOBS ENGINEERING GROUP INC. ANNOUNCED THAT NOEL WATSON WILL RETIRE FROM ITS BOARD. WATSON JOINED JACOBS MORE THAN 50 YEARS AGO, BECOMING PRESIDENT IN 1987, CEO IN 1992, AND CEO AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD IN 2006. HE STEPPED DOWN AS CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD IN JULY 2016, WHILE REMAINING AS A DIRECTOR WHEN JACOBS’ CURRENT CEO, STEVE DEMETRIOU, WAS APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD. During his tenure as CEO, Watson led Jacobs through a period of tremendous growth, resulting in both revenue and operating profit increases of greater than 15 percent per year. To accomplish those results, Watson inculcated the values that are the core of Jacobs today, namely, a commitment to safety, a dedication to high quality customer relationships, a strong ethical underpinning, and a focus on accountability.

“Noel’s inspirational management style and his extraordinary commitment to the company serve as a clear role model to me and all of our leaders at Jacobs,” said Demetriou. “Noel deserves enormous credit for driving industry leading growth and the success of Jacobs throughout his long and distinguished tenure with the company.” “As CEO, Noel was a tough and beloved leader. As chair, he engaged actively with his board, enjoyed spirited discussions, and always focused on what was best for Jacobs,” said Lead Director Linda Fayne Levinson. “On behalf of the board, we thank Noel, for his leadership and business acumen. He will be missed.” John Coyne, who has served on the Jacobs board of directors since 2008, will also retire from the board, and Robert McNamara has been appointed to the open board position. “John has been a valuable and engaged board member for the past nine years. We will miss his counsel, insight, and experience,” said Demetriou. “On behalf of the board, I want to

thank John for his contributions and wish him the best in his retirement.” Coyne, who has dedicated the majority of his career to Western Digital in various capacities around the globe, served as president and CEO from 2007 to 2013, and was also a member of Western Digital’s board of directors. McNamara brings deep industry experience and currently serves as the global risk officer and the COO of Lendlease Corporation’s building, engineering, and services businesses in Australia. He previously served as the chairman and CEO of Penhall/LVI International, a privately owned building services and environmental remediation company; prior to that he was a senior group president at the Fluor Corporation. “I am very pleased to welcome Bob to the board. His wealth of international experience along with extensive industry and customer knowledge will be extremely beneficial to Jacobs,” said Demetriou. “The board is committed to continue to work in the best interest of our shareholders and Bob will be an

CONFERENCE CALL, from page 7

RA: Jones|Carter has used both M&A and organic strate- gies to grow the firm. Our current focus is to grow organi- cally, but this is largely driven by the nature of the oppor- tunities that we believe have the greatest potential. I could foresee future scenarios where the opportunities we pursue could be better effectuated via M&A, but that is not where we currently stand. “A company with the right culture and work environment will be more successful than the firm that tries to compensate for deficiencies in those areas by paying above market.” TZL: What’s the greatest challenge presented by growth? RA: To grow means that you are changing; change is never easy to manage. The greatest challenges are: ❚ ❚ The ability to scale your systems, processes, and management team to support the growth ❚ ❚ Communications TZL: What’s your prediction for 2017 and for the next five years? RA: I’m an optimist and I believe that things will be better in the future for firms that understand their clients, markets, and employees. The rate of change we’ve seen in our society over the last few decades has been incredible and every in- dication is that the pace of change will probably increase at an even faster rate. This will put a premium on agility, being outward facing, and having the courage to change. It’s for these reasons that I believe Jones|Carter will be an innova- tive leader in our industry.

TZL: What’s the best way to recruit and retain top talent in a tight labor market? RA: You have to create an environment that offers challeng- ing work, clear career paths, meaningful rewards, and an ex- citing and relevant corporate culture. This combination will create the “it” factor. TZL: What’s the key benefit you give to your employees? Flex schedule, incentive compensation, 401(k), etc.? RA: I don’t know that it is so much the benefits you offer as the environment you create. Clearly, you have to offer attractive compensation and benefits packages, without which your firm is at a competitive disadvantage. That said, a company with the right culture and work environment will be more successful than the firm that tries to compen- sate for deficiencies in those areas by paying above market. “Marketing is very important to our firm’s success; it’s foundational to our business development model. It increases market awareness, positions us as a ‘top-of-mind’ solution for clients and prospects.” TZL: How do you raise capital? RA: Our primary source of capital is stock sales. While we have access to certain debt instruments, I’m not aware of any time where we capitalized the firm through debt. TZL: What’s your preferred strategy for growth, M&A or organic? Give us a synopsis of how your firm effected growth in the recent past.

THE ZWEIG LETTER March 20, 2017, ISSUE 1192

Made with FlippingBook Annual report