May 26, 1948 – July 8, 2024
Jack Douglas Doolittle, founding member and former Chair of the Board for Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc. (ECT), passed away July 8 in Gainesville, Florida. He was 76.
Jack’s legacy extends across all who knew him as an innovator and leader in the environmental consulting field, particularly within the power and utility sectors.
“As a leader and mentor to so many of us, we are saddened by the news of Jack’s passing,” said ECT Board Chair Thomas Pritcher. “Jack was a special person and his impact on our profession and the industries our clients represent will remain for decades.”
Jack incorporated ECT in 1988 with colleagues Larry Danek, Kathy Pierce, Chuck Hendry, and Jim Aardema in Gainesville and Tampa, Florida. The team had been colleagues at a well-known local consulting firm that has since been acquired. They wanted to develop an organization that would generate opportunity for its clients and employees, later establishing an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) to ensure an employee-driven and independent ownership culture that still thrives today.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, and moved to Gainesville when he enrolled in the Doctoral program at the College of Business Administration at the University of Florida (UF). While at UF he worked for the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, where he became a highly respected demographer with analyses and projections utilized by various agencies of the State of Florida.
In 1976 a local company, then known as Environmental Science and Engineering, Inc., hired him to prepare population estimates and socioeconomic projections, but a charter squabble with a sister company restricted his participation in that type of work, so he began learning other aspects of the consulting field. At the time Jack knew nothing about environmental science/engineering, but his friends and colleagues attest that he always had a brain for numbers and a logical approach to problem solving. He quickly excelled in his new career and began to embrace all aspects of the field. Jack was excellent at managing large multi-disciplinary projects because he knew enough about each discipline to “put it all together” for his clients and he was an exceptional listener.
While the vision Jack and his colleagues set for ECT always involved serving the power production industry, his instrumental role in that effort has created a brand for himself and the organization that continues today. Jack became known from Florida to the Northeast as an expert in environmental engineering and power generation facility permitting.
His reputation was evident when, in 1989, Jack was called upon by Tampa Electric Company, now known as TECO Energy Inc., to join a panel of 22 experts tasked with finding the perfect location for its Polk Power Station.
One 1990 Tampa Tribune article referred to Doolittle as Tampa Electric’s “technical arms and legs” – a crucial component in the company’s operations and expansion as the region continued to grow.
It was because of this experience, and Jack’s ability to listen and learn from his clients, that major utility companies, including TECO Energy Inc. and Seminole Electric, as well as other utilities and power producers throughout the U.S. remain loyal ECT clients today. This early exposure and engagement were crucial to ECT’s decision making and generated new ways of thinking and approaching these facilities with then-innovative public engagement and environmental strategies.
In the years that followed, as ECT secured its reputation for providing excellent power plant siting and permitting, Jack became an avid proponent for the switch to gas-powered generation plants. In a 2005 Tallahassee Democrat article, he lauded the nationwide move away from coal-fired power plants and explained that the biggest hurdle towards more environmentally sensitive approaches was simply “an education thing.”
Doolittle was always a staunch advocate for educating the public, whether that meant a simple town hall meeting to explain new development in a community or lobbying efforts taking on those who write and pass the regulations governing his field. Mr. Doolittle was key to bringing in experienced lobbyists to ECT’s ranks and often took on that role himself, fighting for the rights of clients and communities in the ever-evolving world of environmental regulations.
Jack was named President and CEO of ECT in 1988 and served in that role until Larry Danek assumed the duties as President so that Jack could commit more time to his clients’ needs. He continued to serve as the firm’s CEO until his retirement at the end of 2019 when ECT’s current President and CEO Bobbi Westerby assumed leadership. Under Jack’s opportunistic leadership, the firm expanded into more than 15 locations within the Eastern and Midwest U.S. to become a recognized market leader in additional power markets, including renewable energy, and ecosystem restoration and water resource solutions, particularly around the Great Lakes region.
“He was the ultimate consultant, developing long-term relationships with his clients that spanned decades and drove successes and stability to the firm,” said Bobbi Westerby, President and CEO of ECT. “He understood what his clients required and desired, and then delivered on those needs repeatedly. We could all learn from Jack’s legacy the importance of taking ownership and accountability for our work.”
ECT remains headquartered in Gainesville. For years, home was a two-story office building on Northwest 98th Street with the firm now located at 7027 SW 24th Avenue, in Gainesville.
In addition to his technical and industry expertise, Jack was well known for hosting the best University of Florida Gator tailgate parties. He also enjoyed his beautiful home on Ponte Vedra Beach with his wife of 32 years, Kathy Doolittle, and their dogs. That is, unless his beloved Gators were playing football or basketball (in Gainesville or on the road).
Thank you, Jack, for your commitment to excellence, your passion for growth, and your leadership to scores of clients and consultants through the years.