NATCHEZ — For the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce’s small business award winner, good design not only reflects on the firm, but also the community as a whole.

Engineering firm Jordan, Kaiser & Sessions LLC was established in 1954, and for much of the time since the firm has served Adams County, with company engineer Jim Marlow having served as county engineer for the past two decades.

“We don’t do the construction, but is it our job to make sure contractors build according to our specs,” firm principal Hayden Kaiser III said. “(Seeing our projects) makes us more proud than anything. You go by a project and can say, ‘We actually designed that.’

“I don’t know of a project that I would be embarrassed by.”

Kaiser said Adams County has its hands in a lot of projects on the community.

“I can put a finger on it in the design and make sure it turns out really good,” Kaiser said. “It in turn makes our community look better as well.”

Some recent projects include the Belwood industrial site ring levee, which is in progress, and several others around the port, such as the Jim Marlow Bridge, which connects the port to Government Fleet Road.

“That was a really good project,” Kaiser said. “On top of that, it was unique. We have done a lot of work at the port, and also at the Natchez airport. I don’t know one particular project that was greater than the others.”

Over the years, the firm has completed approximately 2,500 engineering projects, approximately 31,000 surveying projects and approximately 6,000 material test reports. The firm has also been involved in municipal projects.

“We are just proud to be part of the community,” Kaiser said. “We employ people from Adams County as well as Vidalia. We do our best to try to provide quality engineering and surveying projects. I think we have done that over the past 63 years.”

The firm also has given back to the community, including support for youth sports, Cathedral School, Rotary Club, cancer research at St. Jude’s Hospital, the Miss-Lou Egg Hunt, Natchez Children’s Service, Natchez-Adams County Humane Society, the Fraternal Order of Police, Relay for Life, the American Red Cross and American Cancer Society.

“We are just trying to be an active part of our community,” Kaiser said. “Not just in the engineering world, but we try to give back to the community as well.”

Kaiser said giving back to the community is one of the things that makes being in Natchez so great.

“I would not single us out as having done any more than anyone else,” Kaiser said. “A lot of professionals give back. Our giving per capita is one of the tops in the state. That is what keeps our community alive.

“You always hear shop local in the paper. The same goes for professional services. It is a small community, and we need to help each other out.”

Kaiser’s father, Hayden Kaiser Jr., who is still with the company, started the firm in 1954 with Chandler Jordan. A year later, the firm added Proby Sessions.

“Dad was just new out of school, having worked for California Company, which is now Chevron, for two years,” Kaiser said. “He met Mr. Jordan who was already an engineer here. They joined together and brought Mr. Sessions on after that.”

Kaiser said of the firm’s 18 employees, several have been with the company for many decades, including Marlow and Luther Marling.

“We have some loyal employees,” Kaiser said. “We have had some people who have worked here for over 50 years. The people are what is most important to us.”