September 2008. Swift’s fourth-floor activity center in the company’s Houston headquarters has recently been named the A. Earl Swift Center for Learning and Development in memory of the company’s founder and former chairman (1979 to 2006). Earl Swift, father of current chairman Terry Swift, was a proponent of continuous learning throughout his career and advocated company policies that would encourage all Swift employees to increase their knowledge and broaden their professional skills during their employment. He set an excellent example. Having begun his career with a bachelor’s degree in reservoir engineering, he subsequently earned both a doctorate in law and an MBA while fully employed. He was also a self-taught student through voracious reading in many subjects.

Mr. Swift particularly promoted company-sponsored employee learning and development activities, and in recent years many of these activities have been carried out in the fourth-floor activity center through the presentation of courses, seminars, lectures, and training sessions. Typical subjects have included updates on the industry; the introduction and implementation of new technologies; environmental and safety issues, including emergency response plans; the balance of individual employee initiatives and teamwork; the enhancement of technical and management skills and techniques; the role of the company and its employee representatives within the communities in which it operates; Swift’s adaptation to the digital world; and many others.

Swift Energy has adopted its founder’s philosophy, realizing, as he did, that improved knowledge and training of its employees not only benefits the employees, but also adds value to the company. Therefore, it is particularly appropriate that the A. Earl Swift Center be established.  A plaque honoring Mr. Swift has been placed on the wall in the fourth-floor south hallway just outside the center.