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PUBLIC SERVICE PROFILE
PUBLIC SERVICE PROFILE
annmarie@wilcobr.com photos courtesy Nelson Jarrin
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Living the AMERICAN
DREAM
Nelson Jarrin’s journey to Williamson County began two generations ago in Quito, Ecuador. His grandfather, a surgeon, immigrated to the United States when Nelson’s father (Nelson, Jr.) was a young boy. Dr. Nelson Jarrin (Sr.) was accepted for a fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, and the family immediately set about learning English and the American way of life.
Nelson, Jr. graduated from St. Ambrose University and made his way to Texas for a career at General Electric. In the 1980s, he and his partners founded a plastics company in Houston. Sadly, he had a fatal heart attack at age 43, leaving six-year-old Nelson (III) and his mother on their own. Nelson recalls, “I had older siblings from my mother’s and father’s first marriages, but they were older and out of the house, so it was just my mom and me. Things were tough in Houston during the oil downturn in the late 1980s, and she worked in a department store to keep us afloat. At six years old, I was forced to grow up quickly and become the man of the house.”
A NEW CHAPTER
His mother later re-married, and Nelson says his stepfather, Joe, raised him as one of his own. As regional manager for a large trucking company, Joe moved the family a few times but took a leap of faith in 1996 and opened his own trucking company in Houston.
By the time he was a high school senior, Nelson was working for the company. “I learned from the ground floor; loading trucks, dispatching, and finding loads for our drivers. I took a year and a half off from college and spent every summer learning the business; hands-on experience was teaching me what the books could not,” he says. “The company grew to 19 employees plus nearly 30 drivers. We had 29 trucks and 36 trailers at a 10-acre yard in North Houston. We were generating about $15 million annually, and I supervised operations for our offices.” The pride in his voice is conspicuous when he talks about the company’s specialty—overdimensional and overweight—big, complex shipments with escorts. “We were the trucks that took up two lanes of the highway, shipping for energy companies and the military, through the U.S., Mexico, and Canada; we were wide, tall, and heavy.”
As he and the company grew, Nelson learned everything about the business. As he continued to assimilate customer service, revenue and payroll, workers’ comp, and all the things that go with assuming risk and building a small business in America, he realized he did not want to take over. He chose instead to attend law school at Notre Dame and return to Texas with a wife and a desire to serve.
HOME IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY
In 2009, having experienced “slavish” hours at large law firms, Nelson felt there had to be more to life. He reached out to State Representative Patricia Harless, whom he had previously campaigned for, and quickly found his stride in public service. She recommended he consider the Texas Legislative Council, the state agency that drafts bills and provides legal advice for members of the Texas Legislature. In 2010, Nelson and is wife returned to Texas, later working for Senator Charles Schwertner as his Legislative Director and General Counsel.
Tragically, he and his wife suffered six miscarriages. In 2013, when they reached the second trimester of their seventh pregnancy, they were euphoric and decided to relocate. He says, “We moved to Round Rock to be in a solid red county with good community values, quality schools, and a long line of conservative tax stewardship. We simply didn’t want to raise our family or buy a home in Travis County.”
ENTERING PUBLIC SERVICE
To Nelson, his family’s legacy of hard work meant being in the family business came easy to him. Still, he wanted more. “I have one life to live, and I wanted to do more; give back, and make this a better place. I enjoyed my time with Senator Schwertner and working on behalf of others in Williamson County. I recently decided to run for office myself because I felt our representative was getting off track from the ideals that brought us here. Ultimately, it’s about looking for ways to give back to a country that has given my family so much. Volunteering and public service give life meaning.”
PUBLIC SERVICE PROFILE
ADVICE FOR CEOs
Recognizing that business plays as big a part in community growth and stability, Nelson is an advocate for CEOs and business owners to be involved politically. He encourages business owners who are experts in their field to share their knowledge and experience with those in leadership. He explains, “The people at the Texas Capitol who are making decisions about business may not know anything about the industries affected by legislation. It is incumbent upon subject matter experts to make themselves available as resources to those who would otherwise have to make decisions in a vacuum.”
He added, for individuals unable to visit the Capitol in person, supporting legislation is as simple as membership in one of the many industry associations in Texas that represent those interests. “We should never assume that legislators have the most relevant information or access to subject matter experts for each bill.”
WILLIAMSON COUNTY’S FUTURE
Given the growth rate of Williamson County, his priorities include pro-business advocacy and solid infrastructure. “People who start or own businesses are taking risks every day, but they need the right environment to continue to expand. You need less government regulation and solid workforce education and training to continue that upward trend.”
Having worked in the trucking industry, he values the depth of the workforce it takes to keep Central Texas on a path to prosperity. “The key thing I learned in trucking was how to relate to people from all backgrounds; the drivers with a junior high education to the people at the negotiating table in multi-million-dollar deals. I have a great appreciation for the needs of people from all walks of life. But I will always appreciate the idea that my family spent plenty of time getting dirty in a 10-acre dustbowl to put food on our table and build a business. I am happy to bring that knowledge to bear in my home here in Williamson County.”
