In the Fort Worth Stockyards, a three-story warehouse now shines with a display rooted in a childhood tradition from Buffalo, New York — where Jordan Jayson, chairman and CEO of U.S. Energy Development Corp, grew up watching his parents light their home so brightly that the neighborhood called it the “Christmas house.”
Today, that glow crowns the refurbished Armour Building, a 50,000-square-foot relic east of the iconic Stockyards, which now serves as the headquarters for U.S. Energy Development Corporation. For Jayson, the building represents a convergence of two inheritances: the independent oil and gas company his parents founded and the ritual of holiday decorating that shaped his earliest memories.
Jayson stepped into leadership of U.S. Energy after building a career on Wall Street, bringing with him the discipline and perspective he had gained before returning to the family business. Under his direction, the company has become a steady, competitive operator — thoughtful in strategy, resilient in practice, and positioned to navigate an industry that rarely holds still.
But it is the building’s seasonal glow — the giant cowboy Santa Clause, the garlands, the trees, the sweep of lights visible for blocks — that pulls people in. Adjacent to that same rooftop, Jayson and his sister Jacqueline spoke easily, their memories spilling out as warmly as the lights below during a conversation in early December…