Lewis Cornell, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.’s top representative in the Western U.S., has his hands full when his company bought Englewood, Colo.-based CH2M Corp. last year.
Not only is the Irvine-based executive consolidating hundreds of employees into one office near John Wayne Airport, he’s watching Orange County “explode” with work.
“All you have to do is look around and see the activity going on. There’s just a ton of activity out there. This is the best I’ve seen it in nearly 30 years,” he said about the robust economy.
As a result of the acquisition, Jacobs (NYSE: JEC), which previously ranked ninth in Orange County by sales on the Business Journal’s annual list of the biggest engineering firms, has jumped to sixth place with $46.5 million in billings in the 12 months ended June 30. On last year’s list, first-ranked CH2M reported $495.8 million in OC billings, which probably included work done outside of Orange County, Cornell said.
Dallas-based Jacobs completed the reported $3.3 billion acquisition in December. The combined firm now has 313 employees and second-quarter sales surpassing $4 billion.
CH2M was known for government work and improving giant water infrastructure projects, such as the Panama Canal and the London sewage system, while Jacobs gained renown for airports, tunnels and large NASA facilities.
“Bringing together the two firms has been incredibly synergistic,” Cornell said.
Last year, the firms reported 402 employees combined in Orange County. The combined firms now employ 77,000 companywide.
Dam Failure
Cornell grew up in Johnstown, Penn., where local calamities inspired him to become an engineer, such as a failed dam that caused the Great Flood of 1889, killing more than 2,000 people.
“In addition to the 1889 flood, there was another major flood that affected our town in 1976, which I was directly impacted by,” he said.
After receiving a degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, he eventually landed in 1996 at AECOM (NYSE: ACM), one of the world’s largest engineering firms.
The most interesting project of his career was building a light-rail system in a tunnel under the Allegheny River at Pittsburgh’s sports stadiums, he said.
“To this day, it’s still satisfying to go out and see projects you’ve designed and built.”
When he was named AECOM senior vice president for California’s district director of operations, he moved to Fullerton in 2010 because of its central location in Southern California.
After management changes at AECOM, Cornell decided to jump to Jacobs in 2014 following a year of wooing.
Biggest Projects
Cornell oversees 4,000 people, who at any given time work on 2,500 to 3,000 projects.
Recent projects Jacobs has won in recent months include a $1.2 billion design-and-build contract on the California High-Speed Rail system and a $500 million project to modernize aging shipping terminals at the Port of Long Beach. It’s a program manager for the Los Angeles Community College District, which has a $3.5 billion infrastructure project budget.
Jacobs is also involved in a $20 billion capital-improvement program to improve Los Angeles International Airport, including ensuring a rail system is built to the facility in time for the 2028 Olympics.
“That will be a tremendous experience,” he said.
When asked which of his regions are growing the fastest, he said Southern California tops, followed by the Northwest, the Denver area and the Southwest as a whole. His goal is to grow the unit’s annual sales from $1.2 billion to $2 billion by 2023.
Wider 405
Jacobs’ biggest local project is representing the Orange County Transportation Authority, or OCTA, which is spending $1.9 billion to widen the 405 Freeway. Prior jobs have included renovation of hangars at John Wayne Airport and improvements to the 55 Freeway.
The combined firm will occupy four floors of Irvine’s 2600 Michelson building. The new location gives it the capacity to grow to 500, Cornell said. The company’s looking for architects and “all types of engineers,” including for civil, water and aviation projects.
“In the next year, we’ll probably hire 50 to 60 people at that location.”
He said the company’s biggest limitation is recruitment and retention of staff. Cornell, who serves on the advisory boards of the engineering schools at the University of Southern California and the University of California-Los Angeles, said colleges aren’t graduating enough architects and engineers to keep up with demand.
“It’s very robust. This is the first time in a long time that we’ve had a strong revenue stream and a strong outlook for projects.”
