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PROFILE
Adaptable: John Cruikshank President and CEO of JMC², a civil and structural engineering firm that offers solutions for land development and building projects of various scopes and sizes.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
C ruikshank is president and CEO of two Southern California engineering firms – JMC² (San Pedro, CA) and Okamoto Structural Engineering (Costa Mesa, CA). He’s been involved with hundreds of unique engineering projects, and has managed to leverage that experience to successfully support critical projects. His current responsibilities include corporate leadership, client relations, business development, community outreach, and project management. He worked for three other firms before starting his own. “I’m a generalist with lots of knowledge on many aspects of engineering and our physical environment,” Cruikshank says. “My staff is well rounded and can adapt to new challenges. We are an adaptable, creative, and knowledgeable team and can pull off extreme engineering events.” A CONVERSATION WITH JOHN CRUIKSHANK. The Zweig Letter: You’re the founder of two firms – John Cruikshank Consultants and Okamoto Structural Engineering. Is Okamoto still operating?
John Cruikshank: I founded John M. Cruikshank Consultants, Inc. (JMC²) in 1996 then purchased Ken Okamoto & Associates, Inc. in 2017. Okamoto was officially acquired by JMC² this year and now we have two engineering departments – civil and structural engineering. I purchased Okamoto to expand into the Orange County market and to acquire a new client base and structural engineering talent. JMC² was primarily a civil engineering company where Okamoto did just structural engineering. TZL: How much time do you spend working “in the business” rather than “on the business?” JC: I still spend about 25 percent of my time performing high-level engineering such as expert witness work and constructability reviews. We are not a big company, so I believe it’s important to always keep my door open for all employees to ask questions or provide suggestions. Plus, I spend another 25 percent on business development and proposals. The remaining 50 percent of my time I work on the business – this is so critical.
THE ZWEIG LETTER JU
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