Michelle Jones
PARKSVILLE – Timberlake-Jones Engineering didn’t get the full celebration of their 20th year in business last year because of the Covid pandemic, but owner and principal Michelle Jones says the firm will this year with clients.
Timberlake-Jones provides civil engineering and planning services for land development and municipal infrastructure, and their services range from feasibility studies and planning to computer models through preliminary and detailed designs, to construction and project management.
“I’ve had clients for more than 20 years, and I really appreciate them,” Michelle says. “I feel like they’re part of our family and when they need something they call me, and when I need something I call them. We all work together to see their dreams come true.”
“We are very client-centered, which is probably why we have clients that have been with us for so long and they keep coming back,” she adds. “It’s a relationship business, and when they do their next project, we’re the go-to people for them.”
Michelle earned her engineering degree from Purdue University in Indiana in 1983, moved to Vancouver Island in 1990, she has worked in the Parksville area since 1995, opening Timberlake-Jones Engineering in 2001 to better service the area. She primarily focuses on land development and planning.
“I’ve probably worked on 80 per cent of the development projects in the area,” she observes. “Tigh Na Mara Resort was one of the early projects I worked on, including the addition of the conference centre and the Grotto Spa, which was very interesting. Currently we are working on Pacific Palms RV Resort on the Parksville waterfront next to the Beach Club, which has been very challenging to complete due to supply chain and worker shortages.
“I’ve had one client that I’ve been working with since 1994, and we’re on phase 11 of their project north or Qualicum. It’s a relationship of more than 25 years, and they were my clients before I started the company and came with me,” she states, adding TJE’s staff of four has anywhere from 40-50 projects in various stages underway at all times. “We do a lot of projects for local developers including Triple H Construction and Bayshore Construction. We also do municipal work, currently we are working for City of Parksville on the Performance Stage in the community park and the Parksville Community and Family Centre which are both scheduled to open this summer.”
Offering a complete lineup of services has been a key to the firm’s growth, which didn’t abate during the pandemic.
“It is sometimes difficult to get a project from inception to construction start,” she observes. “We do a lot of the planning and rezoning up front as well as the civil engineering, design and oversee construction.”