Top Forty Over 40: CEO of contracting firm building on successes
Mike Jacobs’ new mantra is work smarter, not harder.
“For almost three decades, I worked an average of 60 hours or more a week," said Jacobs, the 55-year-old CEO of Emil Anderson Construction and Dilworth Quality Homes.
“In January I gave up the president title (and work) and I am now simply CEO. My life is more balanced as a result. And I’ve made a conscious effort to act like a CEO and be more strategic and less hands on.”
The new direction means two high-profile Kelowna-based companies still have exceptional and experienced leadership, but Jacobs has carved out time for himself and his wife.
“I’m looking to travel more with my wife, Kim,” said Jacobs.
Jacobs and his wife first met 25 years ago on a volleyball court at Parkinson Recreation Centre.
While working brutal hours, he managed to always make time to spend with his wife and their now-grown-up kids, Brandon and Erin.
He coached their soccer teams when they were younger and also coached their Steve Nash and Legends basketball teams.
Brandon just earned his engineering degree at the University of Toronto. And Erin just finished her fourth year of life sciences studies at the same school.
Both also played university volleyball, a sport that obviously runs in the family.
Emil Anderson, Jacobs’ great-grandfather, started the business more than 80 years ago in Fort William, Ont. By 1988, the road-andbridge-building and utility contracting Emil Anderson Construction was based in Kelowna.
The same year, Jacobs moved to Kelowna after earning his masters in construction management from prestigious Sanford University in California to be the manager of a project on then-undeveloped Dilworth Mountain.
“Initially, as a road builder and utility contractor, Emil Anderson Construction was to put in the roads and servicing for a subdivision on the mountain,” said Jacobs. “But people wanted a turnkey operation, so we became a homebuilder and Dilworth Quality Homes was born.
“Absolutely, it was a huge learning curve in the beginning, but we quickly became one of the premier neighbourhoods in Kelowna.”
Dilworth innovated with express homes, which it felt was a better marketing term for speculation homes. Express homes would be built by Dilworth and marketed when nearing completion so buyers could purchase a brand new home with their finishing specifications and move in right away.
It was a successful departure from custom home builds, which tend to be more expensive and usually see the customer waiting a year or more through construction.
Originally, there were plans for 1,240 single-family, townhouse and condominium homes on Dilworth Mountain. That was bumped up to 1,500, a number that is still compatible with leaving huge swaths of the mountain as wilderness and recreation space.
It’s the end of an era now on Dilworth Mountain, as the final two new single-family homes are being built on Selkirk Drive.
However, Dilworth Quality Homes hasn’t been tied geographically to just Dilworth Mountain. The company is the developer at Tower Ranch golf community on the Rutland Bench; Upper Mission subdivision South Ridge, the Stonebridge subdivisions on the southernmost edge of the city; Gateway Urban Village townhouses in downtown Westbank; and Meighan Creek Estates and Southgate Crossing in Armstrong, a commercial development that includes Tim Hortons, three other retail spaces and room for a hotel.
While the homebuilding prowess is impressive, road building and maintenance continues to be the company’s biggest business.
Emil Anderson Construction always seems to be involved in Kelowna’s and B.C.’s highest-profile projects.
It is currently in charge of the six-laning of Kelowna’s major thoroughfare, Highway 97, from Highway 33 to Edwards Road. The massive job will be complete this fall.
Emil Anderson also built the Bennett Bridge-Campbell Road interchange; Glenrosa interchange; the Sneena Road overpass in Lake Country; the bobsleigh, luge and ski jump venues in Whistler for the 2010 Winter Olympics; the road and rail expansion at the Port of Prince Rupert; a rock shed in the Fraser Canyon for CN Rail; and does the highways maintenance in the Upper Fraser Valley.
Jacobs is a founding member and past-president of the Okanagan chapter of the Okanagan chapter of the Urban Development Institute; past-chairman of the B.C. Road Builders Association; and past-chairman of the Kelowna Catholic School Council.
He also helped in the rebuild of St. Joseph Catholic School, which his kids attended before going on to Immaculata Catholic High School.
Editor’s note: Every week in this space with Top Forty Over 40 we profile a business person over the age of 40 who is having a great career and giving back through mentoring and volunteering.
The series is presented by BDO Accountants and Consultants, Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and The Daily Courier. Nominations are now closed.
An event honouring all nominees will be held June 21 at the Delta Grand hotel.