COMPANY | OUR HISTORY

It has been many years since John L. Wallace formed John L. Wallace & Associates as a one-person, home-based business in 1984. From a small house in San Luis Obispo, California he shared with a local survey company, John L. Wallace & Associates has steadily grown into a multi-discipline engineering, design, surveying, and planning firm now known as Wallace Group.

John started his company after a career in public works in both Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo Counties that spanned more than two decades: “I saw a need for high quality client-based work in the area, not just in land development, but municipal work as well.”

John’s extensive experience in the Los Angeles Flood Control District and as the Office Engineer of San Luis Obispo County earned his fledgling company a substantial amount of work: “We were fortunate; we had some very significant clients very quickly.” John became the District Engineer for the unincorporated communities of Heritage Ranch, Oceano, San Miguel, San Simeon and Templeton. He also served as the Director of Public Works in the cities of Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach and Atascadero. Wallace Group continues to work with these communities and now also manages a number of other community service districts along California’s Central Coast.

The company has expanded to include divisions in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Landscape Architecture, Mechanical Engineering, Planning, Public Works Administration, Right-of-way services, Surveying/GIS Solutions, and Water Resources. In 1999, John, Rob Miller and Chuck Ellison formed Fluid Resource Management (FRM), a sister company that focuses on the design, construction, operation and maintenance of water and wastewater systems. Subsequently in 2009 the operations portion of FRM is now owned by the Ellison Family – while the construction portion of the business remains as Pacific Solutions Construction, Inc.

In 2002, Wallace Group acquired Swanson International, an innovative wastewater treatment design company. Wallace Group is now an industry leader in the design and use of Advanced Integrated Pond Systems (AIPS) as well as constructed wetlands and other environmentally friendly technologies for wastewater treatment. Our services also include design and construction work for master planned communities, destination resort and mixed-use developments, wineries, energy, industrial, and public works projects.

Wallace Group’ s Dedication to Service® can be seen across all our professional divisions, whether in civil engineering designing grading and drainage of both small and large, private and public projects, or landscape design incorporating the latest innovative sustainable design, or mechanical engineering and water resources services in designing, building and managing water and wastewater reclamation systems. Our Planning Division is ready to help whether it’s to process a minor use permit or master plan communities. Wallace Group’s Survey Division is ready to perform, be it simple boundary surveys or construction staking large developments, and everything in between; while our Construction Management Division is ready to help make your project a reality.

Wallace Group now employs approximately 70 people and has offices in San Luis Obispo and Bakersfield, California. We do work both domestically and internationally. John thinks the success of his company starts with its people sharing a common belief in honesty, integrity, and a commitment to quality: “We focus on attracting and retaining quality people. We offer challenging work. We have core values that include respecting both our clients as well as our employees. We provide them with a rewarding experience that helps them grow. Quality people attract other quality people.”

It’s been a long time since John formed his company, and even though it has grown significantly, we still consider ourselves a family-based operation.