PROJECT PORTFOLIO

JTS Modular featured in
The Modular Equalizers
JTS Modular has emerged as one of California’s top modular-construction
firms by matching the results of site-built construction.
By Lisa Ryan
Modular buildings are hallmarks of most campuses, providing permanent, high-quality, cost-efficient solutions
for schools and companies in need of additional space. And since its inception in 1998, JTS Modular, Inc. has
cornered this market in Southern California.
The company, based in Bakersfield, California, was formed as an affiliate of JTS Construction, a general contractor specializing
in school construction. “JTS identified a significant quality gap between what it was building as a conventional-building
contractor and what modular-building manufacturers were building,” company president Phillip Engler says. “We asked
ourselves why school districts would demand such high quality in their conventional buildings but accept such low quality in
their modular buildings. We discovered that the answer was that school
districts didn’t have a choice; there was a lack of modular manufacturers
in the market building to those exacting standards.”
JTS aims to provide its clients with permanent modular structures that
have the same 50-year life span and architectural, structural, mechanical,
and electrical design elements of conventionally built structures. The firm
also oftentimes couples its innovative work with JTS Construction to
provide a complete project solution for customers.
“[The difference] between modular construction and conventional
construction is only in the process of construction,” vice president of sales
and marketing Adam Engler says. “For us, the product is the same in either
case—both in quality and aesthetics.” Modular construction also saves the
owner 30–50 percent and cuts the construction time in half, he adds.
Thanks to its strong reputation, the company easily acquires both new
and repeat business, working with an array of different schools across California. “The success of the company is really
pretty simple,” Phillip says. “We find out what the customer really wants; customize a plan to deliver that; and keep our
promises regarding quality, timeliness, and cost.”
One of the firm’s recent projects called for a partnership with JTS Construction to build a new elementary campus for 850
students in the Kerman Unified School District. The project entailed 46,000 square feet of permanent modular classrooms,
a 10,000-square-foot permanent modular administration building, and a 13,000-square-foot multipurpose building. “We
designed the modular buildings and matched the modular administration building to the architect’s original design,” Adam