In the face of an economic recession that hit the construction services industry, Jarod Michel helped architecture firm Bates & Associates Inc. triple its staff.
In the last two years, the firm has grown to 24 employees from eight. Employment floated around seven during the hardest part of the downturn, 2008–10.
As vice president, Michel coordinates architectural designs between clients, contractors, engineers and interior designers. Recent Bates & Associates-designed projects include the $48 million CoxHealth Meyer Center; the $10 million, three-story AG Financial Solutions headquarters in Chesterfield Village; and the 53,000-square-foot Price Cutter grocery store at Chestnut Crossing.
“The expansion of our firm has contributed toward the positive economic development of the Springfield community,” Michel says.
The 2006 Drury University architecture graduate is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-accredited professional and a 2010 graduate of Leadership Springfield.
“The executive position I hold at my firm is unique for a person of my age,” says the 29-year-old Michel, “but I believe this is due to the hard work that I have put into my career and the role I play in the Springfield community.”
Through Bates & Associates, Michel has assembled teams to compete in the Sertoma Chili Cook-Off and the Rock’n Ribs BBQ Festival to benefit area charities. He has served on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters and Ozark Trails Council for the Springfield Boy Scouts and is a charter member of Springfield’s Metro Rotary and a founding member of Springfield Business Works networking group.
Using his project management skills, Michel led two mission trips to Indian reservations in South Dakota and Minnesota, where he supervised 50 volunteers in rebuilding dilapidated homes for poor families. “Along with rebuilding their homes, we helped to rebuild their lives by teaching them practical skills, such as budgeting, and inspired them to be productive members of society,” he says.
At Drury, Michel was instrumental through Students in Free Enterprise in creating a business incubator and developing a free-market economy educational game used in high schools nationwide. The team’s accomplishments were highlighted in a national Kellogg’s marketing campaign, and he was featured on Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Eggo Waffle boxes distributed across the country.
In his spare time, Michel heads up home brewing beer club The BrewMan Group, which he founded in 2008. He facilitates production, cost control and recipe formulation for the group’s 40-gallon batches of unique and seasonal beer.
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