Chris Ball has architecture in his veins.
The president of Jack Ball & Associates Architects PC is a second-generation architect working for the downtown Springfield firm named after his father. Ball knew he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps since the second grade.
He earned an architecture degree from University of Kansas and in 1995 returned home to join the firm. Three years later, Ball was appointed partner, and he bought out his father in 1999.
Ball says he surrounded himself with top talent and leaned on the group’s collective skills. “I involved them in the vision I had to grow my firm, and I required them to participate in the process,” he says, noting his philosophy spreads the firm’s methodology and lets people quickly apply what they’re learning. “It is always easier to listen than to spend the day telling people what to do.”
In 19 years in the architectural field, Ball has overseen more than 600 projects in Springfield and across the state. The firm has historically designed education facilities, such as the $31 million Republic High School and Springfield’s $14.5 Hickory Hills school. The firm has diversified, and Ball and his team have renovated a $500,000 downtown office for Malkmus Law Firm LLC, created the Asian theme inside Leong’s Asian Diner and transformed a former Cain’s Coffee and Sara Lee Corp. distribution center into the headquarters for Environmental Works Inc., which was Springfield Contractors Association’s 2009 Project of the Year and an American Institute of Architects Springfield Design Award winner.
Ball has restricted the size of the firm in order to maintain his hands-on approach to the design process. Still, the firm’s revenues have grown at a pace to earn Ball & Associates a seat at the table with the fastest-growing U.S. private companies. In 2008, Ball’s company ranked No. 1,077 in the Inc. 5000, with $2.6 million in 2007 revenues for a three-year growth rate of roughly 350 percent.
He strives for work-life balance for himself and his staff and encourages them to give back in the community.
Among other contributions, Ball has participated in the Alzheimer’s Association’s Wine Gala as an attendee, committee member and donor since its inception in 2001. As co-chairperson the last two years, Ball’s influence helped the gala generate roughly $370,000, an increase of more than 50 percent in annual funds raised.
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