A Conversation With ... Jay A. Godwin

Tell us about your company.
It was started in 1974. My dad, Wesley Godwin, started it with an emphasis on religious facilities. Over the years, that's kind of evolved into a lot of repeat clientele. ... We've worked on more than 900 churches in the last 35 years. We've tried to focus on other things ... multifamily apartments and hotels and medical office buildings, but we've done so many churches, that's kind of what we're known for in Springfield. We've had up to 12 employees, but ... it varies with the economy ... and now, we have eight. My mom, Joyce, is the bookkeeper. My wife works here, too, and my brother-in-law, so we've got a family thing going.

How long have you worked at Godwin & Associates?
I was born in 1979 (and) I've worked here since I was probably 13 or 14. I can remember back before I could drive, Mom would drop me off, and I would run blueprints in the back room or whatever. ... Growing up around (the company), I just felt like this is where I was supposed to be.

What challenges is your company facing as a result of the recession?
It's been really tough to get religious projects, for sure. It seems like a lot of churches aren't focusing on building right now; they're just trying to keep to what they've got. What we've really thrived in for the last year or two have been multifamily projects. We've done a lot of apartment complexes in Ozark, Springfield, Branson and Joplin. ... This downturn has made us more efficient - we have eight people doing what 12 people used to do. ...



We had a lot of projects on the boards at the end of last year, and then ... a lot of our projects fell through. We had a pretty large elderly housing facility in St. Louis that just, due to financing, fell through completely after a lot of hard work trying to get city approval and site-plan approval.

What does it mean to be an intern architect, and why did you decide to pursue full licensure?
It basically means that you can help design and ... manage the project, but you're not the legal architect who's stamping the design. There's a registered architect, Jerry Cooper, who works here. ... My dad is a professional engineer (who handles) the engineering side, and I always thought it would be neat if I could do the architecture and Dad could do the engineering.

Have you and your dad talked about a succession plan for the business?
He will retire, eventually, but I don't think he'll ever completely retire. He's a workaholic. ... He's been working for this company for 35 years, with all the blood, sweat and tears, and I don't think he just wants to walk away from it. And I don't want him to. He's done such a good job running this business and has so many good contacts. We've talked about - in the near future, probably - me doing more of the day-to-day business, and him being around, bringing in projects and being someone to bounce ideas off of to make sure we're doing the right things. ... That'll probably be in the next three to five years.

What are your goals for the company?
I want to ... keep broadening our horizons. I think we need to keep the focus as wide as we can. ... I can also see hiring interior designers. ... If we do a nice design ... and (someone) just throws colors together and it looks horrible, it makes everything look horrible. I've seen it happen. We've actually talked about maybe having a construction (side) of the business. We've had a lot of churches ask us if we can do their construction.

Tell us about your family and your community involvement.
My wife, Ashley, and I met in the architecture program at Drury. She's also pursuing (full licensure). We just found out we're having a baby girl in December, so that's exciting. (Our family) all goes to the same church, Parkcrest Assembly of God ... and we're really involved in church and in our neighborhood.[[In-content Ad]]