YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Springfield Business Journal has followed the progression of design firm theworkshop 308 since it opened in January at 308 W. Commercial St.
Owners Jason Mitchell and Michael Mardis have built a niche in custom furniture and commercial fixtures. Clients include downtown businesses Staxx Apparel, The Coffee Ethic (opening in November) and Prix Tattoo. They also are under contract to design a house in Webster County for Marti Montgomery.
In this installment, the 24th in the Evolution of an Enterprise series, Mitchell and Mardis give a breakdown of a typical day, Tuesday, Sept. 18.
7 a.m.
Alarm buzzes, and Mitchell sings “Yeah, for the day.” Mitchell, Mardis and Mardis’ wife, Natalie, share a Midtown residence, and Mitchell’s song is a morning routine. After showers and breakfast, they take Mitchell’s boxer, Mater, for a walk.
8 a.m.
Mardis grabs a cup of joe from Big Momma’s Coffee & Espresso Bar, 217 E. Commercial, before heading out on a job. Mardis and Mitchell are buddies with Big Momma’s owner Lyle Foster, who named a sandwich after Mardis a few months ago.
Mitchell arrives at the office, looks over project boards, makes a to-do list, works on a light fixture for The Coffee Ethic and downloads an album, Midlake’s “The Trials of Van Occupanther,” from iTunes.
9 a.m.
Mardis arrives for a job at the house of Ian and Rachel VanHover, a young couple who once considered having theworkshop 308 design a house for them. Instead, they bought an existing home in central Springfield.
Mitchell and Mardis have been hired to refurbish the kitchen, and Day 1 of that job is today. Mardis begins work on a doorway expansion with measuring and marking.
Meanwhile, Mitchell continues work on the light fixture and responds to e-mails.
10 a.m.
It’s more of the same for Mitchell, as Mardis begins demolition on the kitchen entryway from the living room at the VanHovers’ house.
11 a.m.
Mardis stops at the office to pick up some tools.
He also checks e-mail.
Mitchell begins designing a “community wall” for The Coffee Ethic. The wall is a “sculptural installation” that will reflect the spirit of downtown Springfield, Mitchell says.
Noon
Mardis is back at work at the VanHovers’ home, and Mitchell continues work on the community wall.
1 p.m.
Mitchell and Natalie Mardis enjoy beautiful weather during lunch on the patio at Nonna’s Bambino Italian restaurant, 1141 E. Delmar St.
Michael Mardis finishes removing plaster and existing framing for the kitchen entry and eats with Ian VanHover on the front porch.
2 p.m.
Mardis begins new framing for the doorway.
After checking e-mail again, Mitchell works on window layouts and wall designs for Marti Montgomery’s house. He listens to the Midlake album again, and says he’s becoming a big fan.
3 p.m.
Mardis continues framing. Mitchell speaks with a contractor about a steel building system for Montgomery’s house.
He also calls a metal fabricator to see how much it would cost to build a receptacle for the GRN:BOX competition.
Both Mitchell and Mardis are finalists in the GRN:BOX competition, which is sponsored by the Young Architects Forum and meant to bring recycling bins to downtown Springfield.
4 p.m.
Mardis continues framing. Mitchell updates their Web site, www.theworkshop308.com, with some new design images for The Coffee Ethic.
He also visits with a couple of people who walk into the studio to see what theworkshop 308 is all about. They play with Mitchell’s dog, Mater.
5 p.m.
Mardis finishes framing, cleans up and heads back to the office.
Upon Mardis’ arrival, Mitchell makes him listen to a couple tracks from the newly acquired album. They read e-mails, clean up and leave for the day.
6 p.m.
The duo heads to Bass Pro Shops’ headquarters at Sportsman Park Corporate Center, 2500 E. Kearney St.
That’s where they fish with kids as volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks’ Outdoor Sports Buddies program.
“I didn’t catch any fish, but I did put a lot of worms on the (kids’) hooks,” Mitchell says.
Mardis describes it as, “Fishing, fun, corndogs and lots of mosquitoes.”
7 p.m.
More fishing.
8 p.m.
They head home, where Mitchell does laundry and responds to e-mails. Mardis unwinds in front of the TV, taking in an episode of “LA Ink” on cable network TLC.
9 p.m.
Both men study for their Architect Registration Examination tests.
Passing the series of nine tests is necessary to become licensed architects, and they’ve taken about three tests each.
Tonight’s topic for Mardis is mechanical and electrical equipment for buildings.
Mitchell studies contract documents.
10 p.m.
Studying continues.
11 p.m.
It’s bedtime for Mardis. Mitchell reads an article in Dwell magazine about a prefabricated house in Ethiopia. He also puts on headphones and takes one last listen to his favorite new album, “The Trials of Van Occupanther,” before going to sleep at midnight.[[In-content Ad]]
Springfield event venue Belamour LLC gained new ownership; The Wok on West Bypass opened; and Hawk Barber & Shop closed on a business purchase that expanded its footprint to Ozark.