Entrepreneurial Spirit

They’ve helped design countless buildings across the Midwest, and together, Todd Mitzel and Mike Kuntz co-founded Icon Architectural Group in Grand Forks, N.D. After working together at another architecture firm, they decided to forge their own path in 2002.

BY KAYLA PRASEK

Mitzel graduated from North Dakota State University in Fargo with a degree in architecture before landing at his first job, where he met Kuntz, who had graduated from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks with a degree in industrial technology. “My path’s a little different, a little non-conventional,” Kuntz says. “After about 10 years of experience, I took the licensing exams.”

The pair opened Icon, where they both are principal architects, because “we wanted to do our own thing,” Kuntz says. “We had that entrepreneurial spirit and wanted to see what we could create and be our own boss.”

In the 14 years since Icon opened, it has grown from just Kuntz and Mitzel to more than 50 employees in five locations. “It’s grown rather quickly at times,” Mitzel says. “It started just the two of us and has gradually grown. We had a pretty good growth spurt about four years ago.”

They are now in their second Grand Forks office since leaving UND’s Center for Innovation, where they had office space when Icon first opened. “Every time we move, we always seem to add staff,” Kuntz says.

They’ve designed numerous facilities for UND, including the law school, High Performance Center, aerospace building and housing, which they list among their career highlights, Kuntz says. Mitzel also highlights the firm’s growth, “being able to take something and succeed and be able to grow it … being able to diversify regionally and nationally with some of our work has been a big deal. It’s something a lot of people aren’t able to do, but something we were able to do fairly early in our careers.”

Among the challenges they’ve faced while owning a firm, Mitzel notes the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009. “We were able to get through it without reducing staff or anything like that, but from the growth we had, we saw it kind of slowing up at that time. There were some projects that impacted that as well.”

Mitzel also says finding good staff can be a challenge, as they look for people who want to “make a career here with us. Retaining staff hasn’t been a big problem for us, but finding the initial people to come here can be a challenge at times.”

Because they’ve built Icon from the ground up, Kuntz says “starting from nothing, you make all your own processes and you learn lessons, but that’s what makes it exciting.”

Mitzel and Kuntz have also seen technology transform the architecture industry in the 14 years since they started Icon. “The way we do drawings, the way we deliver projects, everything about that has changed considerably in the past almost 15 years,” Mitzel says. “It’s a lot more collaborative now. We work a lot more with contractors. That’s probably the single biggest thing. It’s a lot more noticeable in our national market. You can have people compete on many dif- ferent levels in different areas of the country. It’s not like the old days where the two firms in town are your competition. It’s everyone.”

As firm leaders, Kuntz and Mitzel have learned to impart the professionalism of the trade to their staff. “It is a professional service, and you need to make sure you don’t lose sight of that,” Kuntz says. Staffing is another area they’ve become experienced at handling. “Sometimes it’s challenging to find staff, but once you have them, you have to learn how to keep them and figure out what that means for you,” Mitzel says. “All we have is the people we have. That’s the key to our success is finding and retaining those people.” Kuntz says they also believe in the architecture programs in North Dakota and keeping those students in the state post-graduation.

Mitzel has some sage advice for architects at the beginning of their careers. “There’s a couple things I always like to see: a solid work history coming in because it’s not just about what you know but also what you’ve done, when they have a working knowledge of construction, working hard and being diligent. It’s a lot of grunt work starting out and you have to learn the basics before you get to the advanced stuff, so being able to understand that you aren’t going to come in and be the lead designer in the firm is pretty important, but what you learn in those small pieces makes you a better designer in the long run.” PB

Kayla Prasek Staff Writer, Prairie Business 701.780.1187