Evolution of an Enterprise, Chapter 12: Field Trip

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, notebooks in hand, 30 Missouri State University interior design students listened intently to Jason Mitchell talk about inspiration, experiences and uncommon furniture-building materials.

Thomas Kachel and his junior-level Furniture For Interior Design class took a field trip April 2 to theworkshop 308 LLC, the design firm at 308 W. Commercial St. that Mitchell and partner Michael Mardis started in January.

Kachel, an assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Applied Consumer Sciences, thought his students could relate to and learn from theworkshop 308’s young entrepreneurs.

“Our textbook’s a fine textbook, but going out on a field trip is a great way to break up the material,” Kachel said. “The textbook does not talk about small firms doing (furniture design) … it’s talking about huge companies, and so by doing this, it’s like, ‘Well, yeah, you really could do this, too.’”

The college students didn’t ask many questions, but Mardis said the experience was still positive.

This was the first college class Mitchell and Mardis have spoken to, though they both expressed a desire to give similar presentations in the future. They even want to turn their office into a creative hub for designers starting this fall, offering a place where designers – students and professionals – can hang out, drink coffee, draw, read and converse.

“It would be awesome if we could have people in and out all day long, but it also depends on what we’re doing here and if we have clients here and things like that,” Mardis said. “There are still things that we need to work out.”

Much of the presentation April 2 revolved around materials. Mitchell and Mardis passed around samples of environmentally friendly wood, for example. They also told stories of finding discarded doors, windows and pillars that they use to build tables and other furniture.

“Materials are always the biggest thing (in design),” Mardis said. “Sometimes you have to be creative in what you use. … Maybe somebody got an idea for a piece of furniture for their (final) project.”

The environmentally friendly aspect of Mitchell’s and Mardis’ designs generally appealed to the students, who may very well turn the “green” design and building trend into standard practice in coming decades.

Jeynah Parmelee, a junior originally from Thailand, noted a different kind of “green” benefit Mitchell and Mardis may have going for them: big profit margins on furniture priced for several hundred dollars but made from reclaimed materials they found for free. Theworkshop 308 has six pieces of furniture displayed at Staxx Apparel, 331 South Ave., priced between $350 and $1,400. Some of those pieces use reclaimed materials; none have sold yet.

Sally Lohmeyer, a sophomore from Rogersville, added that theworkshop 308’s designs appeal mostly to college students because of their style. However, she said, college students can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars for a table.

“Whether they want it or not, that might be their market,” said Lohmeyer, suggesting lowered prices might spawn sales.

Despite a couple criticisms, the students and their teacher overwhelmingly expressed admiration for the work Mitchell and Mardis are doing. Some students even volunteered to be unpaid interns for theworkshop 308 over the summer, according to Mardis.

“It just kind of feels like home,” Lohmeyer said. “It’s a lot of inspiration for college students. Springfield is in desperate need of some place like this.”