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Mike Rogers

The Journey

A layoff in 1989. A single building. A career that followed.

Thirty-five years of building, restoring, and paying attention to the places most people drive past.

  1. 1989

    A single building.

    Mike returns to Mobile after a layoff. A college friend calls with an unlikely invitation — help build a small commercial project. The building goes up, and so does the idea that would become a career.

  2. 1991

    Rogers & Willard is founded.

    Mike and his partner formalize what began with a favor. The firm's north star: Stay lean, treat everyone on the jobsite as equals, and take on the projects the bigger firms won't.

  3. 2000s

    Regional Building

    Expanding the RWI footprint with projects over the southeastern U.S.

  4. 2010s

    Corridors and campuses.

    The Buick Building. Innovation Portal. Staples Pake. Olde Mobile Autogen. Warren St. Cottages. Projects that prove infill can be additive rather than erosive.

  5. Today

    Founder, advisor, author.

    Mike still leads Rogers & Willard as a regional general contracting firm. He also advises through Porchlight and writes about the work. My Town is the story of that work, and a challenge to anyone doing similar work somewhere else.

Ready for the whole story?

The book fills in the gaps between the projects, the arguments, and the neighbors who wouldn't back down.

Read the Book