Paul
Birkholz, the managing partner at Mountain West Group, started designing and building with Legos at the age of
three. He
traded in the Legos for actual construction experience with a local
general
contractor during the summers while attending college. They
taught
him how contractors work and what a designer can do and provide to make
the building process easier for everyone. First hand
experience with
a construction company and the process of building was an invaluable
experience.
Paul graduated from
the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural
Engineering
and a Bachelor of Architecture with Honors. With the
combination
of his architecture and engineering education and construction
experience,
Paul joined a small design firm in the Vail Valley of Colorado as a
project
manager. While in Vail, he worked on single family
residential, multi-family
residential, and commercial projects for both custom clients and
developers.
He gained a strong background in all aspects of design and project
management
which serves him to this day.
In 2001, Paul returned to
his hometown of Sheridan, Wyoming and worked with a large commercial firm and a small
architecture firm before devoting all his time and attention to MWG.
He founded Mountain West Group in 1998 as a website
development and photography company that continues to be a part of MWG's diversified business. Once out on his own, he integrated residential design
into the services offered by Mountain West Group in 2003.
Paul is a past director of the Antelope Butte Foundation which is working to reopen the local ski area. He, his wife, Donna, and their two Lego loving daughters, live in Sheridan.
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Todd
Busse, the project architect at Mountain West Group's Colorado office,
started much the same as Paul with Legos, Lincoln Logs, and Erector
Sets. Since then, he has been involved in residential design and
construction for over 20 years. After completion of his Bachelor
of Architecture degree, he worked for a custom home builder as a
carpenter while completing his Master's Degree. This work
provided him with a valuable learning experience that cannot be
achieved in a classroom.
Todd graduated from North Dakota State
University with a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in
Environmental Design. He then completed a Master of Fine Arts
degree in Industrial Design at the University of Illinois -
Chicago. Once he finished his education, his first office
experience was in a small firm in Eau Claire, Wisconsin working on
residential, multi-family, institutional, and commercial projects.
In
1999, Todd arrived in Colorado’s Vail Valley and collaborated with two
different architectural firms. He has had the opportunity to work
on a multitude of residential design projects as well as commercial and
land planning projects. At each design firm, he has worked
closely with the clients, team members, consultants, and contractors.
After
becoming a partner at MWG in 2005, Todd continued working in the Vail
Valley. In 2010, he relocated to Fruita, Colorado. Todd
continues to manage MWG projects in the Vail Valley while growing the
business in the Grand Valley of western Colorado and additional projects in Utah including both
photography and design projects.
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