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The Question and Answer feature helps readers learn more about prominent people in the business community. This issue’s Q&A profiles Robin Miller, chief executive officer of Miller Sellers Heroux Architects Inc.
 Robin Miller established Miller Sellers Heroux Architects Inc. in 1989. (Inertia/for SFBJ)
Name: Robin J. Miller
Title: Chief executive officer of Miller Sellers Heroux Architects Inc.
Background: Graduated from Washington High School and from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in architecture; licensed in 1983 after an internship at TSP and passing the nine-part, 44-hour exam; worked at TSP until 1987; partnered with another architect; established Miller Sellers Heroux in 1989; mentors a sophomore at Lincoln High School; serves as president of First Baptist Church and as an assistant teacher for adult Sunday school and a Friday morning men’s group; has coached high school varsity girls soccer for the past 12 years
Hometown: Born in Bismarck, N.D.; moved to Sioux Falls in the sixth grade
Age: 53
Family: Wife, Lori (high school sweethearts); daughter, Kara (a former youth pastor), and her husband Nate, who have two children; son, Andy (Air Force veteran awaiting activation as a Navy pilot)
Q: Tell me about your interests and hobbies.
A: “I love boating and especially time with our grandkids. Who can resist a 2 1/2-year-old grandson singing “Winnie the Pooh” in a baby-boy falsetto voice? I’m intimately involved with the process of making disciples at First Baptist Church and have a passion as a coach for the Lincoln High School varsity girls soccer team.”
Q: How did you become interested in your field?
A: “While at Washington High, I didn’t know what I wanted to do until a scheduling error put me into advanced drafting. We were half-way through the semester, and I’d finished all the work, was doing extra credit before my teacher discovered that I hadn’t had the pre-requisite course. I was hooked. Friends encouraged me to explore Iowa State University. I interned during one summer at TSP, and, thankfully, they wanted me back when I graduated.”
Q: What do you enjoy most about work?
A: “Helping our clients realize their dreams after bringing their projects in under budget. There’s no better feeling than when they call to thank us for a job well done.”
Q: What’s the most challenging project that you’re working on now?
A: “A 27-acre development on the north edge of town with a 160,000-square-foot ‘twin tower’ office structure, high-end hotel, restaurant, convention center and 30 $700,000 to $1 million luxury homes all on one lot and all designed to meet LEED standards with construction to start this spring and only four months to prepare. It doesn’t get much better than that! Each structure has its own project manager, who I was able to assign based on the individual strengths and interests of the employee.”
Q:What project are you especially proud of?
A:“Can I name two? This firm’s first project was adding on to Boen Associates on 41st Street. Don Boen told me they’d made a mistake designing the first structure like a house and wanted the addition to function like an office. Part of the solution was to create a center portion that serves to separate the old and new halves, which have different heights. This entry lobby ties them together into one workable office structure. It was completed under budget and ahead of schedule, and Boen Associates is still successfully using the space today.
“Secondly has to be our work for a family amusement park – whose name must remain confidential – in Anaheim scheduled to open this summer. They hired us after interviewing over 100 architects – three in Sioux Falls. Our client brought this work back to the U.S. from India. We were hired for our leadership – seven years exclusively – in true Building Information Modeling. As a result of our involvement, multiple conflicts with the interacting roller-coaster ride were resolved due to our ability to ‘ride the rides.’ This saved the client thousands of dollars in change orders and shaved months off the construction schedule.”
Q; What advice do you have for architects, developers, city planners and builders who are putting up buildings now?
A:“Invest in proper planning and give your architect the time to develop good documents. Good-quality design pays back in so many ways. The worst place to skimp is at the planning stage. Data proves that proper planning, and especially documentation, has more than a 100 percent return on investment.”
Q: How do you find time to balance your job and your family?
A: “I was encouraged to establish my priorities by a Navigators group in college. I’ve always endeavored to follow them in this order: my personal relationship with Jesus Christ, my wife, my children and then work. When I was a young pup at TSP, a wise mentor of mine pointed to a late-night worker in the office and told me that I could end out like that – working all kinds of late hours – if I wanted to establish that expectation in my employer’s mind. Once established, it would be almost impossible to break. He also mentioned that it would be better to have more fresh employees working on projects – in this business, mistakes go up exponentially when working more than 50 hours a week – and for the company to hire more people when overtime became a controlling factor in our lives. I’ve taken that to heart as I manage this company.”
Q: Do you have a charity or organization that’s especially close to your heart?
A: “I personally tithe to my church because I believe that’s where I’ll realize the best bang for my buck. After taking care of their fixed expenses, the rest goes directly into making this place a better world for all. Secondly, this company gives 10 percent of its profits directly to local charities. We let the employees decide who gets their share, and the employees deliver the checks. It’s great to be able to do this without anything – especially public recognition – in return. This group of 15 people has been able to give to over 52 organizations in Sioux Falls. Now that’s close to my heart!”
Q: What’s your favorite getaway?
A: “Drifting on a boat or sitting in front of the fireplace with something good to read.”
Q: If you could take a one-year sabbatical, what would you do?
A: “Relocate to the Twin Cities, spend most of my time with my wife, kids and grandkids taking in plays, games, the arts, the Winter Ice Carnival, etc.”
Q: What’s something about you people would be surprised to know or what’s your favorite childhood memory?
A: “Have you seen my scrawny picture down at the Washington Pavilion? Had I ever been able to beat Rick Jensen from Watertown High School, now head wrestling coach at Watertown, I might have gone on to wrestle in college. Who knows, I could have been a 120-pound Brock Lesner. Thanks, Rick Jensen, for teaching me a lesson.”
Q: What kind of music is in your car or what do you listen to on the radio?
A: “I’m really liking African music right now. I have the African Children’s Choir going. In the car, it’s usually talk radio – Hannity, O’Reilly, Limbaugh and Ingraham.”
Q: If you could have dinner with two or three people, alive or dead, who would you choose and why?
A: “My older brother Roger who died before I was born, so he’s had a head start on what heaven is like. The Apostle Paul and Bernie Schock because Bernie and our adult Sunday school class have been studying Acts and would Paul ever be an inspiration for how to live – and die – the Christian life.”
Q: What do you think are the best and worst things about living in Sioux Falls?
A: “Best: The work ethic and steady economy. Worst: The way businesses and government entities keep hiring out-of-state firms to do local work. There’s millions of tax and local business dollars flowing out each year. It’s the wrong message to send to our students and current work force.”
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