A Chicagoland native, Brad earned a B.S. in Architectural Studies and a Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before moving to Springfield in 2003. With over 20 years of experience in all aspects of project development, Brad Erwin has built a solid reputation in the architectural industry for his innovative approach.Brad created Paragon Architecture in 2010 with a strong desire to improve communities through sustainable architectural design of education, civic, public safety, and healthcare facilities. His skills, along with the ability to create and facilitate highly technical and specialized projects, were key to the creation and the current success of Paragon. Brad has been recognized for his work with tornado safe room design, which is technically based, functionally complex, and combines challenging and involved programmatic relationships. Under his leadership as President and Principal Architect, the Paragon team has helped secure funding and design more than 40 tornado safe rooms, that will protect over 75,000 people from otherwise devastating high-wind events. Believing in the power of teamwork to produce superior design and technical excellence was seeded early in Brad’s career and is an especially important part of business now that he’s in charge. Today, Paragon is proud to be named an Emerging Professional Friendly Firm, a distinction from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) given to firms that create nurturing environments and professional development opportunities for emerging professionals. Today, the company’s over 25 professionals now span three locations including the downtown Springfield headquarters, and offices in Joplin and St. Louis. Last year, the firm was named one of the Top 20 Best Places to Work by Biz417. As an active member of the Springfield community, Brad currently serves on the Board of Directors for CoxHealth, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, the Springfield Business Development Corporation, and Accelerate SGF. He is also actively involved in the City of Springfield’s Forward SGF comprehensive planning effort, the Grant Avenue Parkway project, and Renew Jordan Creek efforts.