GRAND RAPIDS, MI — After nearly 40 years, Rockford Construction Co-Founder and CEO Mike VanGessel will step out of his role as CEO and hand over the reins to the next generation of Rockford leaders.
Shane Napper, Rockford’s President and Chief Operating Officer, will succeed VanGessel as CEO.
“Rockford is so much more than a business. It’s a family,” VanGessel said. “I am honored to have built and led this team for nearly 40 years and grateful to so many who mentored me along the way. The opportunity to support our Rockford team in achieving their goals, building our clients’ dreams, and creating lasting impact in our community has truly been the honor of my life. I am pleased to have Shane and his team take the mantle and operate with the needed passion and intensity to serve our team, win work, and satisfy our clients now and in the future.”
To transition into his new role and lead the firm into the future, Napper will draw on his 27-year tenure with the firm, his leadership, and the talents of the entire Rockford leadership team.
“Mike set a high bar for our team and what we deliver for our clients,” Napper said. “The question he always challenged us to ask was, ‘How can we best serve our clients and community?’ As a result, we have seen tremendous growth and diversification under Mike’s leadership. We have also built a rock-solid executive team who will lead us into the future. I look forward to working with these talented leaders and our entire team to build on Mike’s legacy and continue to deliver outstanding results for our clients.”
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| AIS Construction Equipment |
VanGessel and the Rockford leadership team have been working on the succession plan since 2019. The transition is effective immediately.
“We are confident that we have set the stage well for the next chapter in Rockford’s success story,” VanGessel said.
VanGessel will stay actively engaged with Rockford as an investor in the real estate portfolio, and he plans to focus on building VanGessel Investments, a family-owned firm founded in 2019.
“As a powerhouse of regional development, construction, and property management, Rockford is a testament to Mike’s talent and his true grit,” Napper said. “What we build from here will be made possible by a group of exemplary leaders that I have the privilege of partnering with, by the diverse talents of our highly skilled team and by our clients and community stakeholders who have always been central to the Rockford story.”
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Under VanGessel’s leadership, Rockford completed 7,000-plus projects totaling nearly $9 billion. These include some of the first downtown revitalization projects on Monroe Center (Peck Building, Grand Rapids Police Department, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Front Row Condominiums, Steketee’s/Blue Cross Blue Shield, The Morton), Arena District projects (Cherry Street Landing, Heart of West Michigan United Way, Western Michigan University, Studio Park), West Side projects (New Holland Brewing Company’s The Knickerbocker, Barley Flats, Bridge Street Market, The Hendrik, Rockford headquarters, Fulton Place), and projects in the downtown core (JW Marriott and MSU Grand Rapids Innovation Park). Another project that was a catalyst to the revitalization and growth of the East Hills neighborhood was the historic restoration of the D.A. Blodgett Home for Children.
