A Shepherdstown perspective: Mills Group holds grand opening for new office location

Mills Group Principal Architect Victor Greco, right, talks with a visitor to the Shepherdstown location open house on Oct. 28. Tabitha Johnston
SHEPHERDSTOWN — On Oct. 28, Mills Group welcomed the community to a grand opening celebration at its new location, 122 East German Street.
Mills Group, a 15-year-old architectural firm specializing in historical preservation, interior design and commercial building, has two other locations in Wheeling and Morgantown. According to Mills Group founder Michael Mills, the decision to expand the West Virginia-based firm chose to expand to a third location was prompted by an increasing amount of projects they’ve been hired for in the Eastern Panhandle.
“We’re working on the Bavarian Inn, we’re working on Hilltop House, so it was a pretty natural fit for us to set up an office here,” Mills said, mentioning the Jefferson County Visitors Center was the most recent work the architectural firm has completed in the Eastern Panhandle. “We could probably have conducted all of our projects from out of our Morgantown office, but we firmly believe in the importance of being in the communities we work in.”
While the firm considered opening its third location in Charles Town, Mills said Shepherdstown ended up being a more natural fit, due, in part, to the firm’s preexisting relationship with the Corporation of Shepherdstown.
“Probably six or seven years ago we developed the Historic District Design Guidelines for Shepherdstown,” Mills said, mentioning the firm also has helped with the preservation of a historic house on Shepherd University’s campus.

Shepherdstown resident Steve Pearson, left, enjoys some wine and conversation with Keith McIntosh, representative from Sen. Joe Manchin's Eastern Panhandle office, at the Mills Group Shepherdstown location grand opening on Oct. 28. Tabitha Johnston
The historical focus of the town and its beautiful architecture also played a role in it becoming the home of Mills Group’s office, according to Mills Group Principal Architect Victor Greco.
“We really feel like Shepherdstown, where it is, the geographical region, the great architecture, fit our DNA,” Greco said.
Mills also suggested that having a location near the District of Columbia will help Mills Group expand its work outside of West Virginia.
“We hope we’re going to do stuff into Washington and the District of Columbia. We have a lot of partners there, so we will likely do work there and in the Beltway,” Mills said, mentioning some of those partnerships were developed earlier in his career, before he moved on from his job in Washington, D.C. to found Mills Group.
According to Mills Group Senior Project Manager Jim King, finding the ideal location for the Shepherdstown office took about a month. King, who previously worked as Shepherd University’s Director of Facilities, was hired by Mills to lead the new office in March. He discovered the new location by chance in April, after meeting Shepherdstown resident Randy Tremba for breakfast one morning.

Visitors to the open house for Mills Group's Shepherdstown location enjoy hors d'oeuvres, wine and conversation on Oct. 28. Tabitha Johnston
“I went to breakfast with Randy Tremba and we left breakfast, and I turned and saw this was available! We saw Frank Hill that morning, as well. Since then, they’ve been asking me for a finder’s fee,” King said, laughing.
Hiring for the new location is still ongoing, and King encouraged anyone who “is computer savvy and fluent with design software” to stop by the office and apply for work there.
“We do such a wide variety of jobs. We’ve done everything from entrance signs and gates to subdivision to a $20 million sports complex outside of Wheeling — just a myriad of everything,” King said, mentioning he is currently in conversations with Shepherd University to set up historic preservation internships at the new office location.
To learn more, visit https://millsgrouponline.com/.
- Mills Group Principal Architect Victor Greco, right, talks with a visitor to the Shepherdstown location open house on Oct. 28. Tabitha Johnston
- Shepherdstown resident Steve Pearson, left, enjoys some wine and conversation with Keith McIntosh, representative from Sen. Joe Manchin’s Eastern Panhandle office, at the Mills Group Shepherdstown location grand opening on Oct. 28. Tabitha Johnston
- Visitors to the open house for Mills Group’s Shepherdstown location enjoy hors d’oeuvres, wine and conversation on Oct. 28. Tabitha Johnston