Jeffrey Wood, P.S.—Long-time Spicer Group Leader Retires After 27 Years
After dedicating the past 27 years of service to Spicer Group, long-time company leader, Jeff Wood, P.S., has retired and is looking forward to spending some of his free time surveying new waters. And he was recently presented with quite the retirement surprise when he found out he’s going to be a first-time grandfather.
Whether Wood admits it or not, he can be credited for having a major role in growing Spicer Group’s Survey Services Group into what it is today. However, his road to becoming a surveyor and ultimately coming to Spicer Group wasn’t anywhere close to being as straight as some of the property lines he’s staked back in the day.
“I graduated from Battle Creek Central in 1984 and pursued an electronics technology degree from Kellogg Junior College,” Wood said. “I took that technology degree and got a job waiting tables at Elias Brothers Restaurant in 1986.”
Not being one to work inside, Wood quit relying on tips and took a summer job as a rodman with Davis Land Surveying in Battle Creek. Although the restaurant business wasn’t for Wood, had he not worked at Elias Brothers, he never would have met Diana—his wife of 30 years.
“Davis was looking for help and I figured I’d give it a try. I spent the entire summer doing most of the grunt work while doing surveys including walking through swamps and cutting brush,” Wood said.
It was this first survey job that taught Wood a respect for accountability.
“We had a job where we had to stake a long property line for a landowner. The landowner then planted over 200 small pine trees along that line,” Wood said. “Unfortunately we later found out that our line was 20 feet off.”
He said the landowner was somewhat understanding, but Wood’s boss decided the best thing to do was to make things right.
“We re-surveyed the line to where it was supposed to be and dug up every one of those pine trees and replanted them 20 feet over to where they were supposed to be to begin with,” Wood said. “I learned a lot from that mistake and still remember that to this day.”
After being promoted to crew chief at Davis, he decided to go back to college and pursue a surveying degree. He graduated with a surveying degree from Ferris State University in 1991 and took a new job with Gove Associates in Sturgis, MI. Electronic distance meters were just coming to market at that time, but Wood spent most of his time using a 100-foot tape and plumb bob to survey square-mile sections and completing boundary surveys.
“I worked for Gove for a year then went to Carr Associates. My friend Roger Mahoney, P.S., who worked at Spicer Group, then known as Spicer Engineering, contacted me and said they may have a position for me,” Wood said.
He interviewed with Ron Prevost, Tim Beebe, and Dale Deibel and was offered a position on Spicer’s survey team.
”It was a pretty big decision. Diana was pregnant and we had to pick up everything and move to the Saginaw area to make it work,” Wood said. “We decided to do it and moved into a house in St. Charles.”
His new career at Spicer took him on a straighter line to success, and he worked his way up to eventually leading the survey department and becoming a principal of the company in 2000. In the mid-1990s, Spicer had four survey crews, and they were a major support group for municipal infrastructure projects.
“Beginning in 2000, we started to do a lot more work for the Michigan Department of Transportation including design surveys and construction staking,” Wood said. “GPS technology became quite popular at that time, but that led to less contractor staking work.”
Wood was elected to Spicer’s Board of Directors in 2005 and soon found out how tough leading a company can be. As with most businesses in Michigan, 2008 proved to be a real test on owners dealing with a tough economy. Wood said the hardest part was adjusting the company in a manner that had the least amount of impact to staffs’ lives while trying to keep the company running smoothly.
“Then we purchased mobile LiDAR technology. We were one of the first companies in the country to purchase and own the Leica Pegasus Mobile LiDAR unit, which opened up a whole new world of opportunities,” Wood said. “Nothing in my career has leapfrogged our surveying capabilities like mobile LiDAR. This was a million-dollar investment just to get the technology, then we had to learn the technology and train staff. But it was definitely worth the effort.”
Wood said that the company’s support in incorporating new technology such as mobile LiDAR and single beam and multi-beam bathymetric survey equipment has helped the survey department grow and diversify.
“People, in general, have great minds and intentions and Spicer has always been a place that gives staff a chance to take on new roles and grow,” Wood said. “Watching people blossom and learn is something very unique and satisfying, and I really enjoyed interacting more with staff across the company.”
Wood was starting to prepare for retirement when the COVID-19 pandemic came sweeping through and affected companies across the U.S. in various ways.
“It was a pretty stressful time with all of the executive orders being handed out, policies changing, and figuring out how to work from home,” Wood said. “Our board met countless times and worked hard together to adjust to the pandemic, something that nobody can prepare you for.”
Wood said that after 27 years, it was time to spend more effort accomplishing other personal life goals.
“The company is very strong, we have a great group of employees. I’m really going to miss the staff, the clients, and projects, but it’s time to open a new chapter.” Wood said. “Spicer Group is an amazing place and even though we have grown significantly over the last decade, we are still a tight-knit group just like we were when I started, and that’s what makes us unique.”
Thank you, Jeff, for your dedicated efforts and strong leadership skills. Enjoy your new chapter in life, sail some new waters, and have fun with Diana spending time with your future grandson.
