Timothy Rowles, Executive Director of The Springfield Project and the Black Chamber of Commerce, is an Alabama native, but has spent his adult life in Springfield, Illinois, arriving here with his parents for his senior year at Springfield High School. He was part of the Youth Employment Program then which he says helped lock him into a job right away after school. “I stuck with it and then rose through the ranks here at a bank.” He got his start painting in the boiler room. It was a stepping stone, he said. “You have to take advantage of opportunities.”

That Youth Employment Program experience was part of what kept him in Springfield. “It’s comfortable. Springfield is a pretty peaceful place. The cost of living is relatively low. It’s a reasonable place to live,” he said, adding with a laugh, “You can live like a king here and not have to make a whole lot.” He has lived in a number of other places throughout his growing up years. “We lived in Alexandria, Virginia; And if you are familiar with the movie ‘Remember the Titans,’ that’s where I went to high school my freshman and sophomore year. I have a nephew that just graduated from there,” he continued. “Then we moved to Kansas City, Missouri and then Madison, Wisconsin. My parents kept moving to take advantage of opportunities to make a better life for us, to improve quality of life, that kind of thing.”

His mother, Queen, is still here. With a broad smile across his face he says, “Bless her heart. She’s 78, still driving. Getting around.” He makes his home with wife, Carla, and son, Timothy, II, who is a senior at Southeast High School. Their daughter, Autumn, recently graduated from North Carolina State with an engineering degree.

His Work, His Calling
Rowles learned from his mother the value of working hard and making life better. He spent 20 years working for then locally-owned First National Bank (has also been US Bank, Mercantile Bank, First Star Bank). “I did a lot of work in community reinvestment and systems management,” he said. “After that I went to the Springfield Housing Authority for a couple of years as Information Systems Manager, then to the City of Springfield as Division Manager for Community Development under Mayor (Karen) Hasara. She’s good people!”

With his work history in the community services field, leading The Springfield Project is a natural fit. He has served in this capacity for 10 years. “My work is like a calling. I like to work with distressed neighborhoods, help small businesses, provide employment, housing.” One of the ways you know how important The Springfield Project is to Rowles is when he chuckles as I ask how he divides his time between the Black Chamber and TSP. “The Springfield Project is my main deal. It’s more than 40 hours a week, but we have a partnership now that is a three-prong partnership: the Springfield Chamber, the The Springfield Project and the Springfield Black Chamber. It’s part of the Q5-Quantum Growth Partnership (see details at www.thespringfieldproject.org).
It’s easy to understand how the hours can add up for Rowles and his Boards. “Initiatives we are working on are East Springfield re-development, increasing and sustaining minority business, creating employment.”  According to the website: “TSP is a 501c3 not-for-profit agency … that collaborates with public agencies and private partners to establish neighborhood associations and support community problem solving efforts.

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