President & Principal-in-Charge,
WYK Associates, Inc., and President, Architectural Salvation, LLC
By Maggie Matsko
For James Swiger, president of WYK Associates, Inc. and Architectural Salvation, LLC, there was never a question of what he wanted to be when he grew up. He has always known his calling in life is to be an architect. “I have wanted to be an architect since I was about 6 years old,” he says. “I never wanted to be anything else.”
Swiger credits his grandfather for helping fuel his passion for designing buildings. “My grandfather was the business manager and director of special projects for Salem College,” he says. “He would take me with him to job sites and sometimes to meet with the architect, which was very exciting for me.”
Today, Swiger’s career consists of owning and managing WYK Associates, Inc., an architectural firm in Clarksburg with roots dating back to 1900. The Salem, WV, native has come full circle since he started his career as an intern for WYK shortly after graduating from the University of Tennessee. While he left for a time to work for two other firms, his return to WYK in 2005 marked the beginning of the path to achieving his dreams. Since then, he has worked his way up from project architect to vice president to president and owner.
As Swiger looks back at his other professional achievements over the years, his proudest moment was WYK being selected from a pool of 12 firms to be the architect for the Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center renovation project. “I had very fond memories of this venue as a child, so I was honored to be a part of the renovation,” he says. “It was a dream project and definitely a highlight of my career to work on it.”
Swiger has encountered a vast number of great minds while in the industry, but he says one person stands out from the rest: Bill Yoke Jr., the past president of WYK. “Bill had just taken over as the sole owner of WYK in 1996 when I started as an intern, and it was then I noticed how well respected he was by colleagues, contractors and community members,” says Swiger. “He was also very involved in the community.”
Inspired by his mentor, Swiger continues to follow Yoke’s example and strives to have an impact in his community. “I have learned that if you give your time, talent and treasure to an individual or a cause—no matter how big or small—it has a huge impact, especially when combined with the efforts of other like-minded individuals,” he says. “I think we owe a lot to organizations that provide positive mentoring for our youth, as well as services for our seniors and our veterans.”
Swiger is dedicated to making West Virginia a better place to live and work, and today he carries out his love for his community through a variety of roles, including member of the board of directors for the Bi-County Nutrition Program; Health Access, Inc.; Kiwanis Club of Clarksburg; and Clarksburg Uptown, Inc. and member of the advisory committee for the Salem University School of Business. In the past, he served as a member of the education committee for the Harrison County Chamber of Commerce and on the board of directors for the United Way of Harrison County, Inc. He is also well-known for philanthropic giving for causes near and dear to him, including in-kind architectural services for the First Responders Memorial Park in Clarksburg, the Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center and the new parish center at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, as well as funding for Clarksburg Uptown, Inc.’s annual jazz stroll and the diversity statue at the Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, among others.
“I give back to my community because it is the right thing to do,” he says. “We all live and work in a community, so why wouldn’t you assist the people who are out there working day in and day out to make the place you live a better place? It makes me feel good to know I have made a difference.”
While running a successful architectural firm and small architectural salvage business and being a good steward in the community is hard work, Swiger is motivated every day by the endless possibilities that lie ahead. “Every day is a new opportunity to help someone, meet a new friend or land a new job,” he says. “The potential greatness found in the unknown is a great motivator that keeps me going even on the most difficult days.”
1996 Hired as architectural intern at WYK Associates, Inc.
2004 Earned WV Board of Architects license
2005 Joined WYK Associates, Inc. as project architect
2007 Elected to AIA-WV board of directors
2008 Became partner and vice president at WYK Associates, Inc.
2012 Acquired WYK Associates, Inc. as owner
2014 Selected to lead the restoration of the Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center
2014 Named to the Young Guns Class of 2015 by WVE
2019 Recognized with the Merit Award for Craftsmanship and Honor Award for Achievement in Historic Preservation for the Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center
