Photo by Brandon Alms

Christina Angle’s education and career trajectory has taken her from Springfield, to Virginia, to London and all the way back to 417-land again. Now, Angle is firmly planted in her hometown in a key role at her family’s business, the Erlen Group, and the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. 

On Keeping the Next Generation in Mind
“The Erlen Group is a family business and we make decisions generationally, so we try to do what will be good for the next generation. We're being stewards for the next generation [...] For example, with our Joplin site where we've got a quarry and we're mining limestone, we're mindful that when that's reclaimed, it will be a beautiful lakefront property and a wildlife habitat. We've actually actively reclaimed over 70 acres of what we've already mined. You're here for a short time and you're a steward of the assets and the earth around you, to take care of it for the next generation.”

On Being a “Springfield Boomerang”
“I grew up here and the Erlen Group [formerly Springfield Underground] is a family business. My father [Louis Griesemer] is the former president, he started developing accounting software for the company and became president, so I grew up around the business, did some work around the company as a kid, but went away to college in Virginia and studied accounting and business administration, then got a job with an accounting firm in Virginia and lived there for seven years. And then that [job] took me to London.

“I was looking for what would bring me back here and it was either stay with [PwC Accounting] or look for a new opportunity. I was really excited about the opportunity to come work at the family business, mainly due to the ability to get involved in some more operational things and not just be pigeonholed into accounting. So, we came back from London in 2016 and it's been great ever since. The opportunity to be near family, certainly a much easier lifestyle than the London commute […] and rediscovering Springfield as a city, because it's very different from when I left as an 18-year-old. Perhaps it was my perception as an 18-year-old, but I felt like people sort of ended up in Springfield. The attitude was ‘why would you choose Springfield?’ Now there's a real enthusiasm for the city and people are actively talking about how they're proud of our city, how they enjoy being here, how they've chosen to be here.”