Our History

In 1989, award-winning landscape architect Mel Kersey opened the doors to Mel Kersey Associates, a new firm that established the creative, customer-focused design philosophy that continues to serve as our foundation today. Jim Wike, an original employee of Mel Kersey Associates, became a partner in 1994 and the firm was renamed Kersey/Wike Associates. In 1998, Kersey relinquished his business management role in the company so that he could focus primarily on design. He relocated from Memphis to Loudon, Tennessee, and opened the Loudon office of KWA.

Joel Parker joined KWA in 1997 and became a principal in the firm in 2000. Parker has served as president and sole owner of the company since 2008, replacing Wike who left the firm and relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, after 17 years of dedicated service. Passionate about design and dedicated to KWA's clients, Parker continues to deliver the same standard of excellence established by Kersey and Wike.