Haworth College of Business Emerging Leader Alumni Award

Robert Armbrister, B.B.A.’06, MBA’13
President and CEO, SPARK Business Works

Over the past 15 years, Robert Armbrister has been part of many leadership teams as a forward-thinking technology executive with a desire to help clients build out their digital strategies and become more efficient, profitable and technology-driven.

He currently serves as the president and CEO of SPARK Business Works, a business-first team that designs and builds custom software solutions in construction, manufacturing, healthcare and professional services.

The team at SPARK has launched and scaled hundreds of solutions across multiple industries by implementing ‘The SPARK Way’—an approach for practical innovation that helps business leaders build tech that gets adopted and delivers return on investment quickly.

Armbrister was selected as a 40 Under 40 leader by the Grand Rapids Business Journal, and SPARK was named to the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies and Michigan 50 Companies to Watch lists. He was featured in The 30, a publication of the Haworth College of Business that recognizes outstanding recent business alumni, and has been a regular speaker at events for Starting Gate, WMU’s student business accelerator.