Michael graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. Michael started his professional career working with Accenture in their Small Business Consulting Division. His five years in consulting provided him with exposure to all aspects of business and grounded him in finance and administration. Michael’s skills include Real Estate Sales, Strategic Planning and Business Development. Michael is a creative marketing professional with proven success. He has strong Sales, Marketing and PR skills, is highly strategic, energetic, motivated and adaptable to different business environments. Michael has demonstrated strong commercial and residential real estate expertise. Michael has both developed and sold property in Jackson.
As a Real Estate Broker, Michael was recognized as the top 10 Sales producers in 2008 and was a top 3 in sales in 2021. Michael’s real estate focus in Jackson has primarily focused on Commercial sales and development. What makes Michael unique is that he has dedicated 7 years of service on the Town of Jackson Planning Commission, serving as the Chairman for 2008 and 2009 through the new Joint Comprehensive Plan process. He served as Chairman of this joint Town and County Board through some very difficult and very public times. This experience has given him a vast and intimate knowledge of the Teton County Land Development Regulations, zoning issues and the development entitlement process. This makes him uniquely qualified for commercial real estate in Jackson Hole. His service on the Town Planning Commission also gave him the experience of working directly with several local groups in Town. Michael has experience on all sides of the Town zoning and approval process; as a Planning Commissioner for approval of applications, as a developer, as a client representative, and as a supporter for clients’ commercial projects.
Michael has the unique ability to see a real estate opportunity, and combine it with the Town development regulations and the approval process. He knows and has experience working with all of the players in the Town approval process. Michael’s professional, entrepreneurial experience includes co-founding a regional Internet Service Provider from the ground up called OneWest.net, the largest ISP in the Intermountain West with a customer base of about 20,000 subscribers. He served as CEO and Chairman of the Board and sold the company. In addition to his professional experience, Michael is married to Dawn Paxton-Pruett. Dawn is the President of Bank of Jackson Hole.
Michael is dedicated to his family, nieces and nephews in St. Louis and greatly values his friendships. But the most important thing in his life is his relationship with Jesus Christ. He served on the Town of Jackson Planning Commission for 7 years, with 2 terms as the Chairman through the Comprehensive Plan process, and served on the Board of Directors for the local non-profits including the Good Samaritan Mission.
