It all started in a minivan…

In the late 90's Todd Emerson, fire Captain, husband, and dad to three, convinced his wife to take out a loan on their Plymouth minivan and cash in her retirement funds. He had discovered Berkey water filters, and thought there might be an opportunity to sell them. They spent $12,000 on their first order and James Enterprise Inc. (JEI) was born. 

The minivan got booted outside as the garage became headquarters for their business. 

Todd bought a book on how to build a website and within a few months they had sold enough water filters for his wife, Sandie, to be able to stay home, run the business, and raise the kids. They found themselves in the cross section of the rise in popularity of gravity-fed water filters and e-commerce.

Todd retired from the Pueblo Fire Department in 2013 and was able to focus more time and energy on the business. They decided to dabble in this thing called Amazon and expand to selling more products than just water filters. JEI also developed their own brands that ranged from glass drinkware, boot scrapers, outdoor apparel, and recreation gear. Outgrowing their garage they set up shop in an old strip mall, then moved to a stand-alone building to hold their now many employees.