Erik has been offering custom home improvement products through the Internet for over a decade, and has been working with members of the Amish community since 2001. Prior to this, he taught high school technology classes and assisted in grantwriting for local nonprofits.

When Erik became ill due to solvent exposure several years ago, he became acutely aware of hidden toxins in the home which slow down the healing process. Erik Organic was founded in 2007 in order to assist our customers in creating a safe, organic home.

Erik strongly believes that a business must uphold its end of the social contract by being responsible to its customers, to the land, and to the community at large. He was reared on Midwestern values that stress the importance of hard work and doing right by other people.

To that end, our furniture is created primarily from solid hardwoods -- and is joined together with strong Amish wood joints. We use minimal amounts of composite wood in our furniture, using formaldehyde-free boards and detailing where it is used in our furniture. This assures a high quality piece that will become the next generation's treasured heirloom.

Erik maintains a large organic vegetable garden in the summer months, and is looking forward to completion of his custom tiny home.

Gail has worked in the accounting field for nearly three decades, including customer support and problem resolution. She previously worked at the University of Minnesota as an accounts receivable specialist.

She now enjoys being Erik Organic's lead customer service representative. Family, friends, cats, good coffee and gardening are Gail's passions. (Gail is also Erik's mother!)

Sparky lives in his late grandparents' lake home which he picked up over a decade ago. His grandfather, like our craftsmen, built the home by hand from the late 50's through the 60's when they retired there. As the father of two daughters, John has always been a bit of a maverick and has many decades of small business experience, and understands the needs of our customers.

He's an avid fisherman who loves to hunt the elusive Muskie. When Sparky is not helping our customers you'll find him fishing for Muskie on the lake where he lives, from his canoe. We think he is a little crazy fishing for such a big fish in such a small boat but he knows what he is doing.

'Sparky' picked up his nickname from running sound and recording for local music artists. He is an avid fan of music of all sorts having learned to play guitar at the age of 7 he continues to play, record and meet and work with artists of all kinds. Complete with a recording studio in his basement he likes to take some time and just jam with whoever happens to come by to play. He has a long list of artists that he has met in his work and play like Bun E Carlos (Pictured to the Right With Sparky), Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam, Edgar Winter, The boys from Kansas, Chris Dorn, Johnny Cash, Grant Hart and many, many others.

If you are interested in furniture for your studio there is no one more knowledgeable on our staff than Sparky. He works with other studio engineers and has contact with some of the top experts in the industry, many of whom helped him confirm the design of his home studio.

Sparky and Erik have been friends for over 20 years.

As a child I grew up in a military family and spent my early years in Colombia Falls, Montana and Tacoma, Washington. We moved a lot and I found moving around developed me into the personable and humble person I am today.

I moved to Minnesota in 1991 and started my adventures in Minnesota.

I have a ton of hobbies and outdoor activities I like to do. Snowboarding and Mountain biking are my most favorite. Just as a general idea I have six snowboards and when it's snow season I am on the mountains and make frequent trips out west. I also have seven bicycles and always looking for more. I have even been to Peru to do a little downhill mountain biking around the Machu Picchu area. I love to travel as much as possible.

Like Sparky, who I have known for nearly 15 years I also like the outdoor sportsman activities too. I have a wonderful black lab named Jaxx who likes the birds and dog treats.

I am also a medic in the Minnesota National Guard and a two time veteran from Iraq. I am home now aspiring to get my RN degree. I love music and the arts and do some dabbling myself.

Terry has been advertising and marketing websites for pretty much his entire working career. He is passionate about playing guitar and brewing beverages (tea, coffee and most recently organic beer). In his free time he is working slowly on finishing a degree (don't ask him which) and he spends a lot of time reading works of speculative fiction.

Terry and his fiance Alana recently had their first son, Terry the 4th!

Rachelle started her career as a graphic designer, but quickly became enamored with web design and development. She is pleased to use all of her skills managing our website, designing our printed materials, and creating 3-D furniture mockups and other fancy graphics.

Rachelle spends a lot of time in front of computer screens, but when she's not clicking away at a keyboard, she enjoys a variety of hobbies including: reading, singing, cycling, CrossFit, martial arts, healthy cooking, foreign languages, and arts and crafts of all sorts! She also has many collections including antique photographs and books, dolls, foreign currency, Japanese miniatures, vintage Polaroid cameras and more.

She is very happily married, has about 30 hermit crabs and two fluffy cats, Ziggy and Hayashi.

Bitten has 5 years experience in keyboard warming, and is an integral part of our 'Make Sure Every Invoice Has Cat Hair On It' recycling campaign.

Benny keeps close watch over the office, keeping it safe from boxelder bugs and errant slips of paper that 'just happen to fall on the floor'.

Amy is passionate about organic vegetable gardening, well-made things, bike commuting, rollerskating and has a background in Marketing and Global Studies. She keeps busy doing the 'social networking stuff' for Erik Organic, and also assists with customer support.

Jeremy is our photographer, and does an excellent job at it! He is a web designer, photographer, musician, animal lover, Minnesota sports fanatic and enjoys organic gardening with Amy.

Jeremy and Erik grew up together in Mankato, Minnesota.

We work with several local companies that hand deliver the vast majority of our furniture. (When ordering from us, your furniture will probably be delivered by Dan, Simon or Jake).

The personal touch provided by a small, locally owned company has proven to be very popular with our customers.

We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of our Amish partners.

Out of respect for the humility of the Amish faith and their community's desire for privacy, we do not promote the names or likenesses of individual craftsmen on our website.