Higher Purpose Homes
Meet SCAPE Cohort Company, Higher Purpose Homes. This team is taking on one of the biggest problems our mountain communities are facing, because for them, it’s personal.
Q: What’s your name, title, business?
Higher Purpose Homes. Team: Nick Lemmer, Todd Rossignal, and Ethan Deffenbaugh
Q: What does your business do?
Higher Purpose Homes’ mission is to provide quality, sustainable, and affordable housing to Southwest Colorado from our Modular Home factory.
Q: Tell us about your entrepreneurial journey.
A: We have been witnessing the housing crisis that our area has been going through first hand for a while now. We've both had friends that were forced to leave the area. Nick's wife teaches at DHS and is seeing the effects of not having enough teachers. Todd's wife works at the hospital and is seeing the effects of not having enough nurses. We have friends who are firefighters and police officers who are struggling to pay rent here, nevermind buying a home. Talking to restaurant owners about their struggles, knowing the tourism industry is the backbone of our community, our concerns have grown. After many discussions on the topic, we decided we have the skills and will to do something about it, so we started our journey.
Q: What was the most powerful lesson you learned on this journey?
A: That this problem is REAL and a solution is long overdue. We've also learned that the solution to this problem requires the entire community.
Q: Why did you apply for the SCAPE Program?
A: Neither of us have much experience running a large scale business that will be needed to accomplish our goals. We applied to SCAPE to gain a mentor that can help with this gap in our experience. We also know that solving the affordable housing crisis will take more than just our company and we believe SCAPE will be a good opportunity to network with others in the community that want to help.
Q: What companies inspire you the most (local, national, worldwide)?
A: Autovol is a company in Nampa, ID. They have a few sister companies, Waypaver, Effectiv House, and Prefab Logic. These 4 companies work closely together to solve the affordable housing crisis in our country. Effectiv House provides CAD based building blocks to architects and developers so they can design their homes for modular manufacturing. Prefab Logic works with Developers to help them through building modular developments and the nuances around project management that differs from traditional construction. Waypaver is a turnkey consultant for new modular home manufacturers, with the goal of putting manufacturing facilities all over the country to help solve this problem. Autovol is the country's largest automated manufacturing facility, which was started up in 2020. The owners of these companies are on the same mission as we are and they are putting a lot of passion and hard work into solving this crisis.
Q: What do you love most about the Four Corners?
A: The sense of community that exists here. Most people move to this area because they love the outdoors and the activities that our area offers, which creates that sense of community. Everyone here has so much in common and so much interest in preserving our community.