08/18/2026
I figured if weāre going to start introducing the people behind Exclusive Mountain Designs, I should probably start with myself.
Iām Jason, founder of EMD.
I was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but my dadās job kept us moving when I was young. I eventually landed in Arlington, Texas, where I spent most of the next 28 years before moving to the Cripple Creek/Victor area in 2018.
Building things has pretty much always been part of my life.
My grandfather owned a construction company and had a farm. I spent a lot of time on jobsites with him growing up. He was also one of those guys who didnāt buy something just because he needed it. Heād look around, figure out how it worked, and build it himself, usually improving it along the way.
My dad apparently couldnāt live in a house without tearing down a wall somewhere, and my mom loved the design side of remodeling but had absolutely no problem picking up a paintbrush or some drywall mud and doing the work herself.
So I guess I didnāt have much of a chance. š
Professionally, I spent most of my career in commercial woodworking, millwork, fabrication and the trade-show industry.
Iāve been shop help, carpenter, painter, estimator, supervisor, engineer, project manager, drafter, designer, department manager and eventually an owner.
Along the way, I got to work on some incredible projects.
At Applied Art Studios, Neiman Marcus was our largest account. Their projects werenāt just ābuild some cabinets.ā We built window displays, Christmas installations and special environments - including transforming the downtown Dallas store into an Italian village for Fiesta deā Italia.
Later came commercial cabinetry, Chippenhook, Disney Store projects, jewelry displays and eventually The Trade Group, where I managed an engineering/drafting team and helped oversee the wood and metal shops.
The trade-show world exposed me to projects for companies and brands like PokƩmon, Wargaming, Twitch, Aerometals, Motel 6 and many others.
That world taught me something thatās still a huge part of how I approach EMD:
There isnāt always an instruction manual.
Sometimes youāve got a concept, a deadline and a pile of problems between the two.
Figure it out.
Thatās probably what Iām best at.
I love CAD, CAM programming, engineering and design. I can usually see something broken down into its individual parts in my head before I ever start drawing it. Years of installations also taught me how to think on my feet when something doesnāt fit, arrives damaged, canāt get through the door or simply doesnāt work the way somebody thought it would.
Then I moved to Colorado.
EMD was originally supposed to be a woodworking shop - custom cabinets, fixtures, woodworking and handyman projects.
Then I fell in love with the buildings here.
The houses. The commercial buildings. The architecture. The history.
Barbara, who we rented space in a building from, gave me opportunities to get involved with some of them, learn and prove what we could do.
And EMD started becoming something completely different.
It hasnāt been easy.
Owning a business rarely is. There have been plenty of mistakes, challenges, difficult projects and people problems along the way. Iām probably more proud of simply sticking with EMD through all of that than I am of any single project weāve completed.
But Iām especially proud of what itās becoming now.
I donāt want EMD to be another remodeling company.
There are plenty of people who can install tile, hang drywall or paint a room.
I want us to be the company you call when you have a crazy idea.
The company you call when you want somebody who can take a project from design and engineering all the way through construction and completion.
The company you call when three other contractors looked at it and said:
āYeahā¦we donāt want to touch that.ā
Those are usually the projects that get us excited.
Billy from Texas Metal once described his own business in a way that stuck with me:
People donāt come to us for what they need. They come to us for what they want.
Thatās where I want EMD to go.
Bigger structural projects. Commercial work. Specialty construction. Unique builds. And eventually designing and building homes from the ground up.
Not 50 cookie-cutter houses a year.
Iād be pretty damn happy designing and building 3-5 incredible projects a year that make people stop and look.
And Iām building a team around EMD now that I believe can help us get there.
I donāt want this to just be another job for the people who work here, either. I want to build something that creates careers, teaches skills, provides opportunities and continues producing for the employees and owners long after Iām no longer the guy answering every question or chasing materials across town.
My goal is to spend less time being the answer to everything and more time doing what Iām best at:
Designing. Engineering. Solving problems. Developing ideas. And building the business.
Over the next few days, Iām going to introduce you to some of the people who are becoming a big part of that next chapter of EMD.
Youāll get to know where they came from, what theyāre good at, what they bring to the company and, more importantly, who they are outside of work.
And apparently weāre sharing weird facts too, so hereās mine:
Iām a math nerd.
As a kid I competed in math competitions - sometimes against college students.
I also collected restaurant menus and would ask the owner or manager to autograph them.
I have absolutely no idea why.
Apparently nine-year-old Jason thought signed menus were going to be a hot collectible someday. š
Iāve had a lot of people influence me along the way - my grandparents, my parents, Victor and Jeanette, Bob, Barbara, Gary and many others. Some taught me how to build things. Some taught me business. Some taught me patience, craftsmanship and what it means to take pride in your work.
And some taught me how to be a better human.
Thereās still a hell of a lot I want to build.
But at the end of the day, what matters most to me really isnāt complicated.
My family and my peace.
Everything else weāre building is supposed to help protect those two things.
This is EMD.
And Iām pretty damn excited about where weāre headed.