Jessica Davis entered the construction world by building homes for Habitat for Humanity, though building has always been in her blood. Growing up in a farming family in Medina County, she learned how to be resourceful and the importance of not letting anything go to waste from a young age. She spent time with an uncle who used to tear down old barns to salvage the lumber, and that sparked a lifelong passion for salvaging.
Her time at Habitat for Humanity solidified this passion even further. Construction materials were often sourced through donations in exchange for a tax write-off, which made people feel good and allowed Habitat to reduce material costs. The model worked and it kept valuable materials from going into a landfill, but it got her thinking that maybe it could be done better.
In 2012, Jessica started Davis Industrial Services, a design and fabrication business. She collaborated with artisans, builders, fabricators and other tradespeople in the Cleveland area to reuse salvaged materials in new construction and home remodeling projects. She noticed there was a growing market for architectural salvage and a community of entrepreneurs who relied on selling it to run their businesses.
The problem was that architectural salvage wasn’t very accessible to the general public due to a fragmented supply chain. So she decided to do something about it. RBX is the evolution and manifestation of Jessica Davis’ vision for a better way to source materials for building and designing homes.
Built on a passion for seeing value where others don’t, keeping quality materials out of landfills and building a new economy around salvaging, RBX has become the go-to resource for the DIY, design, home building and entrepreneurship communities. We (THE AMAZING CREW AT RBX) work with customers to solve problems around remodeling and renovation projects, store-front buildouts and other construction, fabrication and design projects.
Our inventory of unique, salvaged pieces gives our customers the opportunity to create spaces with sophistication, character and depth. Together with our vendors, customers and rockstar staff, RBX has built a community around a shared love of reuse, resourcefulness, creativity and good ole’ fashion grit.
12 Billion Tons of Furnishings Wasted Yearly in the US
The home building and design sector is ripe for an economic and environmental transformation, and we’re here for it. We aim to change this industry from one that operates on a straight line to one that is cyclical and based on the reuse of valuable materials. During our five years in business, we have catalyzed new economic growth in the construction and design industries by diverting thousands of pounds of valuable architectural materials from landfills and making them accessible to our customers for reuse.
RBX has transformed a fragmented market of salvagers into a community of over 1000 vendors and provided them with a consistent market to sell their salvaged materials. Our work has encouraged other businesses to incorporate salvaging into their business models, therefore expanding our impact by diverting even more waste from landfills. As we continue to scale our operations, we hope to spread our message of making reuse your first choice. Our community is based on inclusion and cultivating a culture where people from all walks of life feel welcome.