Jim Barnes

(Owner)

Our leader, Jim Barnes is an American entrepreneur, restaurateur, and sustainability-focused business owner known for his decades of work in Northern Michigan’s food service and green building industries. He is the founder and owner of Eco-Building Products, Inc., a company recognized for its leadership in sustainable construction materials and its strong environmental advocacy.

Born in Middletown, Ohio, Barnes graduated from Middletown High School in the spring of 1984 and later pursued higher education with a broad, international focus. He enrolled at Clemson University as a freshman in 1984. The next year, he transferred to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he enrolled in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy in December 1988. During his junior year, from the fall of 1986 to the spring of 1987, he spent a formative year in Luxembourg studying international affairs, traveling widely across Western Europe and into several Eastern European countries then still behind the Iron Curtain.

It was during this time in Europe—especially while visiting family friends and traveling throughout Italy that Barnes decided to pursue a career in the culinary arts. Inspired by Italians’ deep passion for local ingredients, family recipes, and the social ritual of food, he recognized both a natural talent and a keen interest in cooking. This decision led to a 32-year career as a chef in the food service industry as a hands-on restaurateur and caterer in Northern Michigan. He purchased and operated Northern Delights, a natural foods Café, Bakery and Deli from 1990 to 1999, followed by The Roadhouse, a Mexican bar and grill, from 1999 to 2003, then The Crystal Lake Catering Company, specializing in authentically prepared Northern Michigan cuisine, from 1999 to 2022, and Elberto’s Taqueria from 2013 to 2017.

Barnes' businesses frequently reflected his environmental values and his commitment to local food systems. In 2001, the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council recognized Northern Delights, a natural foods Café, bakery, and deli, with its Environmentalist of the Year award, highlighting the operation’s primarily vegetarian and ethnic menu, sourced from local and organic foods, and its sustainable daily practices. A decade later, in 2011, Eco-Building Products, by then his flagship green-building supply company, was honored as the Regional Business of the Year by the Northwest Region Small Business & Technology Development Center. That same year, Eco Building Products was nominated by the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council for Environmentalist of the Year, echoing the recognition his ethnic and natural food café, bakery, and deli had earned ten years earlier.

Eco-Building Products, incorporated in 2006, grew under Barnes’ leadership into a widely respected supplier of environmentally responsible building materials. Guided by a mission to live within our means, protect natural our natural world, and choose ethical, earth centered solutions, the company serves contractors, designers, and homeowners seeking sustainable construction options. Barnes’ role as owner includes strategic planning and leadership, vendor and customer relations, and advocacy for greener building practices. His public profile through Eco-Building Products emphasizes a deep personal commitment to nature and outdoor adventure. Over the years, the company has supported a broad range of non-governmental organizations, reflecting Barnes' commitment to contributing to environmental and social causes beyond his own business.

Beyond his professional life, Barnes is a father, a traveler, and an outdoors enthusiast. He has two children, Bailey (born 1997) and Noah (born 2001), both graduates of Benzie Central High School in Northern Michigan. Bailey works at Eco-Building Products in accounting, website development, and site maintenance, while Noah is employed as a carpenter with Birdseye Carpentry operating in Benzie County, continuing the family’s connection to the built environment. Barnes divides his time between Frankfort, Michigan, and Leadville, Colorado, where he pursues a wide range of outdoor sports, including road and mountain biking, backcountry and Nordic skiing, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, sailing, hiking, and climbing.

Although he no longer cooks professionally, Barnes’s culinary passion remains central to his personal life. Drawing on decades of experience cooking in his restaurant and catering businesses, he often hosts family and friends, especially for Sunday brunches and dinners created around fresh, colorful, and flavorful foods. His biography weaves together philosophy, international travel, culinary arts, environmental activism, and entrepreneurial leadership, making him a distinctive figure in Northern Michigan’s community of small business owners and sustainability advocates.