One family recognized a multitude of emerging needs across Eastern La Plata County, and over time, their hard work transformed into a conglomerate of businesses that have positively affected the area.
The Lee family has not only launched establishments geared toward specific services, but also sparked job growth in multiple capacities. On top of that, it allowed multiple family members to leave their mark for the future, ensuring longer-term success.
“We provide several hundred jobs in this community, and we strive to make this community a better place,” said Ezra Lee, who started the energy infrastructure company Crossfire after moving to the area in 1998. “Good jobs create good families, and we’re family-owned enterprises. We treat our employees like we want to be treated.”
It began with Crossfire, and then Ezra’s siblings started a wider array of businesses.
Other notable establishments include Bayfield Gardens, and Ignacio-based QIS Supply and Farmers Fresh Market.
Seven of the 11 family members oversee more than 10 businesses in La Plata County.
“The brothers have all found niches in this community where there was a need or a hole,” Ezra Lee said.
Zeph Lee oversees Bayfield Gardens and Isaiah Lee owns the irrigation equipment supplier QIS Supply. Amos Lee owns Farmers Fresh Market and Peter Lee owns 1776 Bar and Grill in Ignacio.
Abigail Palmer and Esther Zieske, two of the family’s sisters, also oversee area businesses. Zieske and her husband Brad own Durango-based PACE ProLube Auto Care. Palmer has a Bayfield salon, and her husband Jared works for the City of Durango’s information technology department.
Zeph Lee has increased the size of Bayfield Gardens by about 50% over the last three years by leasing more growing space to meet a demand for flower products.
“There’s just a lot of people who have vacation homes here, summer homes,” he said. “They like to show up in June and have ready-made flowers. We sell happiness in a basket because it’s really what we do.”
He said Mother’s Day is a time when the inventory flies off the shelves.
QIS Supply sells construction supplies for the energy industry, as well as geosynthetics for erosion control products that assist entities like the Colorado Department of Transportation.
“There was the need in the county,” Isaiah Lee said. “There was nobody in the Ignacio area that had that.”
The business also expanded into the Do It Best hardware store to fill that void, he said.
Before launching Farmers Fresh Market, Amos Lee said he assessed whether he could remodel a former store that had become dilapidated. He ultimately couldn’t remodel it.
“It had been leased to an out-of-state company, and it had become really rundown,” he said.
That’s why he opted to tear it down in 2014 and opened the new storefront on the same location the following year. Aside from addressing a need for fresh food products, he implemented a feed store adjacent to the market.
“Communities like this don’t really fit the model of the big grocers because there’s just not enough rooftops,” he said. “So, that’s why a lot of small towns are underserved in that capacity.”
Peter Lee, who enjoys cooking, sought a chance to be closer to family and provide an extra sit-down restaurant in Ignacio via 1776 Bar and Grill, which opened this past September.
The family has also acquired another business, taking over Bayfield-based A To Z Electric in January 2024 and incorporating it as part of Crossfire.
“We’ve been very community-minded and very well supported by the community,” Amos Lee said.
Aside from addressing towns’ needs, the businesses have helped preserve a strong family bond.
Ezra Lee said the general American model for family dynamics is “broken,” and he’s all the more thankful his family is still together. It is more than just about getting together for Sunday dinners and the major holidays, he said.
If one family member needs assistance with an element of their business, they can simply call upon another family member, and that person can help out directly or recommend a third party with a particular expertise.
The family is in it together, and they believe that link will strengthen its businesses for the long haul.
mhollinshead@durangoherald.com