Omerica organic: body jewelry/omericaorganic.com/deriver.

Ryan Lorenz started Omerica Organic in 2004. A decade later, Lorenz says the company is "definitely the largest" manufacturer of wooden earlobe plugs - worn in stretched piercings - in the country,

"I was in the military and served in Iraq and Afghanistan," he recalls. "When I got out, instead of looking for a job, I started eBaying random things, then I started importing body jewelry and selling it on eBay. I saw a lot of opportunity."

The opportunity was in making the plugs, not importing them. He started crafting them to order on his parents' peach farm in Palisade with a lathe and sandpaper, then relocated to Denver in 2005, developed his own website, and started hiring.

Today - about 150,000 plugs later - Omerica employs 11 people in one of the most nimble and innovative manufacturing operations in Colorado. When a customer places an order on the company's website, it...