Southern Indiana Business March-April 2020 | Page 33

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James Tyler
Census Bureau supervisor
by weekday, salvage
architect by weekend
You might say that having a side
hustle opens figurative doors. But
for James Tyler, of Greenville, that’s
literal.
Tyler goes to work every day for the
Census Bureau as a laborer supervisor,
overseeing everything that includes
manual labor from recycling to setting
up furniture. It’s a federal government
job that comes with good health insur-
ance and good perks, like Fridays off.
That’s when you’ll find Tyler and his
wife, Heather, working on their side
business salvaging architecture. They
travel all over the region in search
of old pieces that they can restore or
resell, such as corbels, gingerbread,
and antique doorknobs. He’s currently
working to resell around 250 old doors
that he’s collected via auctions and
antiquing.”
“A lot of people want to put an old
door for a pantry or laundry door, or
even on the front of their home,” he
said. “We also get people who are
restoring old homes and want that
original look.”
Tyler’s business, Reclaimed by
James, is simple. He goes to where the
doors are, buys them for cheap, and
mostly resells them for more than he
paid for them. He does keep a few for
projects, though, including a kitchen
island, built-in bookshelves and hall
trees all made of door panels.
“I’ve been going to auctions since I
was a kid,” Tyler said. “My parents and
grandparents always had something to
do with antiques. This is in my blood.”
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