Our People
 CROFT ELSAESSER
President/CEO
A unique blend of left and right brain, he loved chemistry in high school, but never saw it as his end goal. He had his first ‘finishing’ job in 1994 – learning a lot of old world finishing techniques. The toxic impact of these old world techniques became more of a problem for Croft. He increasingly used more natural plasters and "loved" the idea of building with original materials from history, i.e. clay. He wanted to make the product he was using better. Through two years of experimentation. American Clay Earth Plasters became a viable, mass-produced product. Applying for a provisional patent June of 2002, American Clay was awarded the Patent Pending in July of 2002.
 CAROL BAUMGARTEL
VP of Marketing
Carol studied painting and ceramics, earning a BFA in Ceramics from the University of Denver. In 1980, she entered the world of Interior Design and was President of the ASID New Mexico chapter (1991-93). Specializing in interior finishes for commercial builders, residential builders and architects, putting elements together to highlight the physical aspects of a building – and won some interior awards for model homes in the process.
Committed to a sustainable environment, Carol joined with Croft to develop the market data to create American Clay. |
