Otter Creek Labs was started by Andrew and John who are co-owners utilizing Johns garage for manufacturing and Andrews garage for welding and shipping.
The company is named in honor of Andrews Grandfather who passed away around the time we were starting the company – he went to Otter Creek school located in Otter Creek Kentucky and could frequently be seen wearing a hat with “otter creek” on it.
Andrew and John were introduced by a mutual friend. We enjoyed making our own suppressors for personal use with the ATF form 1 system and made a business out of this via Quell Tech with jigs and tools for other DIY users. We both love shooting and whenever we went to a match or the range people we always asking what suppressor we were using because it sounded awesome, we always would just have to say “one that I made myself”.
So while both working regular 9-5 jobs we decided to get our FFL/SOT and make suppressors on the weekend or whenever we had time off from work as a side business to sell to friends, family or locals and maybe sell a few online too.
John took out a loan and Andrew maxed his credit card out to get the business going. John is a mechanical engineer with a background in robotics, automation and manufacturing and Andrew is just dude who is knowledgeable about guns, suppressors, shooting, etc. John was working at Neff Robotics and Andrew was working at Toyota building and wiring engines.
John is married with 3 kids and Andrew is married with 2 kids. We worked real jobs our whole life and were never handed anything.
We’re just regular guys who love our families, love the 2nd Amendment, love suppressors, love building things and working with our hands who happened to find success with something that started from a side business. I know you work hard for your money, I know what it’s like to roll into pay day by the seat of your pants, I know what it’s like to save up for something for MONTHS and then all of a sudden you have car troubles and have to spent all the money you just saved to get it fixed so you can get to work and now you’re back at square one.
That is why we are so committed to getting you the best suppressor we possibly can for the best price we possibly can and that is why we will always take care of you no matter what. We understand you because we’re just like you.
Slowly Otter Creek started building steam and turning into something we never imaged it would – a full time business.
Eventually we were able to quit our real jobs and jump into Otter Creek full time. We went from just Andrew and John in the garage to 2 buildings and 6 total employees. Andrew and John are still both heavily involved in the manufacturing process to this day and get hands on every single suppressor that’s made and make almost everything in house in one of our two buildings.
Anyway it’s weird trying to write an about us about yourself, there’s a million things I could say but I think I can sum it all up with just, thank you.
We wouldn’t be where we are today without our awesome customer base. Everything we do is grass roots. No paying for youtube videos or paying for advertising or bull shit made up words and fancy marketing language. Just making good products at a good price and treating people like people instead of treating them like dollar signs. I don’t care if we sell 50 suppressors or 5,000 suppressors because I’m just happy to be here.