It was 1971 and Chris Clayville was tired of being an employee at the Atomic Energy Commission and living in Pocatello, Idaho. He had grown up in Burley, which was about 70 miles from where he and his wife Linda were living with their young daughters. Chris was ready to be his own boss. He knew what he didn’t want to do—be a rancher like his father and an elementary school teacher like his mother—but he didn’t know what he wanted to do either. After a year of thinking it over, he had three solid choices: raising catfish in natural hot water (which can be found in Idaho), growing mushrooms and earthworms in dirt potato cellars, or making insulation by grinding recycled newspapers.
And thus, Clayville Insulation was born. Chris quit his job, sold a college rental house, cashed in his savings, rented a moving truck and went back home to Burley.