Shawn Ericson
President – Architectural Designer/Draftsman
Shawn is the founder and president of Croix Design and Drafting, Inc. He has more than 30 years of experience in the home building and construction industry, and is the 3rd generation in his family to be in the construction field. Shawn’s grandpa and his dad were carpenters and home builders. Shawn worked with the family construction business over the years as a carpenter, framer and job superintendent, and was working his way up to becoming a home builder as well. He completed the 2 year construction program at Larimer County Vo-Tech in Ft. Collins Colorado. In addition, Shawn has worked in a custom cabinet shop, as well as for a painting and decorating company.
Shawn was employed as construction superintendent by a custom home builder in Scottsdale, Arizona when he was first asked if he could draw home plans, and his response was that “No, he had no experience in that field.” At that point arose the question, “Would you like to?” It was then that Shawn’s career in architectural design and drafting took its first step. Shawn attended the Phoenix Institute of Technology and earned his AAS degree in architectural design and drafting. He worked designing homes and drafting for the same custom builder in Scottsdale and Lake Havasu City, Arizona. In 1991, Shawn, his wife Cheri, and their daughter moved back to Minnesota. Shawn founded Croix in 1992, and has been designing and drafting homes ever since.
Shawn brings a skill set to design and drafting that many home designers do not have. He has worked in the field for years in the home building industry. From picking up nails and sweeping as a little kid, to building cabinets, trimming, siding, roofing, and becoming a lead carpenter/ framer, Shawn has experience in many tasks related to home building. Those skills and real world experience that he has gained over the years are used every day in the plans he designs and drafts. His extensive knowledge and field experience help to ensure that the homes that Croix work on are not only well designed projects, but also go together and function properly. When he’s not in the office, you can find Shawn relaxing with his family, or cheering on his son Chase playing football for the Andover Huskies.
Nicholas Freeman
Vice President – Architectural Designer/Draftsman
From a young age, Nick had an interest in building design, mainly focusing on floor plans and structure. Having a large supply of Legos allowed him to construct many of his floor plan sketches, as well as replicate floor plans he would find in home plan catalogs. Although many of Nick’s Lego creations were mechanical devices or other vehicles, residential home design remained at the top. He focused mainly on floor plan design while keeping function, structure, and practicality in mind. Once in high school, he took advantage of the AutoCad classes available and took them all, both mechanical and architectural classes. An opportunity to start his design career came in 2002 at a time when Croix was entertaining the idea of expanding. Nick was hired straight out of high school where he absorbed Shawn’s extensive knowledge of construction, as well as Croix’s philosophy of design and drafting. Even though he had started his design career, Nick also continued his education, and received an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Architectural Technology.
Croix has always made plan accuracy a top priority, and Nick continues under that philosophy. Making sure the client gets the plan they want is the goal at the start, but the final goal is making sure the client gets a plan that is able to be built without problems in the field due to plan errors. Nick has always been willing to talk with lumber yards, truss manufacturers, engineers and framers to discuss design solutions or new ideas. As a result, new knowledge or experiences are shared here at Croix, and aids his current goal to maintain our plan quality and evolve our drawings.
Robert Bellos
Architectural Designer/Draftsman
Robert was born and raised in the Minneapolis metro area of Minnesota. As a child he always enjoyed designing and building things whether it was a block castle or one of the dozens of model cities he used to build in his basement, and even from the age of 10, Robert knew he wanted to design for the rest of his life. After high school Robert was educated at Hennepin Technical College in Architectural Drafting and Design, and earned his AAS Degree.
Before working at Croix Design, Robert took a job at a Michael’s Arts and Crafts store as a custom picture framer where, along with learning how to frame pictures, he learned a bit of interior design to go along with it.
Robert’s role at Croix Design is a Designer/Draftsman; where he draws houses to fit the needs of any design, meets with clients to help them get as clear a picture as possible of what they are looking for, and makes changes to designs to meet the needs of any client.
Liz VanBuren
Architectural Designer/Drafter
Since adolescence Liz has always had a fascination with the design and drafting of houses. Whether she was looking through home plan magazines, drawing her layouts in chalk on the driveway or playing with the cheap design software on her computer, she spent much of her childhood on her creations.
As an adult this fascination only heightened further with new technologies bringing further design and creation to her fingertips with the click of a mouse.
This appeal would lead to graduating with honors with an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Architectural Technology.
After graduation it did not take her long to find Croix Design and Drafting allowing for her passion, this time as a designer/drafter, to advance.
After graduation she found her way to Croix Design and Drafting in June 2016, allowing for her passion, this time as a designer/drafter, to advance. She continues this pursuit and will continue to gain knowledge as the future of the housing industry progresses.
Jack Koolmo
Architectural Designer/Drafter
Jack was born and raised in Andover, MN. He often liked to draw “dream houses” for fun and quickly knew that he had a passion for designing buildings. How he got to discovering his passion for designing was actually from design games such as “Zoo Tycoon” and “Roller Coaster Tycoon”. He was once told by a close friend at a young age that “You are significantly better at these types of games than I am”. He continued to chase that passion and attended North Dakota State University for 2 years until returning home and completing his degree (Bachelors of Design in Architecture) at the University of Minnesota in 2019. Throughout his 4 years of College, Jack spent his summers working construction building commercial playgrounds. Jack continues to try and perfect his craft in every niche of this industry in hopes to continue and expand the Croix Philosophy.
Fun fact: Jack is very close friends with Shawn’s son Chase.
Brandon Norten
Website/Artwork
Brandon was born and raised in Coon Rapids, MN. He has always been a creative and artistic person. In high school, his class schedule was full of art, Autocad and graphic design classes. This is where he became interested in architectural drafting, taking every level of Autocad classes available. Brandon continued his education and graduated with an A.A.S degree in Architectural Drafting and Design from Hennepin Technical College in Brooklyn Park, MN.
Currently Brandon works full-time in graphic design and part-time here at Croix Design doing home plan artworks and updating the website with plans and other company information. When he’s not working, Brandon enjoys spending time with his wife and kids. He also spends a lot of time fishing and hunting with his two sons and watching his oldest son play traveling hockey for Coon Rapids.
Jack Vogel
Architectural Designer/Drafter
Jack was born in Robbinsdale, MN but spent most of his childhood growing up in Andover, MN. Throughout his early years, his parents would often be amazed by the contraptions he would construct from scrap material laying around the garage. Whether it was a fort consisting of blankets and chairs to building small construction sites with his “Rokenbok” toys. He knew he had a passion for designing and for building things from his ideas.
Out of high school, Jack was unsure of where he wanted to take his career, as do many
young adults. That led him to attend Anoka Ramsey Community College for two years to
determine a path for his professional career. Throughout the process of completing his general education courses, Jack made the decision to apply for The Architectural Design School at the University of Minnesota. There, he could continue his interest in designing. He proceeded to achieve his Bachelor of Design in Architecture, graduating in 2019.
While Jack was in school, he was working in landscape design where he gained knowledge and experience within the field to meet or exceed the customers’ expectations. He hopes to continue this and bring his ideas and creativity to help customers bring their visions to life at Croix Design and Drafting.
