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Elgin Company Pivots From Tiny Homes To Tiny Offices During Pandemic

CHICAGO (CBS)-- As employees prepare to work at home for longer than expected, one local company is pivoting to try to meet a major need: home office space without distractions.

CBS 2 is Working For Chicago by highlighting companies adapting in this pandemic.

You've probably heard of tiny homes. Bantam Built in Elgin is now building tiny offices.

"So many people love working from home, we've come to find out, but not a lot of people like working with everyone else that also lives at home," Bantam Built CEO Bob Clarizio said. "We decided to take their business from the kitchen table to their backyard."

You just need a shed permit.

The units are between 90 and 160 square-feet and the entire unit is controlled by Alexa.

"We've designed an off-the-grid option where the office would be powered with solar panels and a series of batteries so you wouldn't have to run extension cords or have an electrician runs power out to that unit," Clarizio said.

The offices can be custom-made and they take about two weeks to build. Building tiny offices has brought back workers during the pandemic that cut their staff from 25 to five.

Bantam Built is starting pre-sales this week. The tiny offices run from $8,500 to about about $18,000. They are also offering mini pool houses since so many people have had pools installed this year.

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