By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent FRANKFORT, Ky. — Farmers have never lacked imagination and ingenuity. A quick look at how diverse Kentucky farms are confirms this.
But, taking a vision to reality is another matter. Fortunately, farmers here have assistance by way of the Kentucky Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (KCARD) to help take those ideas from the dream stage to the production stage.
Whether it is a new venture or changing an existing operation, KCARD offers business development, maintenance and education services and programs.
Jerome Salyers and Neil Buck are an example of that ingenuity having built a successful meat processing business in Casey County initially using their own money and a bank loan to get started in 2001.
Because of the lack for a USDA-certified facility in the area, the two were sure they could make a go of it and Central Kentucky Custom Meats was launched.
“In the early years money was tight,” said Salyers. “We had a lot of challenges, like any new business would, one of which was just being able to pay the bills month to month.”
Hard work and dedication paid off, however. The used equipment business they bought in the beginning has given way to new, and the business now employs trained meat cutters. Salyers, who wore nearly every hat related to the business in those early years, still plays a dominant role even with the extra help.
“I still cut up most of the meat that is processed here. I’m not an office guy. I like to be involved in the operation,” said Salyers. “Plus I like to talk to the customer, so I do the unloading of the animals, unloading of the freezers when customers come to pick up meat, and I work the counter when people stop in to purchase fresh meat in our storefront.”
The whole idea behind their business plan was to do something others didn’t or couldn’t and of course do it better. Their niche would be to provide USDA certification, individual packaging of animals, a focus on retail cuts of meat, vacuum packaging all cuts, and an all around high quality of service to customers.
This USDA plant has the capacity to slaughter a wide range of animals either custom or USDA certified.
“We have processed buffalo, we do about 15-20 elk a year, and once we had a moose brought in that was killed in Canada,” said Salyers. “Then, of course, we kill beef, pork, goat, lamb, sheep and deer.”
And, as with every good business, the desire to grow came about as Salyers and Buck found customers inquiring more and more about poultry processing.
They knew that would take a different facility and this time enlisted the financial help of the Kentucky Agriculture Development Board (ADB) and that is when KCARD came into the picture.
“KCARD came in and helped me take my idea and put it into a formal business plan for the grant application,” said Salyers. “They have been great about working with me through the entire grant process.”
Last February the company was awarded a zero interest loan from the ADB for the construction of a building to be constructed on the back side of the current slaughter facility. The addition will be USDA certified, and all poultry processed will be USDA certified and ready for retail sale.
“Jerome was a pleasure to work with in developing the business plan for the expansion,” said KCARD Business Development Specialist Brent Lackey. “It was very obvious that Jerome understood and managed the business very well and that he had thoroughly researched adding poultry processing services to his product mix.”
In addition to the poultry processing facility, the ADB loan will allow the business to purchase equipment to expand their red meat services which will include sausage links, bratwursts, and other products for their customers.
“Right now if everybody were to come that has called me in the past year about chicken processing, I could be doing eight to ten thousand chickens this year,” said Salyers. “I believe the interest is real and can be profitable, or I wouldn’t be investing my money into this expansion.”
For more information visit www.kcard.info |
