(Editor’s Note: West Central Initiative provides loans for entrepreneurs in our service area and recently opened a CARES Act Revolving Loan Fund funded through the Federal Economic Development Administration. She Said Butcher Shop’s Melissa Evans shares her journey as a new business owner and how our organization helped her get there by accessing this fund. For information on the new fund or other loan questions, contact Kate Mudge at 218-739-2239 or kate@old.wcif.org.)
When the She Said Butcher Shop opens later this year, Melissa Evans will become the first female butcher shop owner in Moorhead, joining a tiny sorority throughout Minnesota.
She’s certainly proud of that, plus the fact that she is now her own boss. Which, she admits, has been an interesting journey, one made easier with help from many, including West Central Initiative’s business loan program. It’s hard work, she says, that is going to pay off.
Melissa’s entire life has evolved around meat processing. “My meat background started as a kid helping my Dad processing deer in the garage,” she said. While home was Bismarck, she moved to Fargo to take up animal science at North Dakota State University where she specialized in meat science and food safety.
Her career kept on track, managing the meat departments for two different grocery stores in Moorhead – where she learned about what meats her neighbors wanted. It was physical work, something that she didn’t shy away from, but it eventually led to a shoulder injury. Lugging frozen meats took its toll, she said – think holiday turkeys and hams – and she tended to overdo it.
“That’s just the way I am,” she admits. The difference with her own business, she explains, is that she won’t be moving and stocking those frozen meats. “Meat cutting was the easy part of the job,” she said, “So now, I’m striking out on my own and getting ready to work for myself, getting back to it on smaller scale.”
By design, Melissa looks to offer a different kind of butcher shop. “I will be doing more custom orders. The meat bundles will be huge. I’ll have beef, pork and combination bundles. And it’s going to be kind of a build-your-own. There will be different choices in every bundle so you can cater it to your own needs.”
Knowing the customers in the neighborhood is going to help, and Melissa one day plans to hire some help. Eventually, she’s adding retail where customers can stop by and order meat cut on-the-spot for the grill.
Melissa acknowledges the challenges of opening her first business and found West Central Initiative’s financing help through referrals. “Bell Bank and the owner of the building I’m leasing both suggested I reach out to West Central Initiative,” she said, and added that the process was easy compared to all the other facets of opening a business.
Kate Mudge, West Central Initiative’s Business Development Officer, says the goal is to make the process easy. “We work with both entrepreneurs and those already in business to help connect people to resources,” Mudge said. “The CARES Act Revolving Loan Fund is just one way we provide business relief, support jobs, and speed our region’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Mudge said the CARES Act Revolving Loan Fund amounts range from as little as $5,000 to $200,000 or more. “Eligible business sectors include the service Industry, restaurants, retailers, and others that can demonstrate an impact related to COVID-19,” she said. Clients can work with their bank loan officers or, in some cases, work directly with West Central Initiative. “It doesn’t hurt to talk confidentially about your project,” Mudge added.
For now, Melissa is on track for a soft December opening. “I still feel scattered,” she laughs. “My head’s been spun around a few times.” But she has learned along the way and offers a little advice: “Just do it. Just get out there and do it. This whole trip has been terrifying, but I wouldn’t do anything different!”
Well, she might suggest being more patient. “Always plan for the unexpected,” she said. “There’s going to be something every step of the way that makes you want to pull your hair out. But those feelings are offset by the pride of being an entrepreneur. Things are flowing, it’s coming along. The financing was the smoothest part of this.”
