New Hi Country owner pursuing opportunities for growth

Hi Country is officially under new ownership for the first time since it was founded in 1976 and Travis Byerly has big plans for the future of the brand,

Byerly took over full ownership of the meat snack company earlier this month after Lewis and Clark County commissioners approved a loan servicing agreement for part of the funding package for the purchase that Byerly has been working toward for about two years. Until this month, he had been a minority stakeholder, owning about 20 percent of the company since the beginning of 2018.Earlier this year the Montana Department of Commerce approved the $400,000 Community Development Block Grant for economic development for the purchase of the company. The grant was technically awarded to Lewis and Clark County, which in turn provided the money to Byerly in the form of a loan through the county's Revolving Loan Fund.

Although the process took a little longer than expected, Byerly said they'd already begun making some changes, and are looking at some significant strides to raise Hi Country's profile national, regionally and locally in the coming year.

"There a lot happening. There are a lot of changes coming. It's a great legacy brand. It's been in the state a long time. Our goal is to really create a good long-term environment with a lot of opportunities for the employees and community being involved with Hi Country, Byerly said. "We're here to stay, we're not going anywhere. we're investing, we're continuing to invest heavily into the community, the brand and the state."

They've already stopped outsourcing the production of their spices and seasonings, bringing that in house. Byerly said the new production has allowed them to hire new people and provides more opportunity for year-round work. The new production has allowed the company to add three positions so far, General Manager Steve Fehrs said and Byerly said that's a part of the business that's here to stay.

"We're definitely not moving that," he said. "It's nice to be in control. It gives us the ability to customize and do more unique, specialty products and promotional products."

He said they're also working with other brands to do some custom seasonings. Although he couldn't go into details, he said it's a move that provides a hedge against seasonal fluctuations in the business.

"That's good for us. Once again, we're a manufacturing facility first and foremost, so we're able to promote and build on the manufacturing, which creates more year-round jobs," he said. "A lot of these companies are spread throughout the United States, so they're more consistently busy throughout the year than we would be here in Lincoln or Montana, where it's a pretty seasonal state."

Byelrey said another recent move they've made is to lockin a licensing agreement with both the University of Montana and Montana State University to sponsor their athletics programs. They're the first snack food company to do so and have created custom bags for their products for each school.

"We're really going to get behind this branding and program," he said.

The mix of products carried at retailers will also see a change as they start including flavors such as Sweet and Zesty and Honeykist, haven't been really been available out in the wider market.

Byerly said they're also planning to go to market in 2020 with new game jerky line featuring elk and bison.

"There's a lot of interest on that level, especially coming out of Montana," he said.

While there are a lot of pieces in motion as part of the plan to marketing Lincoln-made snacks to a wider consumer base, Byerly isn't forgetting about the local market, and he sees the Trading Post as key to that.

"In 2020 we're looking at some pretty substantial changes going into this time next year, as far as the potential offerings we have in there," he said.

First, Byerly hopes to change the local perception of Hi Country's onsite store.

"(We want to) make sure the community knows it's not just a tourist trap, it's not just for the guys rolling though on Highway 200," he said, adding they're looking at making changes to the trading post operations, including the possibility of a local discount for valley residents through the new year.

When it comes to Hi Country products in the Trading Post, Byerley said they offer items at the trading post aren't available anywhere else."We do a lot of one-off and specialty production items. Some of the specialty rubs and seasoning you can't get anywhere else."

They're looking into expanding those offerings, with this such as such as bratwurst or unique items involving elk and bison. One other idea they're contemplating is a "jerky bar" featuring different flavors or types of meat products.

Byerly also wants to update the Trading Post to offer more products that fit the outdoor-enthusiast lifestyle Hi Country pursues. That copuild include changing up the inventory at the to include some sporting goods, as well as gift items and clothing. "Whether that's recreational, outdoor adventure... whatever people are coming through to do. A lot of time they're doing something outside, so we definitely want to market to that," Byerly said.

He sees no reason they can't expand into the lifestyle piece of the market and he's open to ideas to draw in different outdoor recreation groups, to promote area opportunities for recreation, and for trading post offerings that may not be available elsewhere in the community.

"We don't want to step on anyone's toes. We just want to compliment what's already in town," he said. "The goal is to draw more people to stay here, instead of just driving through. The longer they're in town, the more dollars they're going to spend."

On the production side, the focus is still very much on beef. Byerly said they've made a commitment to use all regional beef in their regular lines of jerky and meat products.

"We're working with a company out of Idaho as an exclusive processor and supplier for us, to do all our raw meat. All that product comes from, the Pacific northwest, with the majority of it being Montana and Idaho beef," Byerly said. "It's nice to use that and make that commitment, and get away from importing beef."

He said the ability to promote 100 percent USA beef is a good position for Hi Country to be in since it allows them to support ranchers and farmers and to promoting the rural ag in the northwest, rather than in another country.

Moving toward all regional beef sourcing is a step toward working more exclusively with Montana Ranchers as well, Byerly said, adding that they're working with some more local ranchers to do pilot programs involving block chain technology and e-commerce platform that will allow them to create specific batches of products from specific ranches. He likened it to specific vineyard creating specific wines with distinct flavor profiles.

"One batch will come from one ranch and will only be available on line and through the trading post as a unique offering" he said. "That will be our beta test and we'll build and and develop on top of that."

As Byelrey pursues plans to improve the health of the company and expand Hi Country's capacity and offerings, the need for additional employees is expected to increase and eh's got his eye on a big obstacle in bring workers to Lincoln

"Part of our challenge here is housing. We're working with multiple groups on affordable housing. That could be a combination of temporary or permanent that people can transition into," he said. "We're looking at it for not only our own employees, but for anybody. Ideally, we'd have between 12 and 18 units coming on within the next 12 to18 months, depending on how things line up. We're oing to be pretty aggressive on this growth plan, so we will need more people."