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What do you do?

Jeff Gardner and his wife had a dream to open a butcher shop ten years ago. They planned for months and continued to dream about it. “We were just about to make it a reality when someone we knew opened a butcher shop and quickly realized the success we had dreamed about. Our lives got busy and we did not want to compete with this other meat market, so we decided to not open a butcher shop,” states Jeff.  However this dream appealed to them on many levels. Jeff worked many years as a trained Chef and has a culinary degree from Secchia Institute for Culinary Education. He’s worked in many of the restaurants in Emmet and Charlevoix Counties.

“I have always valued good quality ingredients, and I know the high quality of the products that Circle M Meats provides. My wife and I have six children, and four of them have developmental issues that will make it challenging for them to find conventional employment. It has been, and is our dream to own a business that they can all be employed without condemnation or discrimination. I feel that the business that Circle M is, and the business that it will be in 5 years, will be the perfect business for each of my kids to have a solid and rewarding career.  Megan (my oldest daughter) has a degree in Business Management and a second degree in Marketing. Megan will be our Business Manager and will be a key player in managing our retail enterprise in Phase 3 of our project. Thomas my second oldest is currently working for Circle M Meats, and is interested in the meat cutting and production aspects of this business, with the right amount of on the job training and his solid work ethic, I see him as an Operations Manager someday. My younger four are still in school and will be able join the team during summers for now, but will also have their own places in this business when the time comes.”

Jeff’s wife Cheryl passed away during the summer of 2020. She was very sick for 14 months prior to her death, and they had lots of time to sit and discuss their children's futures. In late 2019, they revisited the butcher shop plan in hopes that it would be a part of the kids’ future.

In 2020, Jeff set out to look for a building site, vacant building, something that they could build their dream on. Jeff met with Dennis Vromann and Lindy Hunt and inquired about the purchase of Circle M Meats.  On February 18, 2022, Jeff’s dream became a reality with the purchase of Circle M Meats.  Photos show Jeff and the former owner of Circle M, Dennis Vromann.

From Tip of the Mitt SCORE: "Congratulations, Jeff and we know that you will continue to hit it out of the park with this new endeavor. We look forward to hearing about your successes and to also help you in any way we can."

How SCORE helped.

“Based on my personal experience, I think my SCORE mentors knocked it out of the park and they reignited in me the enthusiasm I had in the beginning, because they helped me shift my thoughts to something that will be easier and more profitable and in my wheelhouse.

Jeff worked with SCORE during this process, beginning in October 2020.  Jeff was seeking SCORE’s assistance with pulling this together in a formal business plan with cash flow projections to help confirm his assumptions and that his plans are a fit for the community. He worked with mentors to help fill in the financial sections and marketing sections of his business plan, and a SCORE mentor worked with him to secure financing for the purchase.

Jeff said that he appreciated all of the hard work that SCORE provided him, and is excited about his new business and what it will mean for him, his family and his community.

The mentors were thoughtful, and helped me think through some of the ideas that were stumbling blocks and also brought a valuable perspective from their collective experience and wisdom.”