Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Two new Uniontown businesses placed in the WSU/Port of Whitman’s business plan competition, including first-place winners’ Grandma Lela’s Oatmeal. Owners Cheryl Waller and Kathy Stilwell took home $6,000 while Nathan Hammond and Enoch Hicks’ Hammond Farm Innovations won $3,500 in a tie for second.
The awards were handed out April 20 to conclude the annual competition to encourage new businesses in Whitman County.
Grandma Lela’s launched in January, making a business out of Cheryl Waller’s grandmother Lela’s old recipe, along with added grains, fresh apples, cranberries and dried cherries. Waller, owner of the Churchyard Inn at Uniontown, began serving the oatmeal to guests the year before. She soon was hearing requests to take some home and or to buy the mix. She got to thinking.
Now, Waller, Stilwell and Waller’s husband, Steve, make the frozen concoction in seven-quart pots in the kitchen of the Churchyard Inn on the second and fourth Sundays. They also have help from many volunteers who put seals on the six-ounce individual servings, and pack boxes.
The product is now for sale at Dissmore’s and Café Moro in Pullman and Harvest Foods at Potlatch.
Waller said they plan to put some of the $6,000 in winnings aside and use the rest for buying supplies.
“We’re being very careful how we grow,” said Waller. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”
Much of the ingredients which go into the oatmeal are bought in 25-pound sacks from Winco Foods. The end serving has 120 calories, no preservatives and no salt.
Coming next will be a gluten-free version of the product which is now being developed.
“I haven’t got it to where I think it’s good enough yet,” said Waller. “What we keep saying is our oatmeal doesn’t taste like wallpaper paste.”
Before starting the business, Waller’s research indicated only two other frozen oatmeals on the market, one from Trader Joe’s and another from Amy’s Kitchen. Both are served differently though, as Grandma Lela’s is already in cups and ready to eat.
“A lot of people ask when do you put the water in, and they don’t have to,” said Waller. “It’s already done for you.”
Enoch Hicks and Nathan Hammond formed their operation in 2011 and started manufacturing their moveable, enclosed chicken tractors this January.
The 12 X 8-foot devices allow a user to have free-range poultry while being able to control the birds’ diet. The “Happy Hen Haven” includes a cage area and a house. An owner can move the cage to fresh ground and switch out the manure on a simple tray.
“It’s a game-changer for those who want a successful egg operation but want it as easy as can be,” said Hicks.
The 500-pound counterbalanced cage is designed to keep a clean yard environment.
“To keep the chickens happy and to keep you happy,” said Hicks.
Hicks and Hammond both farm. Hicks is at Kamiah and Hammond at Deary. They started their endeavor putting together prototypes. On the fourth one, they started the business.
“The standard of raising chickens hasn’t really changed over time,” said Hicks. “It’s been the nesting box, the coup and the fenced-in area that’s always been a stinking mess.”
So he and Hammond got to work trying to improve it. They came up with a clean, portable watering system and a manure floor which slides out to be collected for compost.
“It almost eliminates it,” Hicks said of the stinking mess.
Hammond Farm Innovations and their first product arrive during an upswing of urban backyard farming around the nation.
Many cities have lifted their poultry bans – while keeping the rooster ban – in recent years as the organic movement has grown, the economy has faltered, food prices have risen and the poultry industry itself has come under increased scrutiny.
“Anybody will tell you those that fared the best in the Great Depression were those who raised poultry,” said Hicks. “Even more so than small animals.”
He cited the reasons as being because chickens provide both eggs and meat, and require minimal feed.
Hicks and Hammond build their products by hand and manufacture the parts themselves.
As time goes on, they plan to add a manufacturing facility and hire employees.
“Nathan and I right now are just barely able to keep up as it is,” said Hicks.
The units are for sale through Intermountain Feed in Lewiston and by consignment at Four-Star Supply in Pullman and Colfax and Spence Hardware in Moscow.
The price is set depending on the mileage to deliver. The selling area is set for now at 200-miles around the Palouse, with an average unit price of $1,449.
Hicks and Hammond plan to invest their $3,500 from the Port of Whitman for web site development.
“It’s been fun,” said Hicks of starting the business. “You can really enjoy it because you know your product is going to be beneficial.”
Sharing the second prize in the business plan competition with Hammond Farm Innovations was Poppy, an Eco-Friendly Salon whose owner Chelsea Whitney also won $3,500. The shop will open in July on East Main in Pullman.
Fourth place and $2,000 went to UXMetrix and owner Steve Teare at Palouse, who runs UXMetrix, a company founded last September with business partner Matthew Rauch. UXMetrix is an online service for web programmers to get feedback on the user experience of their websites. Teare has developed a system of tests which indicate how a person’s experience with a site is.
“Our goal is to help website developers and designers reduce the obstacles that users have and get rid of the frustration,” said Teare. “It’s not just about looking pretty. You’ve got to have a seamless experience.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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