Small business focus of economic development meeting

NEWPORT — Gratitude Farm hasn’t been able to find a place to sell its goods in downtown Newport, Pend Oreille County’s largest city.

“There is not one place in Newport that you can buy my product,” Krystal Walker of Gratitude Farm told the Port of Pend Oreille’s Economic Development Advisory Committee at its meeting Wednesday, March 5. “Because there is nowhere for me to sell it, which is really disappointing.”

Krystal and her husband Scotty and their business Gratitude Farm make a variety of products including goat’s milk soap, shampoo and conditioner bars as well as other products.

Krystal said that it was not just a lack of downtown businesses, it was also a matter of finding the right fit.

She does well at Bushels, near Diamond Lake, and said she has become addicted to running the business. It doesn’t leave much free time for things like watching the latest Netflix series.

“I have been watching Marketing for Farmers,” she said.

“Obsessively,” Scotty added, while holding their baby.

“It’s been wonderful finding rural community encouragement,” she said. Having marketing resources available through the community has been welcome. “It’s been so exciting and it has transformed me personally.”

She said everything that goes into their products is hyperlocal. She buys tallow used in her products from a multi-generational family farm near where they live in Elk. She uses milk from her own hand-milked goats in the products.

She said the business has had two-and-a-half times growth in the last several years.

The Port’s Economic Development Director, Jessica Garza, said one of the reasons she asked the Walkers to come to the EDAC meeting to tell their story was to show that small businesses can make money.

“She represents a pretty big population of what we miss a lot when we focus on infrastructure and large business,” Garza said. She said there is a need for large businesses, but small businesses were important too. “They’re seeing real growth, they’re creating revenue, they’re paying taxes and they’re doing it all while raising a family in our community.”

The Walkers also started a second business, Steel Roots, a company that does land management, fire fuel reduction, government contracting and mobile and custom welding work.

They started the business so Scotty, who worked at Grand Coulee Dam, could be home more.

Steel Roots just got its first government job.

“We’re going to be cleaning up the disc golf course for Pend Oreille County,” Krystal said.

At the EDAC meeting, the Walkers received support from the two Pend Oreille County commissioners who attended the meeting.

District 2 county commissioner Robert Rosencrantz told the couple that the business was definitely scalable, meaning it had the capacity to grow. He said in addition to storefront sales, online sales of her product would likely do well.

District 1 commissioner Brian Smiley said her story reminded him of when he started his business, Smiley Wood Flooring.

“I can really relate to your story,” Smiley said.

He remembers the first tree cut to make his first flooring job. His business grew and continues to grow.

“We’re banging at the door of seven figures now,” Smiley said. Don’t give up, he advised. “It’s surprising what you can do. Also don’t listen to naysayers.”