RBC | Disney, Mattel, Apple, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Harley Davidson all have one thing in common. Can you guess what it is? Their origin story.
Each of these household names got their start in a garage. At first glance, it might seem like an odd place to build a company, but if it worked so astoundingly well for Google, it could work for anyone.
Megan and Greg Hanberg might agree. They dove into entrepreneurship in 2015 when they began distributing quality meat products from, you guessed it, their garage.
“It just kind of happened,” Greg said. A few friends had mentioned the hassle of going out of town for meat, and the idea originally clicked in 2012, shortly after the Utah natives moved to Meeker from Billings, Mont.
“Greg worked at a butcher shop growing up and he had that connection,” Megan said. So they called and ordered a couple boxes of chicken breasts.
“They told somebody else and they told somebody else,” Greg added.
And it just kept growing.
“We did one or two orders and I would drive over (to Utah) and grab it, only chicken, and then it got to the point when we were doing 20 then 30 then 50 then 80 then 100 boxes in one order,” Greg said.
Greg and Megan’s day jobs are radiology director at Pioneers Medical Center and stay-at-home mom of four/DoTerra wellness advocate/dance teacher at the Meeker Recreation Center.
Every three weeks, their little garage becomes a delivery hub.
When the Cleveland Street hospital building was torn down in 2015, the Hanbergs purchased the freezer and cooler, then sold the freezer to pay for the cooler.
“When that fell in our lap we were like, ‘Okay, we can expand and do more, have more variety,’ ” Megan said. The Town of Meeker worked with them on a special license to run an “incubation business” out of their garage, the only requirement being permission from the neighbors.
The Hanbergs offer bulk chicken, beef and pork products and seafood, including salmon, crab and tuna steaks. They recently started carrying local farm-raised products, too. They also do special orders. The meat comes from large supply chains—“it’s the same meat you’d get at the grocery store,” Greg said.
The biggest challenge? Getting up at 3:30 a.m. to meet the delivery truck on the edge of town.
The Hanbergs estimate they spend approximately 40 hours on each order. They receive the bulk of their orders through their Facebook group, GM Meats, which has more than 500 members. They also take orders by phone and have a text alert system customers can sign up for.
The business expanded to Rangely last year, delivering on the same schedule as Meeker for a $5 delivery fee per order.
The Hanbergs enjoy Meeker and the positivity of the small business community. “Everyone has been really encouraging,” Megan said. They are also thankful for the new relationships the business has created for them. “It’s a lot of really neat people that we meet,” Greg said.
As for the future, Greg says, “We have lots of goals.” They have talked about opening a small shop, providing smaller packaged portions for customers (which will require a commercial kitchen) and offering more variety to customers.
To ask questions or place an order, visit the GM Meats Facebook page or call 970-620-6951 or 970-620-6953.
