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A strong desire for success grips two Hills-Beaver Creek High School friends as they venture into a business together.
Jim Susie and Brad Schoneman opened S & S Locker Service on Main Street in Hills this spring after purchasing the Hills Meat Locker from Tedd and Diane Larson.
Susie and Schoneman see themselves as different from other meat processors.
“There is nobody young doing this anymore,” Susie said. “It’s not an attractive job.”
Susie is a 1998 H-BC graduate and Schoneman received his diploma a year later in 1999.
The lifelong friends grew up near Steen and both are familiar with meat processing through a former job or as avid hunters.
After high school they commuted to jobs before deciding to own a business closer to home. Over the years they remained friends.
For several years they discussed purchasing a business and operating it themselves. This spring proved to be the right time.
“I was ready for something different,” Schoneman said.
Schoneman worked for Country Cupboards in Luverne for the past 20 years.
Susie previously worked for the Larsons at the meat locker before becoming a dispatcher for Reisch Trucking in Luverne.
To distinguish their business as their own, they chose the initials from their last names as the name of their business.
The first order of business was tearing the existing meat market building apart and rebuilding from the inside out.
The renovation to reinsulate, upgrade the electrical and ventilation systems and add new freezers was completed in 60 days.
Since opening in June, they have been busy breaking down beef, pork, deer and lamb to fit into customers’ freezers.
“We are getting there slowly but surely,” Susie said.
One element Susie insisted the business would have is two separate freezers with one specifically for processed deer.
“I never liked it when the two (deer and beef) are mixed together,” he said. “It’s just a personal preference.”
The two have made a point of listening to customer requests and demystifying the process.
“People think meat comes from the grocery store,” Schoneman added.
As they process custom orders, they are working to fine-tune different smoking and seasoning techniques from the original recipes they purchased from the Larsons.
Currently processing work is completed between the two of them. Future plans are to hire additional employees as the business expands into more retail products.
Susie points to the business location in Hills as an asset.
“We live in the heart of beef country,” he said.
S & S Locker Service can be reached at 507-962-3251 or sslocker@alliancecom.net.