After working on and off for local businesses in California, Tyler Clenin decided to open one of his own, Clenin Farm Supply, in March 2016.
Clenin is born and raised in California and cares tremendously for his community. And in return, they think pretty highly of him and his business as well, enough to vote him business of the year in 2019.
"It was and still is a pretty big honor," Clenin said. "I've only been open going on four years now. But my customer service is everything to me, I mean that's what I sell myself on. I will do anything for the customer. I mean, I'll meet them any time, deliver any time to them, and I don't charge a delivery fee, especially with what's going on nowadays. I feel like everyone works too hard for their money, so if I can provide a little bit better service, maybe people will support small businesses, like myself. I'm big on the shop local; we have a lot of small businesses here in California, and I think we all work together to support each other."
Clenin has always been a big supporter of the Moniteau County Fair, especially at the ham auctions where he usually buys five to six hogs. He quickly realized that was a lot of ham for one guy to eat, so he'd give some out to friends and family, but then one day, he thought why just share with them when he could share with his community as well.
That's when he started to look into what it would cost him to sell local, fresh meat at his store. This past winter, he looked into pricing coolers and insurance, still on the fence because there were days he'd get nervous that things wouldn't work out. But then one day in February, he woke up and decided it was time.
"I was like, I'm going to start the paperwork," Clenin said, "I started going through all the steps (through) the state of Missouri and then COVID-19 kind of took over so it delayed me for a little bit. But eventually, I was able to get things set up, I passed my inspections with the local health department, and by time I got all the paperwork filed and ready, it was the first or second week of April."
Though he got a bit delayed on the way, Clenin was determined to make his dream come true. He started making appointments with local butcher shops and decided he was going to be state-certified, meaning he can sell to anyone within the borders of Missouri. He got his first load of pork in and was finally able to start selling it the first week of May. Beef followed shortly after.
Clenin said his main goals during the pandemic are to make sure there is enough inventory for everyone, to not limit how much a person can buy and to keep his pricing fair for his community.
"It got extremely hard to make appointments because everyone was butchering because of the shortage of meat and pricing gouging at the stores," Clenin said. "But, so far, it's gone really well. I mean, I started with one cooler and now I have three."
Clenin Farm Supply not only sells fresh, local meat and farming supplies, but it also has anything from cattle and dog food to hunting gear, lawn and garden necessities and fresh produce - to go along with the fresh meat, of course.
"I believe the quality of the meat you buy, like the local beef compared to something in the grocery store that's not local, is so much better," Clenin said. "So at least give it a try. Don't be afraid to stop by and check out the store or meat."