Today, Insight Weekly profiles a new small business: Idahound. Founded by "younger generation locals" with long-term plans for living and working here, the company is one of the top types of business starts we should nurture as ardently as we can.  

Just for a moment, however, here's a thought regarding the tussle between the Farmer's Market and Ketchum about the Market's summer location. The Forest Service Park has not been mentioned as a possible venue. This rarely used historic space in a beautiful setting with plenty of parking seems ideal. I'm told, however, that the planned hotel construction next to the park could be problematic for noise and traffic. As the discussion continues, I hope the site is thrown into the equation for now or the future. 

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Small Business Profile: Idahound. Three energetic young men with synergistic talents and do-it-yourself mentalities have created Idahound to produce a locally-sourced raw meat diet for man's best friend. Alec Barfield, Chris Cey (pronounced sigh), and John David Davidson started their business just over a year ago and it is growing by leaps and bounds - far more than the trio ever imagined.

Cey, a Wood River High School chemistry teacher who knows lots about evolution, had started hand-grinding raw beef for his hunting dogs. After all Canis lupus familiaris, our doggy pets, evolved from the wolf, a predator and raw meat eater. Chris decided that his canines should get a carnivorous diet much like their ancestors, devoid of the typical grain fillers that lack nutritional benefits and can tax a dog's digestive system.

"I ground the beef in my kitchen, gave some to friends, and things grew from there," says Cey. "They liked giving their dogs a raw diet, but it was clear that grinding their own meat was majorly inconvenient. I saw a market there for healthy, locally sourced, locally produced dog food." He teamed with John David and Chris - all three agreeing to take a deliberate, lean, cautious approach to building Idahound. 

They took a few months to adjust their recipe and then brought their one and only product, a packaged blend of raw grass-fed beef and vegetables, to last summer's Farmer's Market. "It was a huge success," says Barfield, the de facto chief of operations. Since then, Idahound's product line has expanded to a raw grass-fed sheep and vegetable mix, raw bones, and treats of sheep lung, sheep crisps, and raw green tripe. "Our treats fly out the door," says Barfield.  "We can't make enough of them." 

This summer, Idahound will enter the larger Boise market, hiring two employees to provide increased inventory. Barfield offers a bemused smile and says, "The big producers know we're around now." He likes that but knows they don't see Idahound as a threat. Nor does the team want to emulate the typical business model of large anonymous factory food production with cheap fillers and centralized distribution. Cey explains, "We'd like to go national sometime in the future with satellite businesses in other locations that can support a totally local product: local ingredients, distribution, and management."

Davidson, Blaine County's newly elected Treasurer, is Idahound's finance guru. He explains that, unlike a lot of start-ups, Idahound is not looking for a quick, huge-multiple exit. Tripping over his underfoot dog, he says, "We'll probably go for revenue loans. Our model doesn't lend itself to equity deals and we're not interested in that. We want to build a successful business over time that reflects our desire to stay locally rooted."

Idahound uses the entire animal in production. Twice a week, the partners humanely slaughter 5-10 local grass-fed cattle and sheep at their Carey site. "The animals are older and would soon be shipped for slaughter as it is," says Cey reasuringly. (He did once take a youngish cantankerous bull off a farmer's hands). The carcasses are hung to dry, hides stripped off, organs harvested and then ground together with the meat within 24 hours. The mix is supplemented by carrots, squash, apples, alfalfa, and powdered egg shell (the one non-local item) to achieve a nutritionally balanced diet high in fat, fiber, and protein.

"It's kind of crazy what we're doing," says Barfield, a religion major in college. "We started with an idea to produce a healthy animal diet - three friends who'd never run a business entering an industry we knew nothing about."  Since then, he and John David have learned how to take an animal apart from Cey. "It takes a lot of heavy work," says Cey. "The first cow was like a biology lesson." (Barfield was processing meat yesterday when I called him with a question. He had to call me back!). Over time, the three have made their assembly line more efficient, refined their processing skills, upgraded their six-pack packaging, and begun local marketing.  

Davidson once planned to get a business degree but "Idahound has been like Business 101-104. We've learned by jumping in. It's amazing what we know now." 

It's been a great ride, says Cey (whose dog chews a loud squeaky toy as we speak). "We've gone from a homemade product out of my kitchen to our own processing facility and distribution to six major accounts in the valley. We deliver

on-line orders and will begin custom game grinds this year."  

These guys are still pinching themselves! When they start growling

and growing fur, they might need an intervention.