Owners: Will Carneal and Justine Lacey
Location: Urbana, Mo.
History: Will Carneal, 25, and fiancé Justine Lacey, 22, met seven years ago and became a couple three years ago. Will’s job as a commercial welder required extensive travel and he and Justine wanted more time together. Will had worked for Owen Meat Processing during high school, and he and Justine saw the opportunity to reopen the processing facility and to help the Urbana, Mo., community.
“We opened on Oct. 28, and currently employ two full-time and three part-time workers in addition to us,” Justine said. “Deer season has been good for business with 233 animals either processed or hanging,” according to Will.
Products and services: “We process beef, hogs, buffalo, goats, sheep and deer, and will process other animals by special arrangement,” Will said. “We also sell direct to the public using USDA inspected, fresh meat that we cut and vacuum pack ourselves. If customers ask for special cuts or packaging for their meat, we do our best to accommodate them. We can smoke meat, and during deer season we make summer sausage. We also arrange hauling for customers’ animals.”
Philosophy and future: “We want to provide even more value for our customers and create more opportunities for people to find out about other businesses in the area when they stop here,” Justine said. “I want to expand the retail side of the business to include items like spices, cheese, milk, fresh sandwiches, some fresh produce, and other items that people from the Urbana area have to travel to Buffalo, Mo., to get now. Diversifying our retail operation will encourage more people stop in Urbana. We already have people on the way to the lake coming in for steaks and other meat.”
“There is also a real need for a kill truck to go a farm, skin and gut the animal, and then bring the carcass back to hang, process and package,” Will said. “I want to provide that service, expand the size of our processing area, and give Justine space for her retail operation. We already have both our commercial deer processing and custom processing licenses. We plan to have both state and USDA certification in the near future so we can buy and process local livestock to expand sales to the public. We want to get more involved in helping our community and plan to sign up for Share the Harvest in time for the 2018 hunting season.”
“Will and I grew up in this area. We want to build our business together, provide top quality meat processing at a reasonable cost, and give our retail customers the best value for the products we offer,” Justine concluded.
