Janet and Mike McClenahan are long-time residents of the Treasure Valley who have a passion for organic gardening and local farming. They turned their passion into a business in August 2008 when they started Direct Fresh, a delivery service of local and organic produce.    

 

Janet and Mike started the business based on their commitment to organic and local farming, and their desire to provide healthy and fresh alternatives to foods treated with chemicals or shipped thousands of miles to reach consumers. Direct Fresh is now part of a sustainable food network that supports local farmers while sharing the joy of eating fresh, local, and organic produce with its customers.  

 

The McClenahan’s came to the Idaho SBDC with their idea; they loved the idea but needed help getting started and determining if the idea could be turned into a viable business.  The SBDC worked with them to define the business model and create a “test” of the model.  An action plan was developed covering key elements of the business (operations, logistics, financial, marketing) and the test was started with 13 customers. The test proved successful and over the past 12 months the business has grown to 86 customers and 50 to 55 produce deliveries each week.   

 

Janet and Mike have established goals for 2010 including reaching 175 customers and 100 weekly deliveries, both of which will position them to expand and add employees.    

They plan to continue working with the Idaho SBDC as they grow the business…”We’ve told so many people about the SBDC, it’s a great service that helps provide real solutions to businesses.”