 Recently, a new concept was rolled out that is the first of its kind in the United States. For this week's In Business, our Josh Peterson shows us how a small family business has grown to sell their product all over by keeping it local. The year was 1993 when Stitsworth Meads opened its doors at 609 4th Street in the Nyemore neighborhood of Bemidji. Over the years, what started as a small neighborhood butcher shop has grown to a retail outlet and now a full factory in Smokehouse. You know, change the way the world gets its meat is kind of the grand goal, you know. Michael Stitsworth took over the family business in 2010 and since then has grown the business as it evolved from its first location to now its fourth. And what really kind of kickstarted me in the whole process of getting this building going was I entered the idea competition with my MSU, the MSU side of things, and you know, once the idea is out there then you better act on it. But what launched this business is the MSU, which stands for Mobile Slaughter Unit, which goes directly to the farm and brings the product to be processed in Turtle River at their brand new facility. We're the only ones in the country now that have a fully vertically integrated business that starts with a live animal at the farm and the animal's never been in a trailer in its life. What this new process does is eliminate the middleman and empower the local farmer. For the farmers to be able to sell it here locally, it's not just supporting local business, it's economically very beneficial to the farmer. Even though the Turtle River Smokehouse facility just recently opened, plans to expand staffing and possibly add on to the facility could be on the horizon. Maybe another building in another location that's like Bemidji, which if you really think about it every location is like Bemidji if you implement this process. With over 50 products produced and packaged locally, the hope is that this is only the beginning by supporting the local economy and supporting where it all begins with the local farmer. In business this week, Internal River Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.