Smoky Lake Maple Products Taps SCORE Mentors for Export Success
Smoky Lake Maple Products started with Angela Schumacher’s question to her husband Jim in 2008: “Do you have any maple trees on your land?” While working full-time jobs, the two began tapping maple trees and making syrup on Jim’s property between Big Smoky Lake and Little Smoky Lake on Michigan’s upper peninsula. Jim became obsessed with improving the efficiency of the syrup-making process and crafted equipment to meet the need. Soon he was making highly efficient flue pans that were attracting industry attention—and that of his neighbors, who noticed the clouds of billowing steam coming from his test equipment and thought there was a fire on his land. The couple started Smoky Lake Maple Products in 2010, and in 2011, Jim quit his job and devoted himself full time to the business. Angela used her background as an art director to develop the company’s marketing, communications and design. After some trial and error on the business side of their passion, they turned to SCORE in 2016 after getting a referral from a friend.
SCORE Fox Cities mentor Mary Lou Vande Hey used her expertise in internal controls and brought in SCORE mentors for their knowledge when it was needed to enhance Angela’s understanding on business management. She started with determining how to price Smoky Lake’s products, calculating overhead costs into pricing, and inventory control methods. Next on the list was shipping and distribution, which became a priority. With another SCORE mentor’s help, the company went from creating their own shipping containers to finding an expert to build them, vastly improving their efficiency and effectiveness. SCORE also referred them to export resources to help them navigate the intricacies of international shipping paperwork and transport. Result? Products were tracked and delivered safely.
Today, Smoky Lake mainly sends its products to other maple producers in Canada, as well as to Russia, Latvia, New Zealand, the UK, Switzerland, the Caribbean, and Bulgaria. Angela and Jim soon realized that their export customers were using the equipment for other products, including sunflower oil, sea salt, licorice, brewing, and honey. Angela notes, “Exporting will allow us to diversify, grow, and spur new innovations. I credit SCORE with helping us get started on the right foot in the export world.” After about eighteen months of work with SCORE, Angela still occasionally has questions for her mentor. SBA recognized Smoky Lake Maple Products as Wisconsin’s 2020 Small Business Exporter of the Year.