Stevensville, Mont. – Twenty-six years ago, a young mother wanted to become more self-sufficient in ways to feed her family.
Bonnie Jones was dedicated to a healthy diet.
Her husband, Randy Jones, was a miracle in engineering.
What happened was a fundamental invention that prompted a family business with international relationships.
NBC Montana met Jones’ at their Wild West 1889 company near Stevensville.
The Coupleifti and their nephew, Johnmichael, demonstrated how they grind wheat in the flour.
The family uses only organically grown grains.
“We produce a wheat grinder called Grainmaker,” Bonnie said. “We started in 1999, as a result of the Y2K, looking for a grinder that will be a grain mill for our family.”
In the Y2K era, some people worried that computer systems may fail to function, and can create chaos when the watches scored in a new century.
That didn’t happen.
But from Y2K concerns Jones’ car was born.
Bonnie was already baking her bread and wanted her mill.
“After a search for a specific grinder and not being able to get it,” she said, “My husband told me he would make me one.”
So Randy went to work.
“I was working on a guy who had the equipment, materials and scrap bins, Randy said.” So we grabbed the materials from the scrap bin and started joining items together.
Randy said he did not make a drawing.
“I just caught what we could find,” he said, “and I did it as we went.”
Randy said it was a success from the beginning.
“We got the wheat mill at a local show in Stevensville,” he said, “and we began to receive orders for him, and we never looked back.”
“Before we knew we were going to business,” Bonnie said, “and that little product ended up changing our whole lives.”
Twenty -six years later, the company is producing about 1,000 wheat mills each year, and exporting them to at least 20 places. “
“Soon forward for today,” Bonnie said, “and the mill has continued to grow in popularity, and we sell them all over the world.”
But most of the sales are in the United States.
Bonnie and Randy’s son, Cody Jones, was eight when the family started her business.
“I helped Dad go to the store,” he said about his boyhood, “and that was always a pleasure to stay with him.”
Today, Cody is the company’s shop manager.
He spent several years working under construction overseas.
But the business and the family brought it back to Montana.
“Having children,” he said for the decision persuaded her, as well as “having a job near the house and not traveling all the time.”
Randy’s early mill has made a long way from its beginnings of scrap.
We visited a large production floor, filled with noise of production.
Cody showed us the steel material that was being cut for processing.
He introduced us to the Eric Depee head machine, who was turning the raw material into a partially completed product.
Cody calls Eric “the heart of the process”.
The aspect of processing is the nuts and pits of mill production.
Cody then took us from the main shop in the room of powder coat.
This is where the Alex Lotan was wearing the main parts and placing them in an oven to cure.
Then he returned to the main store where Cody showed us the mounting area.
“This is where everything comes from and dressed in dust,” he said, “and here is the final assembly.”
Alex had already climbed the driver and the main body of mills.
Cody collected the parts and sealed a serial number in each mill.
He held a red grain grinder of cherry.
“This is a finished product,” he said, “ready to be packaged and sent to the client.”
Cody and his daughter Bailee Jones began packing a mill to be sent to a client in Florida.
Bailee likes to work with her father on weekends.
Sixth grade is learning everything it can for production.
“I didn’t do it myself,” Bailee said. “But I know all the pieces and I have learned how to do them.”
Bonnie and Randy Jessica Burhenn’s daughter, social media for the company and participates in many trade shows.
“Our heritage created,” Jessica told business. “I hope it will last forever, as long as the mill itself.
Fifteen -year -old Johnmichael is Jessica’s son.
He showed us the luggage room, where he works on weekends.
“I do the wheat,” he said, “and restores it to the store.”
His 16-year-old sister Reba helps her grandmother in the retail store, selling mills and other products.
Reba reserves shelves and helps customers.
“Being here,” she said, “is helping me to learn work ethics.”
“Just being able to work together is beautiful,” Randy said from the family surgery.
“The legacy for us is to be able to see this company continue to grow and thrive,” Bonnie said, “and delivers it to the next generation.”
On the production floor we gathered the family and workers together for a photo.
It was a considerable group, a whole new generation that is expanding.
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