Our guest speaker last Thursday was Dr. Nic Mink, President & Chief Salmon Steward at Sitka Salmon Shares (http://sitkasalmonshares.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/SitkaSalmonShares/).

Coming in, we knew that Nic and his firm were connected in some fashion to two previous class speakers. First, although Sitka Salmon Shares is legally based in Sitka, Alaska, it has warehousing and distribution operations in the Sustainable Business Center in nearby Galesburg, IL. Recent class speaker Ann Mueller is the center’s recruiting and communications director (see:  www.sustainablebusinesscenter.com).

Second, given that the firm operates somewhat like a community supported agricultural (CSA) enterprise, we knew that the business model would have some similarities to Spurgeon Veggies run by class speaker Dustie Spurgeon (see: http://spurgeonveggies.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/SpurgeonVeggies).

We also knew of the interesting and unusual genesis of the firm; a fundraising trip to Alaska by a Knox College professor and two students. Quoting from the Sitka Salmon webpage:

Our story begins in 2011, when a Midwestern college professor, Nic, and his two students traveled to Sitka, Alaska, for the summer. There, they engaged in conversations and deepened their understanding of the importance of protecting Southeast Alaska’s wild salmon populations and the pristine environment that supports one of the world’s last great salmon reserves.

They returned to the Midwest with boxes of line-caught, wild Alaskan salmon, harvested by their fisher friends in Sitka. To say the fish was well-received would be an understatement. People raved about the salmon’s taste and were impressed by its traceability. They quickly made the connection between their consumption and the impact this small act could have on conservation efforts and the health of Alaska’s sustainable fisheries. Perhaps, the group thought, they were on to something.

 Well… They were “on to something” indeed!!

Shortly thereafter, the sustainable fish business based on a “boat-to-table” supply chain began. An initial investment of about $10,000 yielded around $7,000 in first-year sales. Today, however, the firm has sales of almost $4 million (with 80% of this amount being direct-to-customer retail sales and the remaining 20% wholesale sales to restaurants and chefs).

Below, Midwest Entrepreneurs student Connor Gillen provides details on how the company went from so little to such much so fast.

Enjoy!!

Prof. Gabel

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Nic Mink, who was a first time speaker in our class, is the co-founder and CEO of Sitka Salmon Shares.  Sitka Salmon Shares sells “shares” of sustainably caught fish all across the Midwest United States year-round.  The fish are caught in Sitka, Alaska by family fishermen who have to follow certain procedures to maintain the high quality of fish the business offers.

The business idea began five years ago while Nic was teaching at Knox College in the Environmental Studies Department.  He had traveled to Alaska with two of his students as part of a fundraising project where they would sell salmon from Alaska to Knox College faculty and staff. After visiting Alaska, Professor Mink decided to make a business out of what was a fundraiser.

The main idea for the business is providing its’ members the knowledge of where there food came from, how it was caught, where it was caught, how it was delivered and things like that.  His main idea on why he started the business is because he is passionate about finding a way to build a better food system.  He said that more and more people at this day and age are eating healthier and wanting to know where the food they eat comes from.  They provide each of their members with all the details about the fish while delivering a high-quality product.

As stated above, family fisherman catch the fish in Sitka, Alaska.  The fish is then processed there in a facility Sitka Salmon recently acquired. The fishermen are required to follow procedures to makes sure each fish has a high quality taste when it’s finally delivered.  There are 13 fishermen that are apart of the business and most of them are young.  Nic thinks having younger generation fishermen helps carry out the value of the business because they understand why they have some certain procedures that other fishermen don’t have.  For example, Nic places a restriction on how long the fishing trips last so that the fish isn’t on the boat for extended periods of time before being processed.

After it is processed in Alaska, it then gets loaded onto barges that travel to Seattle, Washington.  The fish are then put on trucks and transported to one of their distribution centers, which are located in Galesburg, Chicago and Madison, WI.  The fish are delivered to “members” of the business in 5-pound boxes once a month.  “It’s kind of like a wine of the month club,” said Nic.

Wholesale is also the second way Sitka Salmon sells its fish besides delivering it to households.  Wholesale accounts for about 20% of the sales in the business and is usually delivered to chefs who use it in restaurants.  Direct consumer distribution though has better margins and also has better cash flow for the business since each member has to pre-pay.

The first year the business was up and running, Sitka Salmon totaled $7,000 in sales.  In 2016, they had an incredible $3.6 million in sales.  The first two years of the business, Nic did not pay himself a salary.  But once the business began to grow rapidly, Nic paid himself a salary and also hired an accountant and lawyer.  He attributes some of the firm’s recent success directly to having a great lawyer and accountant.  He also says that these two employees “pay for themselves” because they are so great at the critically important things they do.  The business has grown rapidly over the last couple years and has been recognized as one of the top companies focused on sustainable fish and community-supported fishing in the entire country.

Lastly, one of the biggest things Nic attributes his success to is the fact that he is both a social entrepreneur and liberal arts entrepreneur.  Although, he did not receive his degrees from a liberal arts college, he has taught at Knox for a number of years and has a very diverse educational and experiential background.  He has a Ph.D. in natural resources management and history from the University of Wisconsin.  He has excellent writing skills and not just knowing one area has really helped him succeed.  Knowing a lot about a lot of different things helps him effectively speak to a wide variety of people and he can fit in with just about any group of people.  His ability to also tell a good story gets people emotionally involved and helps him sell his product and his message.  It is all these skills that he can fit it to any situation and speak the language of capital that has helped his business have so much success.

In the future, Nic wants to grow as fast as they can, but keep the values of the company first.  The values of the company will always come first with Nic.  As he put it:  “If a business puts its values first, then the money will soon follow.”

It was a pleasure to listen to Nic talk about his unique business and I am glad he has had so much success with it.

Connor Gillen