From Custom Cuts to Retail Reality
A meat processing operation near Milaca now offers a savory retail stop for lake country-bound traffic
By Kevin Allenspach
Amanda Isaacson looks around Backroad Meats’ new retail location and marvels at how she and her family got here. The store, which opened in 2024 just north of Milaca on Highway 169, is filled with cuts of beef, chicken and pork, plus a variety of more exotic choices–including lamb, goat, buffalo and even yak.
Some meats are smoked in dozens of flavors, others are made into sausage, and there are 18 flavors of snack sticks. There are other deli-like offerings as well as Minnesota-made seasonings and fish fry breading. The store is a natural progression for Isaacson and her husband, Rob, who has been working in butcher shops since he was a teenager in Olivia. He later moved to Princeton and decided he wanted to make meat processing his career, initially launching a business in 2019 with a rural facility. Amanda, meanwhile, was working as a nuclear medicine technician and traveled throughout east-central Minnesota with mobile imaging equipment.
“I was never supposed to be [working at a retail location],” said Amanda, who lives on a hobby farm a few miles away with Rob and their three grade-school-aged children. “I was supposed to continue doing my thing, and Rob was just going to do custom meat cutting for farmers and their immediate families and friends.”
Then came the pandemic, which severely affected the U.S. meat industry. More than 40,000 industry workers—about 10 percent of the national workforce—contracted the virus by fall 2020, resulting in lower output, plant closures, increased prices and reduced availability. Suddenly, Rob’s small operation was inundated with work, and his success—like that of many others like him—became a priority for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The Isaacson’s original facility was a 30-by-48-foot building, including a 12-by-14-foot freezer.
“We found out really fast that was way too small,” Amanda said.
In 2022, the Isaacsons became eligible for a USDA grant that would reimburse $200,000 in expenses for an expansion project. Tom Willett with the Minnesota Small Business Development Center serving Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs and Pine counties, connected them with the Initiative Foundation’s lending team to help bridge the gap.
Even with lending support and expert guidance, the Isaacsons quickly realized that increased production capacity wasn’t enough—their location and licensing limited their ability to serve a growing customer base.
“We would have a lot of people stopping by the shop, wanting to buy stuff,” Amanda said. “The access was just a dirt road, and our license there was a conditional use permit that didn’t allow for retail sales. So we needed another location to market our products.”
They cold-called the property owners at 19110 Highway 169, conveniently located near a growing number of businesses, including a restaurant, gas station, gun shop and a bait and marine dealership, all popular stops for weekend travelers. A deal was made, and the Initiative Foundation was ready with another loan to support the Isaacsons’ greatest investment yet—a land purchase for a retail space.
“They were good, hard-working partners, so it was easy to work with them again,” said Doug Adams, Impact Fund manager for the Initiative Foundation—one of nearly three dozen Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in the state and one of the only CDFIs headquartered and serving small businesses in Central Minnesota.
The Foundation has functioned as a CDFI since 1997. It renewed its commitment in 2023 by creating the Impact Fund, a subsidiary organization that anchors the Foundation’s CDFI lending programs. By providing access to capital and serving as a resource magnet to support borrowers who may face barriers, the Initiative Foundation helps create economic growth and empowerment opportunities in disadvantaged areas.
“Through the Impact Fund and our status as a CDFI, we can be more aggressive and support emerging businesses more fully with the additional backing we receive from the U.S. Department of the Treasury,” Adams said. “We don’t try to take on the business of traditional banks. Instead, we complement their efforts. Our goal is to support businesses that need help to grow and gain a stable position so they can graduate to traditional lending sources.”
The Isaacsons’ business model has proved sound once again. The retail location has become popular with vacationers and cabin-goers traveling between the Twin Cities, Mille Lacs Lake and other destinations in northern Minnesota. It also helps address year-round food needs in a rural area.
And that’s how Rob and Amanda wound up with “his” and “hers” locations in the family business, both inspected daily by the USDA. He directs the processing and works with meat providers. She runs the retail location, which is open seven days a week. Together they employ about 10 people. Their kids—daughters Samantha and Alyssa and son Wyatt—like to help. They find it a natural progression for their 4-H projects and family cattle they keep, which include Guernsey, Holsteins and Herefords.
“This is all they know, and they like it,” Amanda said. “When I was working separately, we had my income, and that helped us grow the business. But once we both committed to this, we never would have been able to get a conventional loan from a bank. There was no other option for us to get this funding. The Initiative Foundation has been involved in each phase of our business. Without that help, we never would have been able to do what we’ve done.”
The retail location is built with southward expansion in mind. “We’re talking about getting a grill outside so people will be able to taste what they’re buying before they do so,” Amanda said. “Indoor seating isn’t in the current plans, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.”
If it does, the Initiative Foundation will be ready if needed.
“Rob and Amanda always have some idea in mind, so I wouldn’t be surprised there could be more,” Adams said. “They’re always looking for ways to improve, and that’s something we want to support.”
For more information, visit backroadmeats.com.
Learn more about the Impact Fund and find out if your business or business idea qualifies for lending.