Tri-State Neighbor: South Dakota Farm Newspaper

Amy and Gary Cammack, left, stand in their ranch yard with two of their four sons and their wives, Amber and Reed and Chris and Felicia. The ranch family owns several businesses in Union Center, S.D. Tri-State Neighbor photo by Lura Roti

When high school sweethearts, Gary Cammack and Amy Gossard married 36 years ago, they shared a lofty goal - owning their own ranch.

“It's a part of our heritage. If you grow up in a rural or ag setting, it's something that is endeared to you and you always want to go back,” said Amy Cammack, who, like her husband, Gary, grew up on a ranch near Union Center, S.D.

Named after the Farmers Union Oil Cooperative established in the early 1920s, Union Center is a small ranching community located on native grass prairie, about 45 miles east of Sturgis, S.D.

The Cammacks began the journey to ranch ownership with nothing but a strong work ethic, faith and the determination to succeed.

In 1972, shortly after they married, the couple moved to Wyoming where Gary worked as an ironworker. A year later, they had the opportunity to move home when the Stoneville General Store, about 12 miles east of Union Center, came up for sale.

“It was the kind of place where you sold gas, groceries, livestock salt, beer, diamond rings - just about everything - even the post office,” said Gary Cammack.

Looking back, Gary and Amy say that even though neither of them had any business experience prior to owning the Stoneville General Store, they were able to succeed because of two key factors - they had a passion for the business and worked to identify and meet their customers' needs.

“We have always said that to be successful you have to like your customers and have a passion for business,” said Gary, who adds that three of his great-grandfathers homesteaded in the area. “We had a passion for our business because everything we sold we had a huge interest in because we loved ranching. We liked our customers because they were our friends and family.”

Their business grew from selling a little livestock salt and a few groceries, to selling a broad variety of ranch supplies, tires and designing and selling pole buildings.

“When we bought the store, it was doing about $3,000 annually,” Gary said. “When we completed the last full year of operation, we were doing a quarter of a million in business. We kept identifying the needs of the customers and kept building on that.”

While growing the business, Gary continued to work construction full-time while Amy managed the store. In 1976 he spent a year working on the Alaskan pipeline. Their oldest son, Scott, was 8 months old.

“In December 1975, we had a corporate meeting of two and decided that if we were ever going to get ahead, we needed to take advantage of an opportunity. That opportunity was the pipeline in Alaska that was under construction,” Gary said.

Only 21 and a new mother, Amy says even though it was a lot to handle, she had the support of family and neighbors.

“If I got a load of salt in, we didn't have a forklift at that time, the neighbors would help me unload it,” she said.

After working on the pipeline for a year, Gary and Amy were able to pay off their debt and purchase an investment property in Rapid City, S.D., which they planned to one day sell to buy their dream ranch.

In 1978, the Cammacks purchased their first piece of ag land - 320 acres of hay ground. A year later they expanded their ranch supply business when a four-year-old feed mill in Union Center came up for sale. The couple opened Cammack Ranch Supply in 1979.

“It couldn't have been a worse time to get into business. We shouldn't have made it,” Gary said. “One reason we tried so hard to succeed is we had everything to lose.”

Utilizing the same philosophy they developed as owners of the Stoneville General Store, Gary says that they let their customers determine the direction that Cammack Ranch Supply should move.

“Our focus will always be on problem solving. If you get into a business and your focus and motive is profit, you'll fail,” he said.

Problem solving, Gary says, is how their ranch supply business survived the agriculture recession of the 1980s. He and Amy met their customers' needs with conventional and non-conventional products. One such product was an industry reject that they named the Mega Panel.

This product was a piece of wood 8 feet 5 inches wide, 35 feet long, 2 inches thick weighing 1,500 pounds, the Cammacks sold it to their customers to use in construction of wind breaks, corrals, building liners and grain storage.

“It was the product that took us through the really tough times in ag when everything was disappearing - including our customers,” Gary said.

Today, Cammack Ranch Supply has 20 employees, serves agriculture producers from across the state and region and extends across 1 mile of frontage, along South Dakota Highway 34.

Gary says that because they always work to solve all their producers' operation needs, their customer base expands well beyond county and state lines.

“Not a day goes by from mid-August until the end of the year that there isn't a customer from at least 250 miles away,” he said. “I've often wondered why people show up from Cheyenne, Wyo., Sioux Falls, S.D., and North Dakota. There are several reasons; we have everything they need for their livestock operation - we have everything right here.

“Because we are 50 miles from any municipality, there isn't a person involved - it doesn't make a difference if you talk to a bookkeeper or janitor - that doesn't have a clear understanding of agriculture,” he said.

Gary says he is always looking ahead to anticipate what his customers' needs will be. Since 2002, due to severe drought facing many livestock producers, livestock watering products have accounted for the majority of sales.

“We did not sell livestock water products until 2002. We saw the need,” Gary said. “I really believe that the product that will be responsible for our business success five years from now, we haven't seen yet.”

Cammack Ranch

A few years after opening Cammack Ranch Supply, the rancher who owned the adjoining land contacted Gary.

“He says you need to own this place. We talked for 5 minutes and within a couple weeks we had a contract for deed,” Gary said. “Like we planned, we traded the equity in on the duplex for a down payment on the ranch.”

While expanding their business, the Cammacks were also expanding their family. They have four grown sons, Scott, 33, a veterinarian in Sturgis, and married to Jeannie; Ryan, 30, is a regional sales manager with Alligary in Laramie, Wyo., and is married to Kristi; Reed, 27, owner of CR Dreamworks custom cabinets in Union Center and married to Amber; and Chris, 23, a taxidermist and owner of Prairie Mountain Wildlife Studio in Union Center and married to Felicia. Gary and Amy have three grandchildren.

Growing up, the boys were all actively involved in the ranch.

“From an embarrassingly young age, the boys were all involved in the ranch work,” said Gary of their 7,000-acre, cow/calf operation.

To build up their herd, Amy and the boys raised Angus/Holstein bucket calves which they got from a dairyman, who Gary says used high quality beef bulls.

“We know we could owe money on land or cattle, not both,” Gary said. “We did an intensive AI program and through that program brought the carcass traits back in.”

Along with their focus on their cattle, the family put a lot of energy into managing their native pastureland and conservation - since 1984 the family has planted more than 50,000 trees.

“Having trees is important to us,” said Gary of his ranch, which is dotted with trees. “My great-grandfather came here in 1890. He would point to an old cottonwood tree and tell me that it was the only tree in 25 miles.”

When the boys were growing up, they were each given a cow when they turned 10. Gary and Amy said they left it up to the boys as to how they spent the money they earned from their growing herds.

“When they got to high school, they had their own money and covered their own expenses,” Amy said. “They could build what they wanted and buy what they wanted.”

Now that the boys are all grown, most of the daily ranch work falls to Amy. She and Gary have a goal to increase their herd size so they can hire a ranch manager.

Today, Gary and Amy are proud of the family, business and ranch that they have built together. Their sons are still involved with the cattle and have careers of their own.

“We can stay friends because they have their own businesses and make their own successes. We can give advice and they can make their own successes or mistakes,” Gary said.

Busy as ever, Gary and Amy make time to travel. In 2009, they will be traveling with the South Dakota Agriculture and Rural Leadership alumni group, of which Gary is an member, to Ireland.

“We are happy here,” Amy said. “He says he's never retiring.”

Gary adds.

“My philosophy is life is good and the best is yet to come,” he said.

Prairie Mountain Wildlife Studio

Chris Cammack says that if even as a young boy if you asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up, he would say taxidermy.

“When I was 4 years old, I would have told you that I wanted to be a taxidermist,” said Chris, who opened Prairie Mountain Wildlife Studio in 2006.

After high school, Chris attended Montana School of Taxidermy in Helena, Mont. He returned from Montana with the desire to start his own business. Two weeks into his first deer season, he and Felicia had 200 deers to skin.

As a taxidermist, Chris does everything from tan hides, complete shoulder mounts, to creating life-sized animal displays. Felicia does all the finishing work on the animals.

He networks with area outfitters and works with the hunter to insure lifelike results.

“I have the hunter take multiple close-up shots of their face and everything. Some of these animals I've never seen before,” said Chris, who adds that this year he will be preserving several animals from an African safari.

To help hunters bring their hunts to life, he and Felicia also work with Rico Rock, Inc., to develop urethane rocks for life-sized mammal displays.

“I enjoy these displays because they tell a story,” he said. “I was interested in building mountains, it was a dream of mine that has become a reality.”

To see an example, visit www.pmcastrock.com.

CR Dreamworks

When Reed Cammack graduated from Sturgis High School in 1999, he says he had two options.

“I always was interested in building things and was naturally gifted at it. I have an uncle that was a cabinet maker so I decided it was either apprentice under him or engineering school,” said Reed, the owner of CR Dreamworks, a custom cabinet shop he started in 2001 in Union Center.

Focusing on custom cabinetry, Reed works with individuals, interior designers and businesses to design unique cabinets for their home or business.

When Reed designs cabinetry, “customized” is the key word.

“I like to do unique projects - not ordinary. I enjoy the challenge,” he said. “If the customer has an idea or something that they want to incorporate like antique stained glass or barnwood, I will do it.”

Reed's detailed work demonstrates his creative and versatile talent. Everything from hand-cut inlays and dovetailing, to hand woodburned barbed wire design to working with a variety of wood and repurposed wood.

“People are looking for something unique and different, which works well for us,” said Reed, who has three employees. “We are able to change gears and do something different easily. It keeps things fun and exciting for us too.”

He is currently working on a project that uses wood from the old Ft. Pierre, S.D., railroad depot.

“Using reclaimed lumber gives the project a story,” he said.

Reed works with his clients from the project's design concept through installation. His team completes about 20 kitchens a year along with their commercial projects. Reed says he chose his hometown as his business headquarters because he enjoys the rural lifestyle and the community. Both he and his wife, Amber, grew up in Union Center.

“I don't think my shop would be doing any better if it was in Rapid City,” he said.

To learn more, visit http://crdreamworkswoodworking.com.

Editor's note: This is the first of three articles featuring the people and businesses of Union Center, S.D.

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