WAUPACA COUNTY POST

January 26, 1995

 

            Robert “Bob” Neimuth is the 1995 Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce “Person of the Year”.  A president of our chamber in the 1970’s, Bob has always made a special effort to help in whatever way he can.

            For instance, Neimuth’s Steak and Chop Shop let us use their facilities to prepare Fall-O-Rama’s chicken booyah for years.  They prepared all the meats and loaned the use of equipment and Nesco roasters.  To facilitate pick-up, they opened early Sunday mornings.

            When notified he had been chosen person of the year, Bob said he was very, very surprised, but happy.  “When I was president of the Chamber, I noticed how when many members earned retirement, they lost interest in the Chamber and withdrew.  Often this was very hard on our small budgets.  I decided then that would never happen to me,”  Bob comments.  And it is easy to see that it hasn’t.  Bob has been a Chamber member for 38 years, ever since he started in business.

            One of those “rare birds who was born and raised here,” Bob has spent most of his life in Waupaca.  A graduate of Waupaca High School, he was a player on the basketball team that won the first Central Wisconsin Championship for the school when he was a sophomore.  The team also won the championship when he was a junior and senior.

            “I entered high school in 1941, right before Pearl Harbor.  In those years we kept losing coaches to the service.  We had Haberkorn, then Van Dyke and Bucci.”

            After high school, Bob entered the service, spending his whole hitch at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.  Then it was back to Waupaca to work in the brickyard for 8 or 9 months before enrolling at the University of Wisconsin.

            Armed with a fresh B.S. degree in agriculture, Bob worked in cranberries for a short time before securing a job at a mink ranch for a year or two. That job led to a two and one-half year stint selling mink cereals for the Kellogg Company, from which he was fired when a boss’s son wanted the job.

            That experience taught Bob that he never wanted to work for someone else again. He had some of his own mink at that time, and when the opportunity presented itself in 1957, he borrowed $1,700 on his life insurance policy to become a partner with R.J. Bergman in a Waupaca butchering and slaughterhouse operation.

            The slaughterhouse was built on four lots on Redfield Street purchased from the Waupaca Industrial Development Corp., who helped bring sewer and water to the site.  “The land was formerly a city ball diamond, and I think our front door is right about where the pitcher’s mound used to be,” laughs Bob.

            The partnership broke up in 1959, with Neimuth taking the slaughterhouse.  At one point Bob bought the locker business back. Al Gorski was his partner for 2-1/2 years.  They split up and Bob decided to get out of the locker business when the lights went out and the lockers were the only thing holding up the ceiling.

            “I butchered for a couple of years, raised a little beef and made a bit of sausage,” says Bob.  “In 1960 I built a new cutting room and added a small freezer and cooler.”  Other additions have followed.  IN 1963, Neimuth’s Steak and Chop Shop built an addition which included cooler space and an expanded retail area.

            Neimuth remained in the mink business until his father retired.  With children too young to help with mink, Bob decided that his meat business alone could make enough money to support his family.

            As the five Neimuth children grew up, “we had some good years and some lean years.” Bob reports, “but we’ve made a profit every year I’ve been in business.”  As the children grew, a couple took an interest in the business, so the business needed to get bigger.”

            In 1980, Neimuth’s gained holding pens, a cooler and more room.  An expansion in 1985 included a larger retail area, new cooler cases and more.

            Meanwhile, the business was getting quite heavily involved in county fair livestock sales, first at the Waupaca County Fair, then the Portage County Fair at Rosholt.  Neimuth’s added another cooler in 1989 to make room for the fair livestock.  Bob says the fairs are held within one week of each other. Carcass shows draw up to 200 people at a time to Neimuth’s.

            Bob says that only 8 Wisconsin counties have carcass shows, and two of them are right here.  In addition, the expanded Neimuth facility is used by Gary Onan to teach a 6-week class in meat judging to kids before they go to the Madison contest.  The last three state champions have come from Waupaca and Portage Counties.

            Although Neimuth’s Steak and Chop Shop, nestled next to the railroad at 715 Redfield Street, is hard to find, the business has prospered.  Bob reports that its trade area reaches 30 to 40 miles in each direction, and 1994 was the best year ever, topping $100,000 in sales in one month.

            Neimuth’s makes “pretty near everything we well,” from hams to hamburger, and bacon to sausage.  Bob says they get practically all the meat they sell from local producers. They butcher 50 or more head of livestock a week.

            Three Neimuth children have gotten involved in the business. Roger is in charge of sausage making, Bob Jr. handles retail, and Bob Sr. makes the hams and bacon and handles the bookwork.  All Neimuth products are state inspected.

            Of the others, Janet works part-time at Neimuth’s in addition to full-time job at Tomorrow’s Children.  Richard is with Aid Association for Lutherans in Appleton, and Nancy received a master’s degree at Ohio State and remained in Columbus, Ohio.

            Bob’s wife, Dorothy, taught school at Weyauwega-Fremont for 23 years before retiring in 1993.  To let Bob semi-retire, Neimuth’s was incorporated a year ago.

            Besides being past-president of the Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce, Bob is former board member and past president of the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors, a Lion Club member, and an active member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, where he served as president twice, 25 years apart.  In addition, he is joining Waupaca’s new Toastmasters Club.

            Bob has received the FFA Chapter Farmer’s Award from the Waupaca, Manawa and Weyauwega-Fremont schools.  He received the 1991 Portage County 4-H Award for outstanding service and support.

            The Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to proclaim him 1995 Man of the Year.