Veteran Finds Unexpected Inspiration, Leads to New Business

This article was originally published by the USDA Rural Development.

Inspiration can strike at the most unlikely times. For Trey Hendrickson, it struck when he was returning from deployment in Afghanistan. He had, what he recalls as ‘the best cup of coffee’ he’d ever had. It was a taste of home.

U.S. Marine Trey Hendrickson found inspiration for Wild Grounds LLC while returning from a deployment to Afghanistan in 2013.
Trey served five years in the United States Marine Corps and deployed once to Afghanistan. Now 11 years later, Trey and his wife own and manage Wild Grounds LLC, a coffee grinder and roaster, for nearly a year.

“I spent time over the years developing the plans, researching what would make this work. Then we found a coffee roastery that was for sale and knew it was time to pull the trigger,” said Trey.

Starting a new business comes with challenges. The first several months can be especially difficult as the business develops, and Trey shared that it was thanks to GROW South Dakota’s funding through Rural Development’s Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) that helped the business begin to thrive.

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