MERRILL, WI – The Merrill Chamber of Commerce announced their 2019 Hometown Business of the Year is Geiss Meat Service located at W4490 Pope Road in Merrill. Their phone number is 715-536-5283. The award was presented at their annual Celebration and Awards and voted on by other Chamber member businesses.
Geiss Meat Service has been serving Central Wisconsin residents for 63 years and counting. The full-service slaughter and processing facility is still operating on the same property on which Geiss’ late grandparents, Edwin and Marcella Geiss, established the business. What started as a way to process not only their own animals’, but the animals of their neighbors quickly took off. The next generations stepped in the late 1970’s with John Geiss, Jerry Geiss, Gary Schlueter and Val Schlueter. Andy Geiss, the current owner, started managing the daily operation in 1999 and purchased the company in 2005.
Today, Geiss Meat Service is a 28-employee operation that continues to make their customers their priority. New products continually make their way into the product mix, many of their recipes remain the same. As an example, the summer sausage that Gary Schlueter created in 1976 is made the same way today because it is not about making a cheaper, low quality product; it’s about quality.
The company elevated itself when they became involved in the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors (WAMP) in 2005, as well as when Andy became a master meat crafter through the University of Wisconsin-Madison meat science program.
Geiss Meat Service has received numerous awards including several in Madison last April. Geiss won first place on six meat products including its cooked summer sausage, traditional boneless ham and traditional beef stick; second place on two meat products; fifth place on three meat products; and the WAMP Product Show Award of Excellence in Manufacturing Award.
“Every single award means the world to me and our whole family including the employees behind-the-scenes working very hard,” said Geiss. “I would not be here today if it weren’t for them and my whole family.”
Local businesses purchase meat products from them also. They also make gift boxes and ship them around the world during holiday season.
Geiss Meat Service, another home-grown, family-owned Merrill business with deep roots in the community and makes a difference in our community by keeping jobs here.