Lefse's in Montana? - Montana Manufacturing Center Spring 2008 Newsletter
| June 11, 2008 |  View for printing |
Creativity and Automation Solving Worker Shortage
Granrud’s Lefse Shack http://www.lefseshack.com/ has been an important business in the northeastern Montana community of Opheim since its start in 1977. The company manufactures lefse, Norwegian potato bread similar in appearance to a tortilla and a favorite treat when served with butter and sugar. Today, the product is growing in popularity as a wrap as well. It is sold in all 50 states.
The operation is ideal for a rural farm and ranch community. The plant opens at the end of the harvest season, runs four-day, nine-hour shifts and finishes up operations just when spring planting, branding and home gardens need attention starting in mid-April.
A shortage of available workers in Opheim (current population est. 85) for the labor-intensive business is the result of a declining population (Census 2000 est. 111), a phenomenon that is occurring in communities all across the rural West. Granrud’s current owners Twyla Anderson and Alice Redfield are trying creative solutions to overcome this shortage and grow their business.
By Deborah Nash, MMEC
Full Newsletter: http://mtmanufacturingcenter.com/PDFs/spring08.pdf
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