Josh Schmerge, left to right, of Versailles, holds one end of a ribbon as his mom, Joy Schmerge, and her son, Joel Schmerge, cut the ribbon with a meat cleaver while Luke Shroyer, all of Botkins, holds the other end of the ribbon. The four co-owners of Curly’s Meats cut the ribbon on Wednesday at their new location in Jackson Center.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Lt. Governor Northwest Regional Liaison Lu Cooke, left, talks with Co-owner of Curly’s Meats Joy Schmerge, of Botkins, on Wednesday during the ribbon cutting of Curly’s Meats’ new location on West Pike Street in Jackson Center.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Co-owner of Curly’s Meats Joel Schmerge, left to right, of Botkins, speaks with Nancy Sanford, of Macon, Ga., and Kristine Hiser, of New Bremen, on Wednesday during the ribbon cutting of Curly’s Meats’ new location in Jackson Center.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Curly’s Meats’ Sauces and seasonings for sale at Curly’s Meats during its ribbon cutting on Wednesday in Jackson Center.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Co-owner of Curly’s Meats Josh Schmerge, of Versailles, speaks on Wednesday during the ribbon cutting of Curly’s Meats’ new location in Jackson Center.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Jill Hoffman, left, of West Liberty, and Connie Eichenauer, of Urbana, look at some stuffed chicken on Wednesday during the ribbon cutting of Curly’s Meats’ new location in Jackson Center.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
By Megan Lewis
For the Sidney Daily News
JACKSON CENTER — Due to the increase in demand, Curly’s Custom Meats needed a bigger facility to maintain day-to-day operations. Its new facility on West Pike Street opened on Tuesday, and a ribbon cutting was held Wednesday morning.
The company has been locally owned since 1961. The Schmerge family purchased the business in 2016.
“Since (our family purchased it,) we have rapidly grown in beef and fork custom processing, wholesale, retail and fundraising sales,” Josh Schmerge said. “A few years ago, we approached our mom and dad at smirking about needing to expand. …In March 2023, we broke ground right here. Our vision for the future is continued growth with our processing wholesale and retail sales.
“… We could not have done this alone. We would like to thank the village of Jackson Center, especially Ed Maxwell and Bruce Metz for helping make this possible.”
As the only USDA harvesting and processing center in Shelby County, Curly’s does custom beef, pork, sheep, and goat processing on site in there new state-of-the-art meat processing facility, which cost over $3 million dollars to build.
The new store has a wide variety of options for the public. Everything sold is Ohio branded and locally raised. Brands they carry are Troyer Farms, Walnut Creek, D.B. Yummers Sauce, Wildman’s seasonings and extracts, Yoders Baking Company and The Pie Shell, among other popular local brands.
Canned goods and jams are from Preserved Harvest. Butter, cheese, milk, cake rolls, slider trays, pizza, frozen appetizers and fresh produce can be bought here as well. Curly’s will also be selling there own line of sauces, seasonings, and meats like there over a dozen award-winning bratwursts and marinaded meats.
Along with a vast variety of products, they do provide multiple services to local farmers and the communities. They sell meat sampler packs from $79 to $300. You can purchase whole or half hog and whole, half, and quarter beef.
Wholesale options are available for restaurants, grocery stores, and farmer’s market stands.
Around 60 people were in attendance at Wednesday’s ribbon cutting, including several local politicians. Lu Cooke, the northwest regional liaison for Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, read a proclamation.
If interested in these services or learning more about Curly’s Custom Meats visit their website at https://www.curlysmeats.com/, their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/curlyscustommeats, or call them at 937-596-6518.
The store’s hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
