Great Falls Tribune - www.greatfallstribune.com - Great Falls, MT

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MONTANA CITY — Kim Waltee's not just Autumn's mom or Drew's mom any more. She's the Fish Queen.

The proprietor of 4-year-old Montana Mountain Smoked says the title earned for her lines of smoked trout and salmon fits her just fine.

"It's nice because when I call my meat guys I tell them it's the Fish Queen on the phone and they all remember who I am," Waltee said.

A former hairdresser, Waltee says she smoked fish her entire life, learning the craft from her grandfather.

"People would bring me their fish all the time," she said.

In 1993, she was looking for a career change and decided to turn her hobby into a business. She added a shop to her home, bought a commercial smoker and went to work. Today that shop has expanded twice and holds three smokers.

Montana Mountain Smoked products are never frozen after the three-day curing, smoking and packaging process is complete, which means they are fresh, she said. The salmon and halibut she uses are caught in the wild.

In addition to the smoked fish products, Montana Mountain Smoked makes a spread with sockeye salmon.

"We sell about 25,000 tubs a year," she said.

The business' up-and-down workload means Waltee does not have employees. Instead, she recruits family and friends to help with production for big orders.

"During the holidays I get orders for 1,500 tubs of spread at a time," she said. "My crew will kid about calling in the A team."

As mostly a one-woman show, Waltee puts in some long hours. However, the flexibly of being her own boss is worth it.

"Both my kids do sports and I can travel to their games," she said. "You can start earlier in the day, 4 a.m., and be finished by the middle of the afternoon."

Waltee once hired a sales team based in Salt Lake City but was unhappy with the results, so she does all the marketing herself. Her products are sold in Montana, several Western states and as far away as West Virginia.

"Word of mouth is probably my best advertisement, along with demos in the stores," she said.

Three years ago, she did get some marketing help in the form of a $50,000 grant from the Montana Department of Agriculture's Growth Through Ag program.

She used the money to redesign her labels and set up a Web site.

The Growth Through Agriculture program awards loans and grants for projects that add value to Montana agriculture products, said Lindra Davies, a marketing technician for the program.

"The ag business is diversifying like crazy in Montana," she said.

Great Falls Tribune - www.greatfallstribune.com - Great Falls, MT

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