Steve and Lynette Henson bought an Amish farm in Blanchard, Michigan back in 1998 with one goal in mind: enjoy the peace and serenity of living in the country.
What they didn’t expect is that the farm would give them a brand-new hobby-turned-booming business.
The farm’s former resident left tree tapping supplies behind, so when Steve and Lynette moved in and got settled, they gave it a go, and loved it! Soon, they began producing more and more maple syrup – eventually deciding to sell it.
“It was kind of a hobby at first, and then we enjoyed making it and had fun,” said Lynette. “There were a lot of maple syrup producers around us when we started, so there wasn’t a huge market. We had to go to Detroit to sell our products.”
Fast forward to more than 25 years later, and their business, Doodle’s Sugarbush, LLC, has taken the market by storm. You can find their syrup in more than 200 grocery stores and restaurants across the state and country – something that took years of hard work and networking to accomplish.
“You have to get in front of these stores for them to believe in your product,” said Steve. “It can be hard to do.”
Doodle’s Sugarbush, LLC isn’t just known for their wide variety of syrups, but also maple-based products like maple cream, maple coffee and maple pancake mixes.
Steve and Lynette's product line spans much further than just maple syrup
“Mostly everything we do is made from maple syrup,” Lynette explained. “Maple syrup is a healthy sweetener; it’s a good sugar source. As we’ve grown through the years, we just keep expanding and adding more products. There’s lots of things that you can make with maple syrup.”
The operation is difficult to forget – not only from its unique product line, but from its memorable name as well.
“Doodle is Steve’s childhood nickname,” explained Lynette. “We decided to go with it for our business name to honor that.”
It’s so memorable that they often see different generations of families stop by to support the business.
“I take great pride in selling to people in the community, and then years later, selling to their kids and grandkids. We get to see families from the past.”
Visiting Doodle's Sugarbush, LLC has become a family affair for many in the community
And GreenStone takes pride in being a part of their team, as well. Steve and Lynette have been able to utilize farm real estate loans, operating loans and equipment loans through GreenStone to help in the expansion of their business.
“Traditional banks hadn’t always wanted to give us a loan for a maple syrup farm,” said Lynette. “GreenStone took us seriously and knew we had a full-fledged business. GreenStone has been really great to work with to help us pursue our dream of helping make it bigger and better.”
GreenStone Financial Services Officer John Grassley works with Doodle’s to find finance options to help grow the business – something that excites him.
“They have been great to work with,” said John. “They have a passion for their business, and you can tell that when you meet them. They put their all into their products, and they’re loving what they do. They’re taking something from nature and turning it into a product. It’s a unique product, and you can see it and taste it right at their farm.”
Tasting that product is what the community will continue to do as Doodle’s makes improvements to their facility and pushes out more products.
“It feels really good to help them achieve their goals,” said John. “They want to continue to be more efficient. They just set up a new packaging line that will help them achieve that.”
“There’s a huge market now,” said Lynette. “People love to support local and support Michigan.”
As far as the future, this hardworking duo has no plans to slow down any time soon. With the support of their daughter Eliazbeth who helps when she’s home from college, there’s no limit to how much success they can tap into.
“We hope to continue to increase our products and continue to grow. We hope to keep reaching out further from Michigan and across the United States,” said Steve.
“As a husband and wife operation, it’s awesome to see the family dynamic and the dedication that they have,” said John.
To view the winter 2024 issue of Partners magazine in its entirety, click here.
