NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — Kyle Beaver of Snydertown did not always know he wanted to be a mushroom grower. But about six years ago, he gained access to a small barn on his family's property and googled "things to do with a small amount of space."
"A small UK mushroom growing website came up, and it said you can grow this much with X amount of space. It really got my gears turning," Kyle Beaver said.
With a $300 investment, Kyle started growing mushrooms and selling them at area farmers markets.
People were quickly becoming interested in Kyle's ready-to-fruit blocks.
"It kind of started a whole new avenue for our business where now mainly what we do is sell these ready-to-fruit blocks to other farms across the country and supply these farms with the material to just grow mushrooms for their local markets everywhere," Kyle said.
Recently Kyle was able to expand his business into this facility near Elysburg. He now supplies both home and commercial mushroom growers. Kyle had help from Bucknell University's Small Business Development Center.
"If people have questions when a small business owner is not sure where to go or what to do or wants to bounce ideas, we try to be available for that guidance and to be a sounding board," Amber Guerrero said.
Kyle hopes to keep expanding.
"We're looking to get into some major grocery chains. We're looking to start supplying farms that are dealing with major grocery chains. We're looking to hit the mainstream now, essentially," Kyle said.
Kyle also plans to expand the varieties of mushrooms he is growing.
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