Hi-Line Living - Ladybug Bites: A fight for Keeley

Some troubles a local business owner is having with regulations has inspired a local legislator to step into the field of pet-snack regulation.

Havreite Keeley Wilson, who started Ladybug Bites in March 2017 to make and sell pet snacks is facing the threat of having to close her business after almost two years of operating due to regulation by the Montana Department of Agriculture, causing Rep. Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, to sponsor a bill.

Keeley's mother, Dottie Wilson, owner of The Infinity Bake Shoppe, said Keeley started the business after she graduated from Havre High School and was wondering what she could do.

Her mother said her daughter's health complicated the issue. Keeley was diagnosed as an infant with the developmental disability Williams syndrome, and also has been diagnosed with a wide span of other medical issues such as common variable immune deficiency, narcolepsy and seizures.

In the past, the family has held numerous fundraisers and programs raising awareness of and to help combat Williams syndrome.

Dottie said their family travels approximately 20,000 miles every year due to her daughter's medical issues, in addition to Keeley undergoing 22 surgeries over her lifetime.

Dottie said her daughter participated during high school in a group through the state's Department of Public Health and Human Services' Hill County Vocational Rehabilitation Program, which did job sampling for its members. After high school, the family moved on and was trying to figure out what the next step be for Keeley.

Her mother said that Keeley cannot work a normal job. She needs someone near her at all times in case of emergency. For a while, she said, Keeley worked with her while she was working at Grateful Bread as manager of the bakery.

But due to problems arising with her daughter's health, Wilson said, they needed to find something else that would fit better with her daughter's schedule.

One of the counselors from the rehabilitation group told the Wilsons of a one-time program that could help Keeley start her own business, Dottie said. They jumped on the opportunity, her mother said, and started discussing the best ideas for a small business. Her mother said her daughter's first idea was starting a milkshake and smoothie bar, but after seeing that many other places in the area serve milkshakes, they settled on dog treats.

Keeley is an avid dog lover, her older sister owns two dogs and her parents and she own a miniature long-haired dachshund named Ladybug.

Her mother said her daughter researched the industry and found a few recipes to start with and got cooking. Later on in March of 2017 Keeley was open for business, opening the same time and in the same location as Infinity Bake Shoppe.

Keeley runs her own business, her mother said, finding recipes, handling purchasing the ingredients and creating a business model.

"It's different," Keeley said.

Dottie said her daughter's tremors make her unable to cook the actual treats, and that is when her father, Steward Wilson, stepped in.

Stewart, a draftsman for Heberly Engineering, said he does the cooking and cleaning for Ladybug. He is the sous chef of the operation, he said.

Keeley said it is is fun to work with her dad and one of her favorite things to make is the peanut brittle.

Keeley said her favorite memory of Ladybug Bites was the ribbon cutting with the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce a month after they first opened.

Department of Ag and Ladybug

Wilson's mom said the business was going well, with the whole situation working out for everyone, until they got a letter from the Montana Department of Agriculture in November. The letter informed Keeley that she was in violation of a law, and she had to obtain a license and register each one of her products. If she didn't, further action would need to be taken, the letter said.

Dottie said she doesn't know how her daughter's business got on their radar, with many other small dog-treat businesses never receiving this letter.

She said she understands why the law is there, but her daughter's business is so small coming into compliance with it would financially hurt Ladybug Bites. She said the Department of Agriculture was nice about the matter, not requesting any back payment for the time Keeley was already in operation, but said that in order for her business to move forward she had to come into compliance.

Dottie said the license costs $100 and it costs $50 to register each product, with each product needing to be tested in a lab.

She said her daughter has her own limited liability company, paying her own rent, insurance and buying her own ingredients. The family could pay these fees but it would take away that independence Keeley has with the business.

She added that the business is now in compliance, with Keeley buying the license and registering 13 different treats with the department.

Stewart said his daughter's business used to have 65 to 70 different products, Keeley making treats that people requested and holiday treats or treats for special occasions.

He added that his daughter has made animal treat scones, cupcakes and even miniature cakes for her customers in the past, with all the ingredients dog-friendly and without any processed sugars.

"Part of what people really love is coming in here and, 'Oh, what do you got today?" Dottie said.

"I think what (the Department of Agriculture) misunderstood is how small-scale her business was," Dottie added. "I think they had the misunderstanding that she had this storefront pet treat business."

With coming into compliance it has become cost prohibitive, her mother said, adding that at the end of the year her daughter will have to scale down the number of products she can sell or close her business.

"So it was really devastating," Dottie Wilson said.

Her mother said after receiving the letter she contacted Joe LaPlante at Bear Paw Development Corp. and Celina Cline from Vocational Rehabilitation Program and tried to see if they could help in working things out and if it was a misunderstanding figure out, how to clear it up.

LaPlante and Cline spoke to the Department of Ag and found that there was no misunderstanding, Keeley's business was being held under the same regulations as large producers, although she is still eligible for and involved in the rehabilitation program, which helped her pay the licensing and registration fees.

Local legislator steps into the ring

Dottie Wilson also contacted Bachmeier and said that since she first contacted him, he has really jumped in with both feet and helped.

The Wilsons have known Bachmeier for a long time, and he and Keeley attended high school together, Dottie said. She added that Keeley testified at a rally he held in Havre in 2017 arguing against state budget cuts.

Keeley also testified in Helena at the Legislature that year about health care.

Dottie said she is excited to see what Bachmeier can do.

She said Bachmeier recently messaged Keeley about a meeting he had with the Department of Agriculture regarding a bill he sponsored to revise the law related to selling and manufacturing pet food, with him saying that the meeting went very well.

"In my mind, what I am hoping is an exemption from the law," Dottie Wilson said.

But even if it results in a smaller fee the situation will be better, she added, saying Ladybug is a small business, "lightyears from $20,000 a year."

Bachmeier said what he is trying to do is change the section regarding dog and cat food treats. What he wants to do is eliminate the cost for the license and lower the registration of the products to $25 for for 20 products for small producers, he said.

He added that after talking with the Department of Agriculture they determined that this might be possible. The reason for the fee, Bachmeier said, is the administrative cost and cost of testing the products to assure their safety.

Bachmeier said the department would also like to have small producers send the active ingredients that they use in their treats. They want to do this because if there is a health issue resulting from the treats they want to be able to track it down, he added.

As far as figuring out who qualifies for the reduced cost, he said, producers have to stay at less than $20,000 in sales. That would prevent small producers having a competitive advantage over large producers.

He said the department even suggested that the amount of sales be reduced to a $10,000 or even a $5,000 cap to reduce the chance of opposition. Bachmeier said he wants to get in contact with the Wilson family and see what would work best for them.

Another thing that the department requested is that small producers not include meat, medication or raw animal proteins in their treats in order to reduce the chances of animals getting sick, he added.

"I think, in my mind, that makes since," he said.

Bachmeier said they still need to hammer out the details of the labeling requirements, with him believing producers like Keeley shouldn't have to label every product or every small bag of products. Instead, he said, small producers can have bulk items with labeling. The exception, he added, would be a product that contains peanut butter. Producers should label ingredients that may cause an allergic reaction.

He said he wanted to get involved after hearing about the problems Keeley was facing.

"Keeley is a great person and does a lot in the community," Bachmeier said. " ... I know a lot about her story and her background, and she's a very inspirational person who just wants to do the best she can for this community. So I feel it is really important that our community has her back, and I'm happy to help with this legislation."

Dottie said that treats are different from feed, the regulations surrounding them being completely separate.

She said when LaPlante contacted the lab where Ladybug Bites were being tested, the lab didn't know how to test the products. She said they thought her daughter was making more products in bulk, such as 50-pound batches.

When her daughter's regular customers heard about what was going on with her business they were not happy, Dottie said. She added that they reacted with disbelief and have been writing letters to the Legislature advocating for Bachmeier's bill.

Ladybug Bites is a small Havre business with a local focus, Dottie said, with her daughter even getting spent grain, a byproducts of the brewing process, from Triple Dog Brewing Co. to make her Triple Dog Delights.

Stewart said the prices of his daughter's dog treats usually range between $3.50 and $4.50 for 6-ounce packages.

Dottie said if they knew about all the licensing issues before opening Ladybugs they would have done another business idea instead. But now, if the bill passes, she said, it can help small businesses across the state and maybe encourage people, like her daughter, to start their own businesses.

Dottie said if Ladybug Bites closes, it would be devastating because the situation is perfect for their family. With Keeley as her own boss she has the flexibility with her schedule that she can do all the things that she needs to do outside of work, she said. She added that her daughter doesn't work at the store full-time and that when she is there she is a great help and is safe.

"It's important for her to be here," Dottie said.