Jake and Stacey Wagner block Wednesday nights off on their family calendar, volunteering as youth leaders at Journey Church in River Falls during the school year.

Wednesdays stay blocked off for Jake through the end of July because he switches volunteer duties as the public address announcer for Fighting Fish home games.

"I fell in love with it," says Jake. "It is so much fun. I'm the Wednesday night Fish guy!"

Wagner's pipes cut their chops by default logging in his required parental youth hockey volunteer hours.

"Nobody else wanted to PA the youth hockey games and I said I'd do it," said Wagner. "And the Fish Manager Josh Eidem recruited me to help out with the Fish."

Wagner's baritone baseball vocals led to yet another mic job as the River Falls Wildcat volleyball PA guy this past fall.

"Those were the first volleyball games I've ever been to and I didn't realize how much I was missing," said the 44-year-old Wagner. "Man, that place is electric for volleyball games."

The man on the mic, however, is not Wagner's only hobby.

"I heard when guys get to this mid-life crisis stage, we either buy a sports car or start smoking meat," said Wagner with a smirk. "Nobody told me it'd cost the same amount of money every month."

Jake and his wife, Stacey, worked for a large corporation in St. Paul that recently laid off over 10,000 employees. Jake, a 16-year data analyst, was one of the work casualties in late May. Stacey, a marketing and branding manager for the same company, was also laid off at the same time, but she was rehired a month later. 

The segue to this entire story is taped together with a work anniversary gift Stacey earned for years of service. The story ends up being mmm mmm good.

"I picked out a smoker for my gift," said Stacey. "We dabbled in brisket and pork loins and then we tried bacon. We enjoy the smoking and the entertaining that comes with it."

Their love and art of smoking meat grew and friends and family told the Wagners numerous times "they should start selling their flavored bacon."

After Jake was laid off this past May, the process was put in motion.

"May was a very tumultuous month in our house," said Stacey. "And starting the bacon business had been in our minds for a couple years. It could fail, epically, but five years from now we didn't want to look back with regrets."

The Wagners’ business is called South Ridge Ranch and making slow-cured flavored bacon is all they do.

"Thankfully, Stacey and I complement each other quite well," said Jake with a pause.

"We're yin and yang," said Stacey, helping Jake finish his sentence.

"Me being a data guy for the last 20 years, I love a good spreadsheet, I really do" said Jake. "But it was paralysis by analysis and it took Stacey to pull me away from that. Did you know there are like 7,000 different kinds of commercial refrigerators?"

Jake says the research is on-going and the learning curve has been straight up, "My brain is ready for that curve to bend a little bit."

"There was a shift in process," said Stacey, "We had to invest in equipment and sign a lease before we sold anything because of the licensing rules."

But after six months of hard work, southridgeranchbacon.com is up and running and ready for direct-to-consumer business.

"Next year's Bacon Bash will basically be our one-year anniversary," said Jake.

Speaking of one-year business statistics, according to St. Croix Valley Business Innovation Center Director Shari Marnell, 50% of all small businesses fail within one year in Wisconsin, but small business owners taking the Entrepreneur Training Program (ETP) at the SCVBIC have a 30% fail rate. After five years, a small business in Wisconsin has an 80% fail rate. Those same businesses taking the ETP, still have the same 30% fail-rate after five years.

The South Ridge Ranch bacon entrepreneurs are not only taking the ETP, but they leased commercial kitchen space at the SCVBIC in the Sterling Ponds business park just north of town adjacent to Highway 35.

"We have found so much support from those businesses back there (the commercial kitchen area at the SCVBIC) that have learned potentially the hard way and have shared their wisdom with us," said Stacey.

"It's so easy as entrepreneurs to do what needs to be done because you're wearing all of the hats," said Marnell. "But businesses incubated here are required to meet with me four times a year to focus on strategy."

The SCVBIC opened just five years ago and 38 local small businesses are either in house or have out-grown their space and graduated. The SCVBIC received a $1.4 million federal grant and is the only one of its kind with four partners. The City of River Falls donated the land, UW-River Falls staffs the building, the Economic Development Corporation took on the remaining loan, and Chippewa Valley Technical College sponsors the training room, leases office space, and provides maintenance each month.

"Most small businesses just start doing their business and hope it works out instead of having a plan," said Marnell. "Jake and Stacey have a plan. I'm really excited for them."

"Shari (Marnell) and the program here offers so much more from a business growth perspective," said Stacey.

"If this thing does go underneath," said Jake with an infectious laugh, "the equipment just goes into my garage and I just continue making my friends fat and happy but we're giving it a shot."

"It's not just a breakfast food," said Stacey, "It's an experience."

Every good public address announcer has their signature line that tends to happen organically with experience. Jake Wagner brought his magic on the mic when asked to describe his crazy popular South Ridge Ranch "Winter Blend" bacon.

"The Winter Blend tastes like you're biting into Christmas," said Jake, like he was about ready to hitch up his sleigh and deliver his special blend of bacon to every good little boy and girl nationwide.