Mountain Star Products is the May Star Valley Chamber of Commerce featured business.

Aaron Lind highlighted all that the business on U.S. Highway 89 in north Afton features, which includes contractor supplies ranging from plumbing and electrical to landscaping.

He reflected on the progress of the business since opening. “It’s been going really good. We’ve come a long way since we started this. It was a business that I had acquired and the store was part of it.”

He continued, “We knew that this was a missing part for our community as we just kept hearing the stories of people having to drive to Idaho Falls to go pick up simple things to do what needs to be done here in the valley. So, that’s kind of how it all started.”

RELATED: RADIO INTERVIEW WITH AARON LIND OF MOUNTAIN STAR PRODUCTS – 

Lind discussed the importance of emphasizing value with the business.

“If I can’t bring value to the community, we just don’t want to bring it. We’re definitely looking for feedback, but we have gone direct on so many different manufacturers,” he said. Noting the example of pipes.

“The poly pipe prices are way down,” he said. “I know that our culverts are probably the cheapest in four states right now. We’re trying to cater more towards contractors, but definitely doing all the homeowner supplies.”

Lind noted the addition of gardening opportunities to the Mountain Star Product line up, as seen with all of the trees and plants at the front of the business by the highway.

“The greenhouse is a new addition. Nate Campbell’s helped put all that together and has done a phenomenal job on that,” he said. “That’s not my forté, but he’s the right guy for the job on that. He definitely knows what grows in this area and what doesn’t.”

Lind again, emphasized the importance of value with the Mountain Star Products.

“We’re working on a couple things that I don’t wanna mention just yet, because I’ve got to make sure that the value’s there for the community. If I can’t bring value, I don’t wanna bring it.”

He noted plans for expansion, to accommodate more inventory.

Those improvements have included additional offerings from the gravel supply side of the business. “When we started, it was a 35-acre pit, and it’s now a 70-acre pit.”

He continued, “We went from producing 60 tons an hour to where our primary crusher, which is all electric now, can do 500 tons an hour. We just got our wash plant done. We are doing currently 21 SKUs out of that pit, which I think is probably the most of any pit in Star Valley.”

Lind said staff are being certified for their responsibilities. “We sent people to school for getting certified by the state for state-spec materials, chips, C33 sand now that we have, concrete, rock, and road base.”

Asked about his military background combined with business, Lind responded, “Yeah, that’s a great question, I mean, I’m just driven to go,” he said. “That’s kind of been in my DNA.  I currently run four businesses as president, and we do cattle also, so we have our family ranches. I just like to keep diversified. So, we pushed hard on this, but I push hard in life in general.”