Charlie and Mandy Hollenbeck opened Cowboy Meat Company in Forsyth, Montana in 2021. It offers custom meat processing and a signature line of smokehouse products. Charlie had a ranch upbringing and retained a lifelong passion for agriculture. He attended Montana State Billings to study process plant technology and then animal science at the University of Wyoming. After looking for a change, the family purchased C&K Meat Company and transformed it into Cowboy Meat Company.

Cowboy Meat Company made a wonderful addition to the Forsyth business community, employing 16 hardworking people. As a local and modern company, they function well across two product avenues. First, with their expertise in cattle raising, they use their own beef and process it themselves, resulting in affordable and quality bulk beef to efficiently deliver to the market. Secondly, they produce value-added products through their smokehouse line that meet expectations and demand in a competitive environment.

Charlie and Mandy welcomed a baby daughter, Renly Jo, into their lives recently to join older brother Jayton Russell. In between running a business and raising a family, the Hollenbecks are actively involved in their community, attending events and helping with sports teams.

Being a good community member is important to the couple and to the team at Cowboy Meat Company, and they’re a great partner to Forsyth businesses and organizations. For example, they’ve developed a product line for the Joseph Café, and through a relationship with the Rosebud Cattlewomen, they built a partnership with the Forsyth Public Schools to get affordable beef into school kitchens.

One of the reasons the Hollenbecks selected Range as their provider is that they appreciate our being local and bringing high paying jobs and community support to Forsyth. Cowboy Meat Company has been a Range customer from the start, and they rely on us to act as their Chief Technology Officer and make sure they take advantage of the latest technology to meet their business needs. Range also procures and installs new systems and provides reliable internet service.

Cowboy Meat Company has a 3CX phone system from Range, which they consider their biggest technology advancement. The previous single line system resulted in many missed calls and voicemails that frustrated customers and could lead to missed revenue. With the 3CX system, customers can directly reach a team member whenever they want.

To purchase local Montana meats and learn more about the business, follow Cowboy Meat Company on Facebook, call 406-346-7660, or visit their retail store at 1109 Front Street.

Originally published in December 2022 Customer Connections Newsletter