HARTVILLE, Ohio — It’s an interesting and important ability: to know when to change something and when to leave well enough alone. Timing, after all, is everything.
Christian Ramsburg, 34, bought the Hartville Elevator feed mill business from Craig Wellspring and Ed Ringer in November 2023. It was a quiet business transition, insofar as another company was initially interested and they deemed it not to have enough “business potential.”
They also kept a low profile because it was the start of heating oil service delivery. Wellspring and Ringer thought it best to announce the new ownership after that season to minimize disruption or worry among their customers that things would change with the new owner.
Seeing that the building could suffer a fate of sitting idle and perhaps decaying, long-time feed customer and farmer Ramsburg decided to make an offer. Wellspring and Ringer wanted to retire, but they needed a buyer. Ramsburg didn’t want to see the tradition of the richly historic building lost.
He had been purchasing a special blend of non-GMO feed from the mill for a number of years to feed the beef, pork and chicken he raises, so he was familiar with the place. Ramsburg farms just over 1,000 acres just outside of Cadiz, Ohio. He raises grass-fed, pasture-raised animals, consisting of 4,000 broiler chickens and 80 feeder pigs. In addition, he butchers 85 head of beef cattle yearly.
Having grown up in Hartville, he was also aware of the stalwart, stable building which remains an ever-present anchor in the village, despite the many societal and cultural changes that have occurred over the decades.
“I didn’t want to see it torn down and I didn’t want anything to really happen to it,” Ramsburg said. It’s one of only two operating feed mills in the area, he said. The other feed mill is that of Star Mills in Louisville, Ohio.
Ramsburg is adamant that he wants to maintain the operation of the feed mill, because “it sets us apart and makes our business rather unique.”
Rich history
“You’ve got to be able to change,” Ringer said, “or otherwise everything will pass you by and your business just won’t work.”
Ringer said that when he and Wellspring first took over the mill from their “Dads” in 1980 (Hubert Brumbaugh was Craig’s father-in-law and Virgil Ringer was Ed’s father), and the village of Hartville was still steeped in agriculture, as was the entire surrounding Lake Township.
“Over the years, agriculture left Hartville, and we had to evolve, too,” Ringer said. “We are now still an operating feed mill, but we are also much more of a companion animal and bird feeding store now,” he said. Ringer, 77, is retired but still refers to the mill as if he continues to work there.
He has known little else in his life. The only other “jobs” he had were working at the Hoover plant in North Canton, Ohio for two years and his three years of service with the U.S. Army during the Vietnam conflict, both of which he knew very well he didn’t want to turn into a career.
“I do miss the mill a bit,” he said. “It’s something I’ve always been around. I was practically raised there,” he chuckled.
He said that he was hired at first, as a youngster, to sweep up cobwebs in the basement. He eventually moved up in the ranks and was a fuel delivery driver until he and Wellspring took over the entire operation.
Hubert Brumbaugh and Virgil Ringer purchased the Hartville Elevator on June 1, 1950, from Charles Kannal. Although generations of the prolific Brumbaugh family (which included 12 brothers and four sisters and seemed to be related to virtually everyone in town) had been involved in some way or another since the mill’s inception in 1909.
The business is named for the grain elevator that enables the grain to come up through the basement to get stored in the third-floor storage areas. Hartville Elevator mills corn and oats obtained from area farmers. The type of mill is that of a hammer, as opposed to a roller, because customers need their chicken feed to be ground.
Ringer explains that different screens are used so as to accomplish the variety of textures of feed that they are able to produce.
“Yes, when the Dads upgraded the place in the 60s, they brought it up to date with top of the line equipment. For that time, it was the best you could get. Most of the stuff is still working pretty good,” he said.
Wellspring said he misses running the business on a day-to-day basis, because “it’s like raising a child, in many ways.” He said at one time they were serving primarily all dairy farmers, but they had to be willing to change to serve the residential customers and hobby farmers that currently comprise the customer base.
Wellspring said he “believes in” Ramsburg as he takes on the reins of ownership, mostly because of his can-do attitude and his understanding of today’s customers.
“And Christian is going to keep the tradition of being open during our Christmas in Hartville celebration,” he said. “Many people have said to me that it’s like being in a Hallmark movie because we offer special treats, customer appreciation and giveaways. We feel very glad to know that’s how people feel when they’re at The Elevator.”
Preserving legacy while moving forward
These first few months have been a whirlwind of learning and improving for Ramsburg. He’s been finding things that need to be upgraded, welded or otherwise improved at every turn. These challenges are simply accepted as part-and-parcel of a business ownership, he said.
Fortunately, Ramsburg has always had a knack for being mechanical, and said he acquired the skill of figuring out how things worked early on.
Since taking over Ramsburg has maintained much of the previous “decor” that surrounds the building — traditional calendars, seed drawers and the brother and sister feline patrol. A ginger cat, Tigger, and a gray patches cat, Olivia, take their work at the mill seriously.
Ramsburg has appreciated the faithful customer base that has followed him as a new owner. When Tigger the cat was sick a few months ago, many customers stopped by simply to inquire about the cat’s health. Tigger has since recovered, but it made Ramsburg aware of the level of “community” surrounding the feed mill.
In return, Ramsburg has installed a new roof over much of the building, streamlined the credit card payment system, put in air filtration to cut down on the dust and he strives to maintain good relationships with area farmers, gardeners and residential customers.
“It’s important to know what to change and when to make changes,” he said.
But he keeps the slightly squeaky old-style screen door, the creaking wooden floors and the old-time calendars on the walls to remind him of all that has come before him in the 115 years of the Hartville Elevator’s lifespan.
He’s keen and shrewd when it comes to products and merchandising. Whether it’s a special blend of bird seed; dog, cat, horse and rabbit feed; carpenter bee trapstiks or cat litter, Ramsburg has it stocked.
“We strive to meet our customer’s requests and needs,” he said. “Someone might come in the store and maybe not see what they need, but they also should ask because we’ve got three warehouses and I can’t possibly display everything we carry in the main storefront.”
Ramsburg would like to upgrade a few things in the building. He said that some of the equipment could use some repairs and that the windows let in too much noise and street dust. He constantly strives to build an increased presence on social media.
He also knows that the phrase “all in good time” will serve him well as he goes forward.
For more information, please check the Hartville Elevator website at www.hartvilleelevator.com.
