For 18-year-old Maxton Meysenburg, what started as a small side gig for extra cash has exploded into a full-time business with growing demands and endless potential.
A little over five years ago, starting a firewood business seemed like a no-brainer to Meysenburg, the fact that his grandparents own a popular private campground and Meysenburg was already there putting in hours helping with improvements, maintenance, and other work. Campers need firewood, and Meysenburg knew he could source firewood bundles directly from the campground itself. Thus, the Log Jock Firewood & Timber idea was born.
“My grandparents used to let campers bring their own firewood, but that would cause bugs and disease to spread, so I started doing my own,” explains Meysenburg, a senior FFA member at Fullerton Public Schools.
The campground he refers to is the scenic Broken Arrow Wilderness, located in Nance County just outside of Fullerton, Nebraska. It spans about 90 acres along the Cedar River and offers camping, tanking, kayaking, tubing, hiking, and Jeep trails, as well as a full hunting outfitter business, which Meysenburg also helps with during hunting season.
Last spring, Meysenburg applied for and received an SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) grant from the Nebraska FFA Foundation and Constellation. With the funds, he plans to purchase a firewood bundler and materials to expand and grow his business. He has also been refinishing a small barn to store his equipment and supplies.
Currently, he sells firewood at the campground with a self-serve firewood stand and bundles available at the office or upon request. He also sells his firewood at a local convenience store and offers bulk firewood sales and delivery.
“I just add something or grow each year,” Meysenburg says. “I operate my business on my own but wouldn’t be in the place I am today without my family’s support.”
Meysenburg says that FFA has helped him in many ways. It has opened the door for him to try things he otherwise may have never tried, such as working with livestock, learning about plants, and how to evaluate the land and soil. However, the main thing he believes FFA has helped him discover is leadership.
“One of the biggest things FFA has taught me is how to be a great leader,” he says. “It has shown me that work ethic is a huge thing in life, and that you determine what your life looks like by what you do and how you live it.”
And his favorite part about FFA? Talking about his SAE project and sharing it with others.
"Maxton has done a lot of great work with his SAE project over the past couple of years,” says his FFA advisor, Josie Loseke. “The grant application process is very competitive, and it was really awesome to see Maxton be awarded for his project to help grow it further.”
Loseke shares that Meysenburg has also done fantastic work on his project’s proficiency, earning Gold at districts as a junior and placing third overall in the state for the Forest Management & Products Entrepreneurship category.
What’s next for the Log Jock? Although the campgrounds are closed for the winter months, Meysenburg considers it his busiest season, doing a lot of his log splitting preparing for the next camping season. He also offers seasoned firewood for use in fireplaces, wood stoves, and outdoor firepits, especially used over the off-season and colder months.
For the short-term, Meysenburg hopes to have another great year as an officer with his FFA chapter, with a goal to qualify and earn another trip to FFA State Convention for his senior year. As for his firewood business, he plans to keep his project going through high school and college and wants to expand into more local stores and gas stations. His ultimate career plan is to become an electrician and someday take over his grandparents’ campground and outfitting business.
All this, along with normal high school activities, helping his parents with their local flower shop, working at his uncle’s farm, and continuing to help at the campgrounds. Judging from the spark Meysenburg has already created, this young entrepreneur is in line to set the world on fire.
