Project 7 – Real estate and equipment
Membership and leadership of the Sangudo United Church was declining and a tough decision was made to sell the iconic building.
Jeff Senger, the owner of Sangudo Custom Meat Packers (SCMP), decided this would be a favourable location to diversify his business.
A meat business in a church?
His intent was to install steam kettles in the kitchen and walk-in freezers/coolers in adjacent rooms.
Bones from the meat shop would be made into beef broth, a high-demand product. Fat from the meat shop would be rendered into tallow for the french-fry market – another high demand product.
The large main room of the church could be used for meetings and events as required.
With a tight timeline for the real estate transaction, SODC and several members provided bridge financing to close the deal.
New and existing members provided funds to payout the bridge financing and establish two loans. One was for the real estate, and the other to purchase needed equipment and services to renovate the building and install the equipment.
With further investigation about the diversification of the meat business, and a concern about possible odours in the neighbourhood, the renovations and installation of equipment was not completed. The building is used to host meetings and community events.