Tucked away at 20 Gillis Ave. in Ridgway in the former Motion Control Complex is a one-man operation, a gourmet shiitake mushroom farm that is growing by leaps and bounds. Owner Joe Kreckel explained that he and his wife enjoyed foraging for morel mushrooms in the wild, and he was fascinated when he discovered that it was possible to grow certain types of mushrooms at home, minus the insects and inconvenience.
The basement of the Kreckle home became a mini mushroom farm where he grew oyster mushrooms for his family and a few friends. Someone mentioned that he should sell his mushrooms at the local farmers market, but he was skeptical, thinking people wouldn't even know what kind of mushrooms they were. He was quickly proven wrong as he sold out of mushrooms every week and decided to expand the basement operation to full capacity and add a few new kinds of mushrooms. His mushrooms were selling out as fast as he could grow them.
Kreckle had a very good job working from home, and his wife also worked for Penn State University remotely. It was a good life until Kreckel was notified by his employer that they were planning a reduction in force, and he was given his last paycheck.
He said, "I got frustrated, and I said to my wife, 'You know what? I'm never going to work for anybody again, because I gave years of my life to that company. I started from the bottom and worked my way up to a nice, cushy job. You know what, honey? I'm going to work for myself. I'm going to take what I've done in the basement and I'm going to get some money and build me a mushroom empire!'"
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