Talkeetna Roadhouse.

• Author: Maschmeyer, Gloria
• Position: Lodge and restaurant - Small Business

Little did the Terstegge family know that a bottle of barbecue sauce would lead them to a roadhouse -- the Talkeetna Roadhouse, which they now own and operate. And while the roadhouse remains the family's main business, that same barbecue sauce, started because they couldn't get the genuine Kentucky article in Alaska, has also grown into a money-maker.

Marty Terstegge and his wife Lynn had come to Alaska in 1985, but he had been laid off from his oil company job and was working construction.

"Anyone from Kentucky knows you can't get real barbecue sauce up here," Marty says. That's why he and Lynn started making their own in 1989.

Before long, the endeavor blossomed into a commercial enterprise. First they gave sauce to friends and traded it for things like babysitting and auto repair. Then people started ordering cases, and the Terstegges had to rent a commercial kitchen to produce larger quantities.

Now they sell the sauce through retail outlets. The sauce business has become too large to handle along with the roadhouse business, so Lynn has contacted Heinz to see if they are interested in buying. If not, they may sell it locally.

The barbecue sauce led to the Terstegges becoming roadhouse proprietors when Marty and Lynn donated a case of sauce to the church bazaar. The woman who won the case of barbecue sauce was none other than the owner of the Talkeetna Roadhouse. When Lynn delivered the case to the lady's home, she mentioned her and Marty's desire to own a lodge and restaurant.

"Boy, have I got a deal for you," the lady told Lynn.

Marty vividly remembers the first time he visited the Talkeetna Roadhouse. Lynn said, "Oh, Marty can you imagine owing a place like this?"

"Yeah, right!" he quipped. "The chances of us having a place like this are slim to none."

Two years later, the couple had keys in hand. They proceeded to embark on what might be called the American dream: small town living, family business, time with the kids and working with each other.

Now in their third year at the roadhouse, Marty and Lynn Terstegge are the perfect example of how to run a small business successfully. They employ a full-time staff of six in the summer and two parttimers year-around to operate the lodge and restaurant business.

When the Terstegges first heard about the opportunity to buy the Talkeetna Roadhouse, it was in foreclosure. Marty checked with local residents about the feasibility of buying. The comments he got were resoundingly negative.

The...