Chirpy Future

Some jobs are satisfying, some are lucrative and some are just plain dirty.

Then there’s the job done by Clay and Cathy Boling Ghann, which are all of those and more.

The 1981 Georgia Southern alumni and their international business, Ghann’s Cricket Farm, recently drew the attention of the Discovery Channel when the network featured them on its popular Emmy-nominated show, “Dirty Jobs.”

The show’s producers contacted the couple in December 2008 after the farm was recommended by one of its customers as an interesting feature, said Clay. “The episode was filmed in June 2009 at our facility here in Augusta, Ga. It was a lot of fun – truly an experience we will never forget.”

The show featuring the Ghanns aired in January.

“The experience of having a major television show like ‘Dirty Jobs’ feature our business was really great, although I didn’t jump at it initially,” Clay said. “When they first contacted us, I was uncertain as to whether or not I wanted to do it. I was a little concerned that some of our people might find it mildly insulting in some way – the implication that their job was dirty, or gross or demeaning.

“But,” he said, “after talking it over with my key people and discussing my concerns with the producers of the show, I was convinced that would not be the case. The goal of ‘Dirty Jobs’ is to honor the working man in a way that viewers find interesting, informative and entertaining – and I think the crew did a great job of delivering that.

“We think our folks are very deserving of such accolades,” said Clay. “We are blessed with some really, really good people here, and I think that came across in the show. Our team is hard-working and very dedicated, and we wouldn’t be successful without them.”

Having the television show’s crew on hand was “kind of surreal at first,” said Clay, “but after a few hours, as we talked and joked with them, we became more comfortable.” The show’s star, Mike Rowe, is “just as you see him on TV,” he said. “He’s funny, witty and just a regular guy. He and the crew were surprised at the scope and complexity of our operation, and how much science is involved in many of our processes.

“I guess nobody really thinks of a cricket farm as a sophisticated business – probably more like a backyard hobby – which couldn’t be farther from the truth,” Clay said. “We employ about 20 to 30 people depending on the time of year. In our busiest weeks, we ship five to six million crickets per week via FedEx, UPS and air freight. We produce around 300 million crickets per year, and they, in turn, produce about 100 tons of ‘Cricket Poo’ per year which really is a great organic fertilizer for flowers, shrubs, lawns and vegetable gardens.”

Operating the business involves some big challenges, said Clay, especially the amount of energy, persistence and dedication it takes to keep it going and growing. “We’ve seen this thing change from a small regional business to one of international scope. E-commerce has worked its way into the cricket business as well. We sell lots of crickets and mealworms now via our Web site, www.ghann.com. It’s much larger and more involved than people think. We have six acres of land with buildings occupying a little over half of that, we ship crickets not only to every state in the U.S., but internationally as well – including Canada, England, France, Germany, The Netherlands and South Africa.

“Cathy and I both are usually at work mentally even when we’re not at work physically,” Clay said. “At times I have found myself feeling envious of people who work for someone else. When they get off work and go home, I think it’s a lot easier for them to leave their work at work. Not so for us. We take care of business all day. We talk about business at dinner, we talk about business while we’re watching TV, and heck – we usually dream about business!”

Having said that, would they change the life they lead? “No, probably not,” said Clay. “All in all, the good Lord has blessed us far beyond what we deserve, and we’re very grateful for the opportunities we’ve been given and the success we’ve had.”

Going into the cricket business was not Clay’s idea of life after college. “No, it wasn’t always my plan,” he said. “I watched my dad work very hard to build up Ghann’s Cricket Farm during the years. It demanded a tremendous amount of his time and energy, and at one point I actually decided I did not want to take over the business, and I told my dad that. I told him I’d do anything rather than go in the cricket business: I’d wait tables, pump gas, dig ditches. So, I waited a few tables, I pumped a little gas, I dug a few ditches, and one day it occurred to me that, you know, the cricket business might not be so bad after all! I think it’s called ‘growing up.’

“I thank my lucky stars – and my parents – every day for the opportunity to attend college in general, and Georgia Southern in particular,” said Clay, who earned a BBA. “I think I’m much better equipped to handle the demands of business – production, marketing, sales and finance – than I would be if I had not attended college. Cathy’s degree in accounting has also been put to good use as CFO/controller and part owner.

“I cannot think of a better place to come of age than Statesboro – I love that town with all my heart,” he said. “I had a lot of wonderful experiences there, most notably meeting my soulmate – or ‘split-apart’ as Plato said. We met in Sweetheart Circle in 1977, our first kiss was by the duck pond, and our first ‘real date’ was to the old Knights of Georgia. We spent many sunny afternoons hanging out on the old wooden bridge at Jones Landing, swimming in the ‘Geechie. If the old mill out near the cemetery is still standing, you might just find in the wall a heart-shaped carving with ‘Cricket + Cathy’ in it. Cathy and I married in 1982, bought the cricket farm from my dad in 1984, and the rest, as they say, is history. We now have two wonderful sons – Ben and Beau – who are both students at GSU.”

Some people are surprised at how clean the operation is, said Clay. “We are a bug farm, so yes, there’s a certain amount of dirtiness, but we put a lot of effort into keeping our facility clean and organized. In fact, we were a little worried that ‘Dirty Jobs’ might think we weren’t dirty enough for them. I figure if we’re going to run a bug farm, I want it to be the best bug farm there is!
“My Dad always taught me that whatever I was going to do, do it right! When I was a kid he used to say, ‘When you get a job, if all they ask you to do is sweep the floor, you be the best floor sweeper they’ve ever seen!’. He instilled that concept in me, and it has definitely helped me throughout the years.”

Clay said he doesn’t try to look too far into the future when planning for the business. “My main business strategy is a really simple one that my dad taught me years ago. He said, ‘Know your business, work hard, and do things the right way. Produce the best product you can produce, set your prices a little above your costs, and the rest will take care of itself.’ That’s what I’ve done. Now, obviously there’s a lot more to making things work than just that, but in today’s world sometimes I think we tend to over-think things,” said Clay.

“Sometimes keeping it simple works just fine, and maybe that gives you more time to stop and smell the flowers along the way. And, ‘Cricket Poo’ works great on flowers, by the way!”