At Templeton Feed & Grain, 'if it works, don't fix it'

Not much has changed in downtown Templeton over the past 69 years, and that's the way Tom Jermin likes it.

There are yoga centers and bistros on Main Street where there once were tent cabins and saloons, but Templeton Feed & Grain still rises over the small town and it's business as usual for Jermin and his employees.

"If it works, don't fix it, " Jermin, 72, said, sitting at the same desk he's used for about five decades.

The family business started in 1946, when Tom Jermin Sr. opened a small feed store that now stretches one city block. Over the years, the feed store morphed into a thriving business with an 80-foot tall grain elevator that towers above Templeton.

Tom Jermin (who dropped the Jr. from his name) buys wheat, barley, rye and other grains from local farmers and turns it into feed pellets.

The elevator stores much of the 300 tons of feed, which is processed each year at the mill, where it is then packed and sold wholesale to the public.

Tom Jermin Sr. worked until his death in 2004 at the age of 86. His desk still sits opposite Tom Jermin's desk, which is piled with order forms, papers and memorabilia.

"We don't use computers, " he said. "We write our invoices by hand and don't take credit cards. We do business with a handshake and a smile. This is the best town. It's rural and it's filled with great people."

Jermin said that when he joined the Navy and left for Vietnam in the 1960s, he knew he would return to Templeton.

"I never thought of leaving, this is where I belong, " he said.

Jermin's wife, Bobbie, his son and a grandson sell feed at the business and don't see the changing agricultural landscape as a threat to their livelihood.

"This used to be a big dryland farming area, but now the vineyards are here, " Jermin said. "The barley fields that used to be here are now filled with grapes. It doesn't affect our business. To tell you the truth, the vineyards provide jobs to people in our community, and I would rather see wineries crop up than housing developments. Don't get me started on that."

This story was originally published August 15, 2015 at 12:15 PM with the headline "At Templeton Feed & Grain, 'if it works, don't fix it'."