The Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce is awarding Business Persons of the Year to Jeff and Jeannette Grey, owners of a variety of successful businesses that meet community needs.
Jeannette Gray said community is important and that they are honored to receive the award.
“All our hard work in the last 14 years has been realized,” she said. “We own Freestone Fly Shop, Freestone Outlet, Freestone Ice Cream and Donuts, and Freestone Outfitting.”
She said they started the fly shop as it is a passion of her husband's.
“He grew up doing it, it is what he loves to do,” Gray said.
The couple opened Freestone Outlet on Main Street as they needed more space in their fly shop and they also sell T-shirts there too. The ice-cream shop happened as a response to a call they felt for years.
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“We live in this great touristy town and there wasn’t anything like that and we felt our community needed it,” Grey said. “We needed a larger space for our ice-cream shop. The space next door became available but we didn’t want to give up the corner location. We ended up with donuts because it was something we didn’t have.”
The couple received the award for Business Persons of the Year but neither has a background in business — Jeannette was a teacher and Jeff was in retail.
“We’re so grateful for the support of Hamilton and the greater Bitterroot Valley,” Jeannette Gray said. “They have supported us and allowed us to continue our dream. We couldn’t do it without the support of our great community.”
