Five years have nearly come and gone for local small engine repairman, Ryan Leaderbrand at Ryan’s Repair in New York Mills. In those five years, he has built a loyal customer base and enjoyed working with the people of NY Mills and the surrounding areas.

As a thank you to his customers, Leaderbrand will be hosting an anniversary Customer Appreciation Open House at his shop in the northeast corner of Cenex on Sunday, May 17 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Leaderbrand graduated from NY Mills High School in 2019 and then attended Alexandria Technical College for the Marine, Motorcycle, and Power Sports Technician program. After two years, he knew that he wanted to open his own shop and Hardware Hank’s shop was sitting empty. He jumped at the chance to start his own business in his hometown.

“The shop was opened up, so I decided right after college to start here,” said Leaderbrand. “I graduated college on a Thursday and opened shop up that following Monday. I’ve been working here in the hardware for 10 years now. I wanted to serve the community, there wasn’t really anyone here in town.

“I’ve been a hometown kid my whole life, we have a family farm southeast of Mills here, Leaderbrand Brothers. If I’m not here working, I’m on the farm working,” he laughed. “It’s pretty busy this time of year too, I also help another farmer during the fall with field work when it is kind of slower.”

With rotating busy and slower seasons and only so much room to work in his 900 square foot shop, this arrangement works well for Leaderbrand as he’s able to stay busy in the community, as well as keep active with his farming roots. With his customer base growing, he’s always ready for the next project and getting to know the community better.

“I’ve got roughly over 300 customers a year,” he said. “Just knowing all of the customers and the relationships and also the seasons—doing snowblowers during the winter and lawnmowers during spring and summertime. Just different stuff to work on—snowmobiles and side-by-sides and ATVs—I do that whenever it’s quieter.

“I can only take on as I can, I don’t have much room to work with,” he continued. “I am pretty lenient, there’s a lot of people that just stop in and say ‘hey, when can I bring it in?’ and I say ‘well, whenever works.” 

Leaderbrand is also the Kawasaki dealer for Hardware Hank as well as a Rehlko dealer, which is the parent company of Kohler Engines. He is able to work on warranty work for those companies as well Husqvarna products, including ordering and warranty work.

“Every year since I’ve started, I get more and more work and busier,” he said. “I’ll need to look at expanding, but not anytime soon. I love the company here that I work through, I’ve been here 10 years in this building, working through the Hardware Store.”

One service which Ryan’s Repair offers is pickup and drop off for small engines. With a truck and trailer, Leaderbrand is able to pick up and do deliveries within about a 25 mile radius of New York Mills.

“Anywhere from Hillview, Menahga, Dent, Battle Lake, just the surrounding area,” he said. “I just like serving the older customers, and the community members who don’t have a trailer to drop their stuff off.”

Customers are welcomed to stop in at the shop for ham sandwiches and homemade ice cream from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 17.