When I started developing the business plan towards carrying cheese, I did not quite realize the plethora of support our great state has. It shouldn’t be surprising really. But I am really grateful for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (I mentioned these guys before), The Dairy Business Innovation Center, The American Cheese Society, Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Institute, Babcock Institute, our dairy farmers, and, as I have mentioned before, our great cheesemakers.
I found out about the Dairy Business Innovation Center from Jeanne Carpenter. Spoiler alert! You have to wait until tomorrow to hear more about her. For $100 I applied for 40 hours worth of dairy industry consulting. And while they are now defunct (they regrouped as the Profitable Growth Network), I remain grateful for the wonderful support they gave me. I drove down to Madison and met with three amazing players in the Wisconsin dairy industry. Areas of expertise were financials, business plans, grants, funding and marketing. All three of the consultants read the business plan and looked at the financials. From there, I was given a list of major national cheese store owners to get in touch with and received some support on funding resources. I also met with a former Anheuser-Busch financial executive to redo my Excel spreadsheets. It was $100 very well spent!
I have written about my experience with the American Cheese Society at length in previous blogs back in September. I continue to be grateful for the opportunity they gave me by hosting my time at their national convention. I met with many of those aforementioned dairy retailers out there and did a lot of networking with journalists and cheesemakers. Also a lot of eating of cheese.
The Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Institute is on the business plan to become a member of. They are out of Delavan, WI. Their membership dues are reasonable and provide a great network of both Wisconsin cheesemakers and meat processors.
I met many people who work for the Babcock Institute out at the ACS Convention. Here is the description from their website: The Babcock Institute links the dairy industries in Wisconsin and the U.S. with dairy industries around the world to improve quality of life and foster market development. As the leader in international dairy research, development, and education since 1991, the Institute transforms emerging dairy industries and strengthens the U.S. dairy industry through customized dairy training programs, conferences, research, and market analysis.
And last but not least, I am grateful for our dairy farmers. They lead an unglamorous yet incredibly respectable life. Last year I attended the Pierce County Dairy Banquet in Elmwood, Wisconsin. I don’t really know how to explain what the room was like. Generations of dairy farmers were there with their families. The food was homecooked. The farmers were a rare combination of both proud and humble. It really is something to experience. I respect and honor what our dairy farmers do everyday. I have a sense of what they go through to get a gallon of milk on our tables. For that, I am grateful.