Westby Creamery Receives Grant For Engineering Study

Jul 05, 2022 (Westby, WI)

Westby Cooperative Creamery and other Wisconsin Cheese Maker Association (WCMA) members – Carr Valley Cheese, Decatur Dairy, Door Artisan Cheese Company, Henning’s Cheese, Meister Cheese Company and Specialty Cheese Company – were invited to showcase the innovative business improvement projects they are pursuing with grant funding from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection’s Dairy Processor Grant program.

Pete Kondrup, Westby Creamery’s general manager, presented the Creamery’s plans to use the $25,000 grant for an engineering plant study. The study aims to address space and automation concerns within the manufacturing plant. Ideally, the study will reveal how to increase efficiencies.

Thanks to the impactful advocacy of WCMA and other dairy groups, Governor Tony Evers and state lawmakers doubled available monies for the program last year, bringing the total funds from $200,000 to $400,000. The grants aim to foster innovation, improve profitability and sustain the long-term viability of Wisconsin’s dairy processing facilities.