Sue Spagnuolo, owner of Greenbush Farms and Dolce Vita Goat Dairy, was the only Capital region business owner to receive an award from the Michigan State University (MSU) Product Center at its annual Making It In Michigan conference.
Spagnuolo received the “Best Barrier Buster” award for reducing or eliminating barriers to entrepreneurial success at the local, regional or state level.
Spagnuolo produces farmstead goat cheese, which is a fairly new production concept in Michigan.
“I received the award because I have to deal with regulations and people and government and there’s not many guidelines because there are not that many 
farmstead goat cheese producers in Michigan,” she says.
Spagnuolo’s homemade cheese is locally produced from start to finish. She milks the goats, processes the milk, pasteurizes the milk and labels the product.
“All of the cheese is made from my milk,” she says. “It’s not like a large production where the milk comes in great big bulk tanks.”
This is Spagnuolo’s first year in business. She started selling the cheese at farmer’s markets and now sells it to local retailers such as Dusty’s Cellar.
“It’s been going very well,” she says. “The demand is there. I’m planning on having more cheese available and I have some more ideas about what I want to produce.”
Greenbush Farms is located outside of St. John’s in Clinton County.
Source: Eileen Gianiodis, ANR Communications
Ivy Hughes is the managing editor of Capital Gains and can be reached here.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.