Sterlena’s Owners Scrambling to Reopen Dairy in Wauseon
By Larry P. Vellequette, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
Dec. 7–Sterlena, the giant fiber-glass dairy cow, has been appearing for the last few weeks in community holiday parades across northwest Ohio decked out in lights and a Santa outfit.
But the new owners of the giant bovine and the dairy she represented are working feverishly to reopen the 150,000-gallon-a-day facility this month under a new name that honors their mascot: Sterlena Pride.
“It’s been a long road getting it put back together and finding shareholders,” said Randy Baker, of Lyons, the production manager of the former Sterling Dairy when it closed in June and a leading member of the cooperative that bought the plant.
“Right now, we’re getting the mess cleaned up that they left us to clean up. We’re getting the place so that she’ll pass inspection with no problems.”
The cooperative closed its purchase of the dairy and equipment on Nov. 30, paying $200,000 to Sterling Store Properties and $100,000 to Marvin Goldsmith for the facility at 220 North Fulton St. in Wauseon.
The closing “ended up being a little later than we thought,” explained Dale Nagel, another of the lead partners in the cooperative who was the former dairy’s quality control officer.
“We’re planning on opening back up in late December, or early January at the latest.”
The group has been working with the Ohio and U.S. departments of agriculture on new labels for their products and lining up customers.
“Right now, we’ve got 20 to 30 wholesale accounts,” Mr. Nagel said. “We’d like to get that doubled by the end of the month.”
At its peak, the Wauseon plant produced 150,000 gallons of milk daily, along with popular specialty items such as cottage cheese, chip dip, sour cream, and chocolate milk. It was closed in the summer after Nesnah Ventures LLC, of Holmen, Wis., sold the Sterling stores and brand name to Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., of Montreal, which closed the dairy and folded the Sterling convenience stores into its Circle K chain.
The cooperative has 43 shareholders, who paid $2,500 each for a share, Mr. Baker explained. About 90 percent of the shareholders “are local people,” he said.
The Sterlena Pride labels will proclaim its products are free of bovine growth hormone, given to some dairy cows to increase milk production. Critics have said they can cause human health problems.
The cooperative plans to rehire about a dozen of the 25 employees of the former dairy, but the number could grow, Mr. Baker said.
“Basically, our customers will be able to get the same product made in the same place and made by the same people,” he said. “Of course, it’ll have a different name: Sterlena Pride, because everybody knows the big fiber-glass cow.”
Contact Larry P. Vellequette at: lvellequette@theblade.com or 419-724-6091.
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