Thomas Watson Sr., Chairman and CEO of IBM once said that to be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart. No one understands that better than the owner of a family business. If home is where the heart is, then working with your family is like bringing your heart with you to work every day.
There are 5.5 million family-owned businesses in the United States. While these businesses can range in size from small mom-and-pop shops to large Fortune 500 companies, the majority of them are small businesses. What truly drives many family-owned businesses is the sense of connection the owners and their family members feel with the business and their community.
Growing up in Onsted, Michigan, Courtney Chamberlain never imagined that one day people would stop her on the street and say “Hey, you’re the cheese lady!” But these days, it is a frequent occurrence in her life. Courtney and her husband Justin are the proud owners of Cambridge Cheese Company, a cheese making venture specializing in cheese curd.
“Fresh cheese curd is such a niche market,” explains Courtney. “It is unusual to open a fresh cheese curd factory in the middle of a one-square-mile village in Michigan, a place that isn’t very familiar at all with the product.”
But that is exactly what the Chamberlains did and now, their entire family helps run the growing business.
Perfecting the Recipe
Courtney and Justin, both graduates of Onsted High School, were married in 2006. By 2015, they had lived in three different states with eight different addresses. As parents to four young children, they decided to move back to Michigan to be closer to family. Courtney got a job working at a local bank and Justin, a criminal justice major, was working for the United States government.
The Chamberlains had first discovered cheese curds while they were living in New York. There were lots of creameries in that area, so they had easy access to the salty treats. Soon their entire family, including their four children, were in on the action.
“Our kids grew up on cheese curds,” says Courtney. “But when we moved back to Michigan, we found that we couldn’t get them anywhere, so I decided to try and make some myself.”
Courtney researched recipes online and started experimenting in the family’s kitchen making two-gallon batches of cheese curds on the stovetop. The kids loved them. Pretty soon, other family members wanted to try them. And friends and neighbors started asking for them. Eventually, Justin suggested that they should turn it into a business.
Fine-Tuning the Business Plan
After consulting with a friend who owned a creamery in New York, the Chamberlains set out to develop a plan for their new business venture. However, their first attempts at starting didn’t exactly go according to plan.
Fortunately, they were able to get in touch with Lenawee Now and take advantage of their entrepreneurial services. The team at Lenawee Now helped the Chamberlains flesh out their business plan in more detail and connected them with funding opportunities here in Lenawee.
“The assistance from Lenawee Now was an immeasurable benefit to us,” says Courtney. “The funders were hesitant to take a risk because they did not understand what we wanted to do. We had a unique business idea. Lenawee Now helped us refine our plans and demonstrate the value.”
Scaling for Growth
Another hurdle for the Chamberlains was selecting the right location for their business. “I wanted to be close to my kids so I wouldn’t have to drive all over town during the day,” said Courtney. “We knew the owner of an abandoned grain elevator in town and he agreed to let us renovate it and try to start our business there.”
Construction began in July 2016 and lasted for about five months. The Chamberlains used local contractors for the entire renovation, with all the services coming from within a 20-mile radius of Onsted. They also created a state-of-the-art cheese room with a custom-built cheese vat from Holland. The entire room was designed to be washed from the ceiling all the way down to the floor.
“The cheese vat we purchased required a minimum of 80 gallons and allowed for a maximum of 270 gallons,” explains Courtney. “We had to take all of our recipes and scale them from 2 gallons up to 80 gallons. It was all about the math!”
A Hit with the Local Food Scene
Without a retail location of their own, the Cambridge Cheese Company partners with local merchants and grocery stores to stock their products for sale to the public. Their cheese curds are also gaining popularity with local bars and restaurants who have added them to the menu.
“We are always on the lookout for new locations to serve our products.” says Courtney. “When the bars and restaurants sign with us, the orders usually start at 15 pounds a week, then 25 pounds, and before you know it, they are averaging 50 pounds per week.”
Some restaurants are serving fried cheese curds as an appetizer. Others are using them as an ingredient in poutine, which is a Canadian dish that includes french fries and cheese curds topped with a delicious rich gravy. There is even a bar in Hudson, Michigan that puts cheese curds in their Bloody Marys.
They best thing about Cambridge cheese curds is that they are a fresh product. Many other cheese curds are frozen and shipped from a long distance away.
“Our cheese curds are made and shipped out of the plant within 48 hours,” says Courtney. “Everything is as fresh as it can be and as natural as it can be. The only preservative we use is salt.”
Planning for the Future
Courtney and Justin are moving forward with plans to grow their business. They are currently doing a study to extend the shelf life of their products so they can expand their delivery range. And they are talking with distributors who can ship their products north along the Highway 131 corridor in Michigan and south into Ohio.
They also have new products coming to market with plans to release fresh mozzarella and follow that up with shredded mozzarella for local pizza parlors and restaurants. To help with the mozzarella expansion, the Chamberlains utilized Lenawee Now’s micro-loan program that was created with funds from the USDA’s Intermediary Relending Program and several local banks. In the long term, Justin has a vision for a retail shop located behind their factory where they can sell fresh cheese curds, along with wine, bread, and cured meats.
“It has taken a lot of hard work to get here. We are so proud that we have been able to build something special and gain recognition in our community,” says Courtney. “Most importantly, we have created a legacy to pass on to our children.”