Our team joined Bond County CEO for a tour of Marcoot Jersey Creamery, where tourism director Laura Wall shared the story of building a value-added dairy business rooted in family farming. Students learned how the creamery grew from early sales at farmers markets and local restaurants into a scaled operation through distributors, while still maintaining their commitment to freshness and local quality as their key differentiator.

A major takeaway was the importance of understanding both product and market. Laura emphasized that making a great product is only part of the challenge - knowing how to sell it, building relationships, and listening to customers to develop new products are what sustain long-term growth. A key application for the team was simple and practical: “know your market, and know how to market.”