BusinessTN

With the announcement about 18 months ago of a proposed "cheese cave" in Trousdale County, the future of the facility remains uncertain.

However, Fermo Jaeckle — a Wisconsin-based U.S. dairy industry veteran and the brains behind using what was once a pot-growing cave for both artisan cheese making and agri-tourism purposes— remains optimistic about the proposed project.

"Due to, among other things, the economic environment, evaluating the opportunity and creating a business plan has been delayed," says Jaeckle, who is recognized within national dairy industry circles as co-founder of Monroe, Wis.-based Roth Käse USA. (Roth Käse is not involved in the Middle Tennessee initiative.)

"In the near future, we will identify an engineering firm to provide us with a report detailing what improvements will need to be made to create a suitable facility for the business," Jaeckle adds. "We have in development several cheeses that could be produced in the area and have actively begun to search for individuals or firms that might partner with us to produce these products. We can provide both technical and financial assistance to suitable partners."

Rather than manufacture the cheese themselves, Jaeckle and his silent partners would team up with vendors who have access to milk sources and who are interested in creating value-added product.

"In the near-term future, we expect to make contact with organizations and agencies in Tennessee and surrounding states to explore what opportunities may exist," he says.

Jaeckle has initiated contact with the Hartsville/Trousdale County Chamber of Commerce. Seth Thurman, the chamber’s executive director, says the presence of a business entity overseen by Jaeckle and directly involved in the artisan/specialty food sector would elevate the county's economic visibility.

"From an agri-tourism aspect, our hope is that [Jaeckle] will bring more than cheese," Thurman says. "With plant tours and stores, they would bring people who will be around our town and spend money here. Niche business is a better focus for a town our size, because big industry is not as feasible."

Thurman said a cheese making and distributing facility could help Hartsville "re-identify" itself.

"Instead of being known as a small tobacco/football town, perhaps we could be 'Wisconsin South,'" he says. "It will show that we're a good place for business, a small town close to the big city of Nashville. And, it will be nice to have a legal export coming out of the cave."

Prior to Jaeckle buying the property for approximately $250,000 at auction in December 2007, the cave concealed a massive marijuana farm that was home to more than 1,000 pot plants, hydroponically grown using high-tech equipment. Drug Enforcement Task Force members busted the pot ring in 2005 and seized the property.

With consistent temperatures and the absence of natural light, caves have been used to grow mushrooms and age wine and cheese for years. C. Pat Bagley, dean of the College of Agricultural and Human Sciences at Tennessee Technological University, says that the state's universities support agricultural market development projects that focus on locally-produced products.

"Numerous studies have shown that agricultural enterprises have the greatest economic multiplier impact of any U.S. industry, with $1 of [agricultural] income generating approximately $6 more as it ripples through the economy," Bagley says. "Hauling food products long distances, sometimes over 1,000 miles, becomes more inefficient with increasing energy prices, particularly with products which can be produced locally in their areas of consumption."

Bagley, who points out that cheese preservation was developed more than 4,000 years ago, believes a Hartsville operation would have a significant branding advantage.

"There are at least 800 different cheeses sold around the world, each slightly unique, as would the 'cave cheese' be unique," he says.

He adds that through the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, other related agencies, and state universities' colleges of agriculture, Tennessee farmers have "access to many programs and opportunities that can help them develop these business models."

For his part, Jaeckle says he hopes to announce an official plan no later than early 2010.

"We remain optimistic," he says.