Oser Communications Group

8 The Cheese Guide about three years to help the new owners get their feet under them, and Rogue Creamery now creates 30 different cheese brands, including 11 different blues, American Original TouVelle, traditional cheddar and a number of flavored cheeses. For the future, Gremmels is thinking about moving into cheeses in French and Italian styles. "I'm a designer, and I'm an innovator, and I just can't stop thinking about new cheeses," he said. A Culture of Quality Gremmels also rarely stops thinking about the company culture that pervades Rogue Creamery. Ever since he bought the creamery, he's pursued a vision of a safe, healthy and positive place that has an impact on food culture, its community and consumers as well as the 48 people employed here. "It permeates every part of Rogue Creamery," he said. "Everyone is aligned to our vision." Rogue Creamery's mission statement, composed by a team of employees, dedicates the company to sustainability, service to each other, the company, the cheese, the environment, the community and the cows. "The art and tradition of creating the world's finest handmade cheese – that's something we aspire to do every day that we're here," he said. All of the Rogue Creamery cheeses are handmade, and most are organic. The exceptions are the mixed milk cheeses, Echo Mountain Blue and Mount Mazama. "Finding an organic goat dairy has been a challenge," Gremmels said. "We're so close." Rogue Creamery's company culture includes a dedication to its Nellie Green Pedal Power Program, which encourages employees to commute to work by bicycle, or with a vehicle that gets more than 50 miles to the gallon, or by carpooling. More than half the company employees participate, and 100 percent of them have participated for at least some period of time, dropping in and out of the program sometimes as spouses change jobs, children change schools or a family moves from one residence to another. If a team member wants to ride a bike but doesn't have a bike, they sign a pledge that obligates them to commute 45 days out of the next year, to maintain the bike and to learn proactive safety rules. Once they've done that, Rogue Creamery buys the commuter bike and sets it up with safety equipment and saddle bags, and when they've completed their commitment, they own it. "It's transformative in knowing what you need and what you need for the next day so you're ready to go in the morning and the saddle bags are packed," Gremmels said. Rogue Creamery has a bike mechanic station and showers in the facility to make it easier. "It makes people proactive and determined to make a change, not only in the environment, but in one's well being," Gremmels said. "There's a camaraderie that develops," not just with other Rogue Creamery employees who are taking part in the program, but also with other bicycle commuters that they meet along the trail between home and work. Gremmels knows about all of that from personal experience – he himself commutes to work by bicycle. "I made a commitment to have a zero impact lifestyle," he said. One result of that camaraderie is a rich sense of accomplishment and pride. "They are making a difference. They're conserving valuable resources," Gremmels said. Everyone who participates is eligible for a monthly stipend to help offset their costs – the higher car payment for a hybrid vehicle or extra time at daycare for a bicyclist who has a longer commuting time on those days. "It's a nice healthy gift every month that we provide," Gremmels said. Participation is tracked on a board in the company's break room, and Rogue Creamery measures the total mileage clocked up by the employees using alternative transportation and uses that as an offset on the company's carbon footprint. "That's one of the metrics we track for our contribution to a carbon offset," Gremmels said. In 2013 alone, Rogue Creamery's Nellie Green program saved more than 12,000 commuter miles, and the successful program has been emulated by the Rogue Federal Credit Union, Cowgirl Creamery and Vermont Creamery. Rogue Creamery Marketing Director – or as the company's website calls him, Cheese Narrator – Francis Plowman is one of those who mentioned the Nellie Green Pedal Power Program to me as a point of particular pride. "It sounds corny, but for my generation, it's sales and marketing to be sustainable," he said. He pointed out that the program has put more than 100 bikes on the road, and it's part of an overall culture of sustainability and community involvement that drew him to the company when he was hired here in 2005. That includes annual sponsorships for the Ashland Independent

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