By Taylor Hale
STEVENS POINT – State Senator Patrick Testin spent an afternoon rubbing elbows with Portage County on April 9. Testin stopped at Feltz Dairy Store, located at 5796 Porter Drive, Stevens Point, to spend the day making and selling Wisconsin dairy products as part of his “On the Job” series, which allows him to get an inside look at the inner workings of a community.
Testin also received the Legislative Excellence Award from the Dairy Business Association (DBA) that day, presented by Chad Zuleger.
“The senator was a champion for a lot of legislation that moved last session,” Zuleger said.
Testin worked with Feltz staff to break in their new cheese curd-making equipment. The dairy store has been working on licensing and assembling their cheese curd-making room for roughly two years.
Testin helped staff make their first official batch of cheese curds during his visit. Feltz staff hope to make daily batches of cheese curds to sell starting next month. Each batch comes out to be around 130 pounds of cheese.
“It helps to highlight our great employers, and show that job opportunities are out there. And for me personally, it gives me more perspective on how and what we do down in Madison impacts people back home,” Testin said.
Testin has also been to Point Brewery, area cranberry farms, and helped with housekeeping at a local Holiday Inn as part of his “On the Job’’ series. The senator noted that COVID-19 slowed down his visitation plans, but he is excited to get out and learn more about local Wisconsin employers.
“I’m honored that he came here to work and accept this award,” said Ken Feltz of Feltz Dairy.
“Bringing (Testin) out for a farm day and letting him see what a day is like is really important, and I think that it will add a lot of perspective for him while he does his job back in Madison,” Zuleger added.