Spilled Milk II
photo courtesy of Unity Peterson
I am going to gossip now, nothing I write has been backed up by any investigative reporting. I just know people who have worked at the Creamery for a long time. Did you see the photo of Ghilarducci in the Ferndale Enterprise last week? I guess the Ferndale Enterprise sent a reporter to Scottsdale Arizona were Ghilarducci is known to have a second house. They knocked on the door and he answered. The reporter said something like,”sir some citizens of Ferndale would like you to comment on the financial state of the Creamery.” The photo was shot as he was slamming the door. My sources inform me that Ghilarducci’s main crime was making the Creamery look better than it was. Not long ago they had a choice to expand or be bought out. They chose to expand, that is when they acquired the two other facilities in California. the better the Creamery looked the bigger bonuses Ghilarducci received. All this would probably have been fine if our little economic downturn didn’t pop the bubble. It turns out the Creamery is slightly overextended. The board is meeting with all of its creditors and it looks like deals will be made and all theoretically will be well.
Ghilarducci received a $95,000.00 dollar bonus last year. Maybe that would have been the time to fess up that he was not being completely honest about the rosy state of affairs, but no he took his money and ran…. to Arizona. He grew up in Humboldt County and a lot of the Creamery workers and dairymen went to school with him. I guess they will think to check the books next time even if their friend says he is making them rich.
The dairymen are sure taking a new interest in the Creamery. They can be seen with some regularity roaming around the Creamery site. This is slightly unusual since the only part they used to be interested in was the office. Can you blame them though it is their land that is the collateral for this particular business. I can not imagine watching land my family has had for generations slip through my fingers. Painful.
In Retaliation 
March 17, 2009 at 10:12 pm
I hadn’t realized that they put up their land for collateral. I was concerned before because I have friends who work there but now, as I read this, I felt my heart give a jerk. I can’t imagine their fear.
March 18, 2009 at 9:01 am
When they formed the creamery it was a co-op of dairies. That is still how it is run to this day. The land the creamery is on and the building itself is not worth very much. I think they are in the middle of selling the facility in Southern California. Realistically with how open they are being with their creditors and the amount of business they have, it wont come to selling the land.
March 18, 2009 at 10:21 am
Thank God, I know how important our land is to our family.
March 19, 2009 at 7:37 am
I’ve heard rumors things weren’t going well out there. PLEASE tell me there’s a plan to keep going. I feel like a big part of Humboldt County would disappear if it failed.
March 19, 2009 at 7:54 am
No worries, they have every intention of working this out. All their creditors seem more then willing to work with them and applaud them for trying to make good.