Late Wohlt Creamery owner donates factory
The Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region received a multi-million dollar gift in the form of a fully operational cheese factory.
Marilynn Taylor was president of Wohlt Cheese LLC of New London, a manufacturer of processed cheeses and one of the 10 largest employers in the city.
The New London woman died Feb. 25, 2017, at age 71, leaving her entire business, including the building, equipment, 60 employees and a lot of cheese, in the care of her estate representative and the Community Foundation.
Her gift will benefit the residents in the city of New London, the village of Fremont and surrounding towns, and help those attending the former owner’s alma mater, Lawrence University.
Attorney Charles J. Hartzheim, of Herrling Clark Law Firm in New London, said the estate settlement is still in process and will be completed soon.
The gift established the Marilynn W. Taylor/Wohlt Cheese Fund within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, an endowment that will award grants forever to reflect the charitable interests of Marilynn Taylor:
• Lawrence University in Appleton, for scholarships awarded to students from Northeast Wisconsin with preference given to students from New London, Weyauwega and Fremont.
• Funding for the general benefit of the city of New London, village of Fremont and nearby towns for the purpose of fulfilling community needs and benefitting its residents.
The first grants will be distributed in July 2019.
The Herrling Clark Law Firm attorneys estimate that the sale of the cheese processing business and manufacturing facility will net the Community Foundation approximately $5.8 million.
Similarly, the other assets accumulated by Marilynn will net the Community Foundation approximately $2.5 million.
“It’s the first time we’ve ever been given an operating business to steward, and we knew we would need expert help to be most effective,” said Curt Detjen, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. “We immediately put a team together to do the best thing for both the employees and philanthropy in a way that Marilynn would have wanted.”
“Understanding Ms. Taylor’s commitment to her long-term employees and to her community, the goal of our team was to find a solution that would keep the business operating and yet still maximize the gift to fulfill the donor’s charitable wishes,” said former Board Chair John Hogerty, executive vice president and general counsel for Bergstrom Corporation. “We believe the end result accomplished both of these important objectives.”
Marilynn spent most of her life in Fremont, where her parents, Edwin and Sarah Wohlt, founded the cheese company in 1941. After her father’s death, a new state-of-the-art facility was built in New London in 2001 as part of a consolidation of two processing plants.
“Marilynn took over the business in 1999 when her father became ill, and single-handedly ran Wohlt Cheese for 16 years,” Hartzheim said.
Several properties and homes Taylor had owned were also part of the estate gift, along with the contents of the houses and buildings.
Last year the foundation and estate representatives sought a buyer for the corporation. After exploring several offers, a successful suitor emerged: Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery from Ellsworth.
The sale was finalized in August 2018. Ellsworth Creamery retained all of the employees and kept Wohlt Cheese intact.
“Ellsworth and Wohlt have a long history together that spans three decades, so purchasing this company was a natural fit for us,” said Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery CEO Paul Bauer. “Wohlt has a great group of employees who ran this company almost two years on their own after Marilynn died, and we’re glad to have all of them on board.”
“Our role as steward of this gift was not only to do the right thing by her employees, but also to take special care to ensure her gift would benefit the areas Marilynn cared the most about,” Detjen said. “We knew she was passionate about meeting needs and benefiting residents in the city of New London, the village of Fremont and surrounding townships, and wanted to help those attending her alma mater, Lawrence University, where she earned her degree in economics in 1967.”