Unlike the objective of far too many companies, manufacturing is not about a quick exit. It is centered on long-term value creation.

Shepherd. It's a very beautiful word. It represents peace. And it meant a lot to me because...I come from a life with shepherds and mountains and all that stuff.

Every small business will give you an entrepreneurial way of looking at things. I guarantee you that for every plant that closes, if you gave it to one small-business person in that community, he or she would find a way to make it work. The small-business attitude is you always find a way to make it work.

A closed plant is like a cemetery; it really is. The walls will talk to you; the machines will talk to you if you really talk to them.

But as the business grows, you get more attention, and then you realize that the whole world is trying to get time from you. Which is amazing. But every time you give it to the world, you give less to what you’re doing.

Fage does not make great yogurt.

I started a feta cheese company, Euphrates, in upstate New York in 2002.