Pioneer Sweets - A Treat For the Platteville Optimists

L-R: Optimist Member Beth Frieders; Tera Montgomery, Pioneer Sweets; and Optimist President Terri Ellis

Tera Montgomery is originally from the Fond du Lac area and earned her undergrad from UW-River Falls in Equine Science. She went to Maryland to earn her graduate degree and earned her PhD from the University of Illinois. In 2009, she came to the UW-Platteville School of Agriculture where she was initially assigned to teach a dairy products class. At the time, she had little knowledge on dairy products, so she took all the cheesemaking classes that were available through UW. Ice cream production was an offshoot of her UWP class and was started because she wanted to do something unique with students that would allow for creativity and learning to happen simultaneously. This led to the beginnings of Pioneer Sweets in 2019.

A portion of Pioneer Sweets' funding comes from an entrepreneurial grant from the Dairy Innovation Hub. The Hub was founded in 2019 and is funded by the state for UW, UW-River Falls, and UW-Platteville to improve the dairy industry. The Hub has four key priority areas they focus on:

• Stewarding land and water resources

• Enriching human health and nutrition

• Ensuring animal health and welfare

• Growing farm businesses and communities

Pioneer Sweets is a student-managed business of ice cream production and sales. The students work hard in all aspects of the business, from flavor development to promotion and production. All ingredients come from Wisconsin and the ice cream is made in a 500 square foot certified dairy plant located on the UW-Platteville campus in Greenwood Avenue Market. Sales started in 2021 after the first batch freezers were purchased. They employ students of all study interests, including agriculture education, agribusiness, and dairy science. To date, they have created over 400 flavors of sorbet and super premium ice cream. Besides on campus, they have showcased their ice cream at the Platteville and Mount Horeb museums, Party in the Park, weddings and other area celebrations, and Westview School. Dr. Montgomery had the idea for this business, and the students brought it to life. "Pioneer Sweets is a success because of their hardworking students!"