HAWLEY — After 25 years running Sidehill Farm, founders Paul Lacinski and Amy Klippenstein are moooving on.

The couple has sold the organic yogurt business on Forget Road to Hatfield resident Jillian Williams, who they hope will bring new energy to grow the business.

“We felt that we had kind of gotten to a point where we were sort of just cruising along. We have this great staff, but as far as new flavors or expansion and that sort of thing, we just didn’t really have the energy,” Lacinski said. “It seems like small businesses can’t sit still and do the same thing forever, or they’ll start to go down. So we said, ‘I think it’s time for us to get out of the way and pass the reins on to somebody with some fresh energy.’

“We felt there’s still just enormous potential here. There’s a lot of different directions you could go, different markets you could expand it to, new products …” Lacinski continued.

Lacinski and Klippenstein founded Sidehill Farm in 2000 as a vegetable farm. They got their first cows in 2006, and a year later started making yogurt.

Williams purchased the certified organic yogurt business from the couple for $650,000 in May, after about a year of discussions and planning with Klippenstein and Lacinski.

“I came across the listing and we had an introductory call on Zoom. Then I came out for a visit about a year ago now and it was a good fit,” Williams said. “We got along really well and have similar values.”

Williams said Klippenstein, Lacinski and the Sidehill Farm staff were great during the transition and have been willing to share everything they know about making yogurt.

“There’s a lot that Paul and Amy have already done to prep that ground, that they’ve just been sharing with me, which is awesome,” Williams said. “It’s made it to be a really nice transition.”

This is her first time owning a creamery business, she said. However, she is married to a 13th-generation dairy farmer in Hatfield.

Klippenstein and Lacinski sold the agricultural portion of operations in 2020, but the organic yogurt business buys milk from the people the farm was sold to, so the yogurt is still made with milk from the same cows, as well as cows from other local farms.

Williams said she plans to keep purchasing milk and other ingredients from the same vendors, and has no plans to make changes to staffing, except for having hired her brother-in-law, Jamey Tulpa, to serve as production manager.

“We have the same people making the same yogurt with the same suppliers,” Williams said.

While the yogurt will be staying the same, Williams said she will be changing the name of the business and the packaging for its yogurt and sour cream due to trademark issues with other companies sharing the name. She hasn’t decided on a new name yet, but she has been brainstorming ideas with the creamery’s staff and hopes to settle on one in the fall.

She added that sometime next year, she hopes to add new flavors to Sidehill’s lineup. Currently, the creamery offers vanilla, plain and maple yogurt in low-fat and whole milk options. Sidehill also offers sour cream and aged cheddar.

“We’re looking into new flavors, maybe some fruit flavors and different cool combinations,” Williams said.

With new flavors, Williams said she hopes to continue scaling up the business, and potentially add a second production line to create more yogurt and sell to more vendors.

Sidehill Farm yogurt is currently available at stores and farm stands across the state. William hopes to soon partner directly with schools as well and provide cafeterias with fresh organic yogurt.

Klippenstein said she and Lacinski are unsure what they will do next and don’t feel quite ready to retire. They plan to travel for a year while they figure it out.

“We don’t really want to retire. I think we have probably one more big project, but we don’t know what it is yet,” Klippenstein said. “We’ll figure it out next year. I know there’s something else we’re supposed to do, we just don’t know yet.”

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.