Local creamery seeking permanent location in Independence

The Independence couple behind Full Circle Creamery has launched a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of moving their business into a new building.

Kate and Brian Humiston have been making and selling cheese as Full Circle Creamery for five years, but they've never had a place of their own.

"We've shared space and moved three times now," said Kate Humiston. "Our dream is to have our own cheese factory close by our house. The idea is to have a nice, clean, efficient space, sized just right for us that's something the community can be really proud of."

The company had been working happily out of a dairy in Scio until the roof collapsed a little more than a year ago. But for months now, Full Circle has been without a place to make cheese.

The plan is to move into a vacant 14,000-square-foot industrial facility at 565 Lloyd Lane in Independence. The Humistons have big dreams for the space and would like to sign a long-term lease on the building.

To that end, they're seeking $100,000 from the community through a Kickstarter campaign. The money would go toward equipment and getting the facility all the proper inspections and permits needed.

Interested contributors have until the end of March to donate. But as of this week, the campaign has only hit $6,000.

"It's heartbreaking, a little bit," Kate Humiston said. "I put so much work and time into reaching out to the people I know. But with our current backers, I feel the love, I really do. We're staying optimistic, but we know that whatever happens, our family is going to be okay. My husband and I have figured things out up to this point and we'll just continue to figure things out."

Kickstarter's crowdfunding policy stipulates that the campaign goal must be reached or it doesn't get any funding — it's all or nothing.

Should that fail, Humiston said they would begin approaching private investors and consider giving up stake in the company.

"We've put so much of our heart and soul into this, we really just want to see it through," she said.

Full Circle Creamery launched in December 2010 at the business incubator at Oregon State University. After a brief stay there, the creamery moved into a borrowed space at a cheese factory in Albany. A few weeks later, it moved to a dairy farm in Scio.

"That's where we were, and we made cheese there for pretty much two years and then the creamery fell down," Humiston said.

Technically, the roof caved in. The snowstorm of February 2014 dumped 13 inches of wet snow on the roof of the facility, caving in several sections.

"Nobody was hurt, none of the cows were injured, all our equipment was intact," Humiston said. "We didn't lose anything except 150 pounds of fresh mozzarella."

Since then, Full Circle has cut back on production. The couple is back at Oregon State to cut and package their remaining cheese supply.

"There is a plan for a visitor's center and tasting room where people can come and get really, really fresh cheese the day it's made," Humiston said. "We love this town and we don't want to move. I love my community, and to have a thriving business here in town would be really amazing."

lfosmire@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6709 or follow on Twitter at @fosmirel

Contribute to Full Circle Creamery

To contribute to the Kickstarter campaign, go online to http://bit.ly/IndependenceCreameryKickstarter. The campaign ends on March 31 at 10 a.m.