Matanuska Valley’s Matanuska Creamery has received a $200,000 loan from the state Board of Agriculture and Conservation this month, but a legislative report questions the move. Valley Dairy, Inc., the company that runs the creamery, was established two years ago to give Mat Valley dairy farmers a market for their milk. Later that year, the company asked the Agriculture board for two loans from the Agricultural Revolving Loan Fund. The board approved both loans, a long term loan for $430,000 and a short term loan for $200,000.A legislative committee looked into the loans and determined last year that the long term loan was risky. Valley Dairy general manager and CEO Karen Olson says that’s not so.
Ellen Lockyer, KSKA – Anchorage
Download Audio (MP3)
