Like many other organizations, Gompei’s Goat Cheese (GGC) was forced to adjust their business practices in the face of COVID-19. The thriving goat cheese company, which began in 2013 as a Major Qualifying Project (MQP), historically maintained Worcester businesses as their primary customers. But as COVID-19 forced storefront closings throughout the city, GGC’s student-run team faced the challenge of keeping the company afloat.
In partnership with Westfield Farms of Hubbardston, Mass., which produces several flavors of goat cheese, students manage the innovation, finance, operations, marketing and sales of Gompei’s Goat Cheese. Applying theory and practice learned at WPI, the GGC team gains valuable hands-on business experience, notoriety for WPI’s entrepreneurial and innovative student body, and a sizeable financial profit—which they donate to WPI in support of Global Project scholarships.
Team members recently explained how their WPI education and experience helped them successfully pivot GGC business practices in the face of COVID-19. “The common trait of WPI students is being adaptable to the situation at hand,” says Chief Executive Officer Zoe Januszewsk ’22. “This meant that all GGC team members were able to look at the situation as a problem solving opportunity. I was so happy to see that members of GGC were able to face the unprecedented challenges and innovate to create solutions to the roadblocks we faced.”
