Growing up at a cheese factory bearing his family’s name, a lifelong career in dairy was practically a birthright for Cody Renard. The Brussels resident started out in the family business working multiple jobs including cheesemaking before moving onto Agropur after graduating from Michigan Tech University. Since the switch, Renard has climbed the ladder at Agropur in areas of supervision, finance, and sales. As its director of industrial sales and key accounts, Renard is responsible for making sure millions of pounds of the cheese produced in Luxemburg find their way to large companies. He says the quality of the cheese that leaves the Luxemburg plant makes his job a little easier.

According to the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the industry helps create nearly three million jobs nationally with an overall economic impact of more than $628 billion.