Hayley Painter started her business two years ago with a mission to save her family’s farm.
She and her sister Stephanie run Painterland Sisters out of their family’s farm in Westfield, Tioga County. They wanted to give their family a business to rely on for generations to come.
“In Northern Pennsylvania, we have a lot of grazing animals, a lot of grazing cows. But these family farms are going out of business at an alarming rate,” Painter said. “It is something that I hold near and dear to my heart as a fourth-generation farmer … there’s 14 of us. Now, there’s almost 30 of the fifth generation. If our family farm went out of business, it’s a lot of livelihoods that are dependent.”
In the last five years, 45 percent of farms did go out of business in Pennsylvania, according to Painter.
Painterland is thriving, however. The sisters found their niche in the agricultural industry through producing organic skyr yogurt. Skyr is a thicker, more-nutrient rich yogurt, said Painter.
Painterland Sisters yogurt is now sold in 2,500 stores across all 50 states. Painter said they are on track to sell 4.5 million containers of yogurt in 2024.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) awarded Hayley Painter its Eastern Pennsylvania Young Entrepreneur of the Year award last week. It’s only given to leaders under 30 years old. It’s not her first such award either. Painter can be found among the honorees in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” in the 2024 Food & Drink category.
Painter said she is honored to be recognized for her and her family’s hard work.
“It’s so empowering and invigorating to be here on my family’s farm that I grew up with, with friends, family, people that I’m meeting, networks, the SBA, news reporters,” said Painter. “It’s just fun to bring them back to my home base, a place that we don’t really get to see a lot of people. It’s just very fun to have them see our way of life and to see cows out on pastures and real farmers at work.”
Her dad, Clinton Painter, is amazed by how far his daughters have come in two years.
“I’m proud of both my daughters. I’m really proud of [Hayley] since they started this, she’s come a long way in her public speaking. And her tenacity, y’know, to keep going. It’s not always been easy, but she’s kept right going and it’s working out good for her,” said Clinton Painter.
He thanks the community for helping his kids along the way. Local stores and restaurants were the sisters’ first vendors. The local bank gave the business its first loan. He remembers co-signing the documents.
“They took a big risk on the girls. Y’know, I appreciate the local bank doing that. So, the whole local community’s been darn good for them,” said Clinton Painter.
Clinton Painter said Hayley works 15, sometimes 18 hours a day, but she doesn’t seem to mind.
She said Painterland Sisters has brought her so much to be grateful for. Painter once taught a class of high school girls what it’s like to run a business. She described it like taking a giant test.
“Some days, it’s a test in every single subject. And it can be the entire day and it’s never ending,” said Hayley Painter. “But the cool part is like constantly pivoting and learning and growing. And staying positive is the only thing we can do, because some things are just out of our hands.”
Above all else, Painter emphasized young entrepreneurs don’t need to take that test alone. They can’t. They need their family, friends and mentors’ support.
“Reach out to your community and all the people that you know. Tell them what you are trying to do, ask them for advice, ask them for connections and then go from there. Because that one person could have 10 connections. Maybe out of those 10 connections, the actual mission you are trying to solve, maybe only one could help lead you forward," Painter said. "But those other nine could lead you to a path you did not know was a great opportunity for you."
