What makes Washtenaw Dairy such a fixture in Ann Arbor is its strong sense of community. "We treat everyone like family," explains Jim Smith, who started working at the dairy at age nine when his father became a co-owner with Doug Robb.

“The store is not fancy, just a little dive, but people come in and feel like they are a part of the place and that’s what we want.”

Celebrating its 75th year in business, Washtenaw Dairy has witnessed many ice cream trends over the years.

“Years ago everyone was saying frozen yogurt would take over. Well, that lasted a couple of years then they all went out of business,” Smith said.

“Now Cold Stone Creamery is chopping up ice cream on a slab and selling it for $5-6 a cup. That gets pricy, especially for families. We’re going to stay with dipping hard ice cream. I don’t think people ever lose their taste for a good sized, good value ice cream cone.”

The dairy is getting ready for the upcoming school year, when they supply the University of Michigan as well as ice cream parlors and restaurants with everything from cheese, cream, soy milk, smoothie mix, hot fudge and bulk candy.

“If you’re selling ice cream in Michigan, you need to sell stuff out the back door to keep the front door open in January, February and March.”

BACKGROUND • Education: Pioneer and Huron High School.

• Family: Wife Candace, no kids.

• Residence: On Long Lake in Chelsea.

INSIGHTS • Best way to keep competitive edge: Keep changing with the times. Years ago we’d be busy at 5am. Now everyone stays up late on their computers and sleeps in.

• Personal hero: My partner Doug Robb and my dad, who worked hard all their lives. We’ve had a lot of good people come in through the years; Shembeckler always had a way of recognizing you. I wouldn’t see Bo for two years but he would pick up the same conversation where we left off.

• How do you motivate people: I just try to tell them in a humorous way how they are messing up. We work with a lot of kids and we just try to help them learn.

• How do you motivate yourself: Sometimes it’s hard to get up at 3 a.m. to get down here but it’s not really work. You just have a lot of people visiting with you all day long so it’s not hard to motivate.

• Three greatest passions: Charity work, our annual Milk Can Golf Tournament, hunting/fishing.

• Unique office décor: a 1922 nickel slot machine.

• Favorite hobby: Golf.

JUDGMENT CALLS • Best business decision: Putting in donuts. It gets people in the store, especially in winter, and then they buy other things like milk, coffee and pop.

• Worst business decision: We shouldn’t have stopped bottling milk and making our own ice cream. We could have been a Ben and Jerry’s.

• Biggest management myth: There’s no easy business. If you’re not there putting everything into it all the time, you can lose it.

• What advice would you give to yourself 10 years ago? I would have bought more Ford Motor stock.

• Hot stock in your portfolio: Budweiser. It was always a stable stock and so undervalued.

• Word that best describes you: Humorous.

CONFESSIONS • What keeps you up at night? If somebody came into the store and I didn’t have the time for them or if I said something that was wrong, it bothers me.

• Pet peeve: People with no common sense.

• Guilty pleasure: Beer.

• First job: Selling Christmas trees.

• First choice for a new career: Antique dealer.

TREASURES • Favorite cause: Kiwanis club. We give them donuts on sorting day and Saturday mornings. I also like to go down there and bring everyone ice cream.

• Favorite book: Anything by Dean Koontz. I like something easy to read since I only have a chance to read on vacation.

• Favorite movie: I never see movies either. But I like Forrest Gump.

• What’s on your iPod/car radio dial? Rock and roll. Iggy Pop and Bob Seger went to school a few years ahead of me, so I grew up with those guys.

• What do you do to recharge the batteries? Take a vacation. We visit friends in Florida and Cabo San Lucas, and we love the Mayan Riviera.

• Favorite restaurant: Now you’re going to get me in trouble because we service restaurants. But a couple of my favorites are The Earle, The West End Grill and Paesano’s.

• Wheels: 2001 GMC pick-up. An American made old Chevy. I’m a country boy.

-Laura Blodgett is a freelance contributor to Ann Arbor Business Review.