Meet Our Team
Jody Neal
One of our three co-founders, Jody holds the position as our team’s CEO. Before obtaining his Bachelors degree in Animal Science from Cornell University, Jody spent a semester completing a work study abroad in New Zealand as part of his curriculum. Upon graduation in 1996, he brought his education and experiences back to the family’s dairy farm, Orleans Poverty Hill Farms. Jody would then become a third generation co-owner and has spent the past 30 years as the herd manager. Jody has recently spent time involved in Cornell’s CALS Pro-Dairy discussion group, as well as serving time as a board member for the Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. Jody’s many years on as well as off the farm, have allowed him to see suboptimal functionalities when it comes to different processes in the dairy industry. His visionary leadership allows him to see what outside industries are doing for advancement, and apply similar principles to his work in the dairy industry. Jody isn’t afraid to think outside the box. The farm was looking for a way to apply a new pre-dip sterilization prior to milking. But, the tools already on the market were not practical for the dip’s use. The process of working together with his two sons to build a new tool that would work for their farm began. That’s where UdderWays was born! Jody is an all around family guy. He and his wife Andrea have four children together; Jay, Zach, Kasey and Addy. They love listening to their children' s many musical talents and attending horse shows. Jody has also coached a robotics team and competed in a few cubing competitions. His work with UdderWays has allowed him to continue his love of traveling to new places as it continues to take him across the country.
Travis LaCoss
RIT Photography
Jayden Neal
As our second co-founder and Jody’s eldest son, Jay plays an important role as the team’s Research and Development Engineer. His Bachelors of Science degree in Robotics and Manufacturing Engineering Technology has helped to further develop his mechanical, electrical and software design experience and skills. His degree also helped to push him to be a lifelong learner with an ever-evolving skill-set. During his time at RIT, Jay spent a semester interning as a manufacturing engineer. Growing up on the family’s dairy farm,which he still lives on, Jay took a different approach than most might if they were in the same position. From a young age, his work began with bringing ideas to life and automation to the farm, including pumping station monitors, environmental controls and smarter alley scrapers. Jay has been instrumental in bringing these modern technologies to other farms in recent years. It’s not just agriculture related innovations, however, that Jay has developed. Not all ideas might come to fruition, but a few recent ones include making a full set of multicolored 3D printed key-caps, creating a mock gas handle for his Tesla charger, and an attempt at a SCARA robot arm. He will also joke that he isn’t very good, but Jay loves to run, bowl and play any outdoor sport when the opportunity comes around.
Zach Neal
The final of our three co-founders and Jody’s youngest son, Zach is our Marketing and Strategy lead. On track to graduate a year and a half early in December 2025, Zach will be starting his final semester this summer at Roberts Wesleyan University where he is majoring in Business Management and Social Entrepreneurship. Zach’s background, education and expertise have already proven to be vital in the success of UdderWays. Growing up and working on the family’s dairy farm when he wasn’t being homeschooled, Zach is a fourth generation dairy farmer. His entrepreneurial mindset took charge early on, and at the age of seven, he started a farrow and finishing pig business with his brother Jay. Zach currently coordinates the beef sales for Orleans Poverty Hill Farms. He also has worked for Upstate Farms in Merchandising/Marketing over various school breaks. Through all of Zach’s ventures, he has continued to develop and expand his communication skills, strategic thinking, decision making, and entrepreneurial leadership, all of which play a large role in the building of our company’s culture. Presentations for UdderWays at both national and international pitch competitions have all been done by Zach because of his exceptional skillset. It comes as no surprise because of his entrepreneurial mindset that Zach created and then performed as a one man band with a multi-instrument apparatus. Musically inclined, he has also performed as a classically trained concert pianist at the Eastman Theatre and multiple local events.
Will Gregoire
Will joined our team back in April and has hit the ground running as our Mechanical Engineer. With a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and an Associates in Natural Science degree from Genesee Community College, Will truly has the knowledge and skillset to help us continue to develop our Vortex tool day after day. Just like all of our team members here at UdderWays, Will knows the importance of the work we are doing for the advancement of technology in the dairy industry. His grandfather had a small dairy in Niagara County, and he has been working for the Neal family on their dairy farm, Orleans Poverty Hill Farms, for the last five years. Not only does Will have experience working directly in the dairy industry, but he brings along with him two years of experience in the field of quality engineering in the sewage and sump pump industry plus one year in the shipbuilding industry as a tool and fixture design engineer. It’s these different experiences that have provided him with the ability to become proficient in CAD software, have a strong understanding of different manufacturing processes, exercise the use of his computational mind which is beneficial for problem solving, and utilize his firsthand experience in the milking parlor environment to understand the conditions that milking equipment is exposed to. But, he’s not just an engineer! Will’s favorite pastimes include hunting, fishing, trapping and shooting sports.
Andy Cole
Andy, our proficient Spanish speaking Sales Representative, comes with years of experience in the dairy industry and a passion for the Jersey cow! Having grown up showing cows, while being raised on his family’s 60 Jersey cow dairy in Canajoharie New York, his passion for cows only amplified through college. With an Associates of Dairy Science from SUNY Cobleskill behind him, Andy continued on to Cornell University to earn his Bachelors degree in the same field. At Cornell, he took the opportunity to join the AGR fraternity whose purpose is to make better men and through them a broader and better agriculture. Andy has spent his time since college living up to this purpose for the agriculture industry. He returned home to manage his own herd at the farm for five years before becoming a herdsman at a few separate dairies in Eastern New York. Andy has also spent time working for dairies in the Western New York region, giving him a well rounded view of the different types of dairies we have across the state including milking in a tie stall barn. Having worked for a multitude of different dairies, Andy has built lasting connections to members of the industry. In doing so, he has the innate ability to connect with new farmers on a personal level, making him an essential part of our team. He believes that cows and cow flow are the cornerstones to profitability on a dairy farm and is able to relay that importance to each and every one of our customers. When Andy isn’t building these connections, he’s spending his time with his wife Erin of 8 years playing the part of a flower farmer for his wife’s cut flower business. He enjoys playing sports, having participated in his high school's football and swimming teams. And, he has a deep connection to family. Neither of his two sisters decided to stay in the dairy industry, but his father still milks 30 cows while his mother teaches special education. From the minute Andy saw the Vortex tool in action on the Neal’s dairy, he was instantly hooked on the innovation and what it would mean for advancements in the industry.
Molly Toussaint
Molly is our team’s newest hire and takes on the role of our Growth and Outreach Coordinator. Backed with a Bachelors of Science in Biology degree from Niagara University, she also comes with years of hands-on experience in the dairy industry. Having grown up on her family’s dairy farm in Western New York, she found an early passion in the industry. While she may not have stayed on her family’s farm, she definitely put her years of experience to good use. In recent years, Molly has spent her free time working for a neighboring dairy farm as well as helping on her husband’s crop farm, while simultaneously having spent the last ten years working for the USDA Farm Service Agency. Molly’s years of experience as a director within the USDA have placed her in a position where she can help scale the presence and impact that UdderWays already has in the dairy industry, while improving customer and media relations through her organization as well as her administrative and communication skills. While with UdderWays, Molly will also be participating in the Class 21 Lead NY program through Cornell to help continuously build her leadership skills and expand her presence in the agricultural industry, further benefiting our team. When she’s not working, Molly enjoys spending time outdoors with her family including their two German Shorthaired Pointers. Her and her husband Matt are also excitedly awaiting the arrival of their first child.