Learning that the business he founded with hand-hung pasta and infused flavor is up for sale was hard for Rossi Pasta’s namesake.

“They’re selling my history, my family name,” said John Rossi, founder of Rossi Pasta in Marietta, from his home in Iowa Wednesday. “We moved to Marietta from Athens because we were growing and needed more retail. Marietta was on the interchange, and I have to give (current primary owner) Frank (Christy) credit for getting us down there.”

The business was founded in 1981 by Rossi in Athens and grew with the aid of investors Frank and Jim Christy and Bob Kirkbride to operations in the first block of Greene Street in Marietta before ultimately landing its current retail space on Front Street and manufacturing on Ohio 821.

Reading in The Marietta Times that Rossi Pasta’s brand and operations are up for sale, 19 years after he left the company without shares and signed a noncompete clause, was difficult, Rossi said.

“I have always hoped that something good would happen in the end, that the company wouldn’t die as an unfulfilled novelty… it was a legitimate novelty what we created, and it had the potential to go national,” he said. “But when we left my kids got nothing out of it, that’s hard for me. It was a cultural business –designing the drying cells took us five years.”

But the business struggled to turn a profit, explained Bob Kirkbride on Wednesday.

Kirkbride was an investor initially in 1986 when Rossi Pasta was brought to Marietta, but later divested himself as he had concerns of sustainability, he said.

Frank Christy, through Rossi Pasta General Manager Cort Thomas, directed responses to John Rossi’s concerns to Kirkbride Wednesday.

“Every dollar in the business you can’t spend twice, you have to make hard choices,” explained Kirkbride. “I know from Frank and the people at Christy and Associates (that) it’s not been financially profitable even after I left.”

And those continued personal differences and opposing styles of business governance got in the way of that growth, both Kirkbride and Rossi said.

“It was the worst business decision I ever made, I’m sorry I ever came to Marietta,” Rossi added. “We were growing at a strong rate in the ’90s, there were people interested in the product from Los Angeles and even in Japan. And we gave up control of the company to take the company public, but within two and a half years of giving up control that changed… business can be so conservative, but we had so much business potential.”

Rossi hasn’t had involvement in the business since 2000.

Kirkbride said Rossi is welcome to make an offer on the business and become owner again.

“I’d love it if John found someone who wants to invest in the business with him–he’s highly creative–raise some capital, and it’s a great opportunity,” said Kirkbride, noting a purchase of the business outright wouldn’t breach the noncompete agreement.