Staff Writer
MONTICELLO — Aroostook County is used to potato-based industry, but here’s one with a new twist — potato vodka manufacturing.
It’s what appears to be on the horizon in Monticello. Scott Galbiati, who is working to launch the business with his wife Jessica Jewell, said they’re planning to break ground for a potato vodka manufacturing plant this spring. “We’ll be in Monticello on Jewell’s Corner,” he said in a phone interview last week. “We’ve looked at a lot of different sites, but strategically, it’s best for us to be right there on the corner of the West Road and Route 1.”
The Jewell’s Corner site would put the plant close to their main ingredient — Aroostook County potatoes.
“Potatoes are good for making vodka,” explained Galbiati. “It will give us greater control over the product and you can get better quality in the end because you’re not dealing with the massive quantities you would be if you used something like grain.”
But setting up the business is one of their biggest challenges.
“To start up a business of this scale takes a lot of funds. It takes a lot of support, and it takes a lot of resources. This type of business, with all the licensing involved and the equipment you need to purchase, make it nearly impossible to start small,” he explained. “But the market is there to support our product, and we’ve had a good response — not just from the people we’ve presented the plan to formally, but from the community. … It’s amazing the level of interest and support. The response by the investors and the community has been absolutely wonderful.”
Galbiati and Jewell have been working on their idea for over three years. They’ve earned engineering degrees — Jessica in chemical engineering, Scott in product design and innovation — at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. and even spent part of their honeymoon at distilling school.
“We’re coming at it with the skills that we think are necessary to run a good business and have a good understanding of the process itself,” he added.
They’ve also shared their business plan through the Aroostook County Investment Exchange, a forum provided by the Northern Maine Finance Corp. which aims to connect local investors with emerging entrepreneurs. Duane Walton, director of the business finance department for the Northern Maine Finance Corp., said he’s hoping to set up a second forum with Galbiati and Jewell.
“We don’t recommend business plans one way or the other; we simply provide the means for investors and entrepreneurs to come together,” said Walton. “But I was impressed with this package. They (Galbiati and Jewell) have certainly done their homework.”
If all the remaining details fall into place, the couple will start production of their high-end vodka, Twenty 2 Vodka, in September with bottles reaching customers in time for Christmas. Galbiati said their plan calls for production to be in full swing by 2010 when the business could employ roughly seven people.
