TRAVERSE CITY — After 3½ years of planning, Chris Fredrickson was ready for the ceremonial groundbreaking.
Mother Nature decided to make it a little harder to reach it.
A blanket of snow Thursday morning couldn’t put a damper on the groundbreaking for the Traverse City Whiskey Company’s new production facility at 9440 S. Center Highway. But it did create a little more work on Thursday for the heavy equipment from Ada-based Erhardt Construction.
“This is turning into a classic northern Michigan groundbreaking,” Fredickson, the TCWC president and co-founder said Thursday morning.
The nearly 70,000-square-foot distillery is expected to generate a capital investment of approximately $20 million and create nearly 100 jobs for Traverse City Whiskey Company, which launched in the summer of 2012. The project was bolstered by a $750,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance -based grant announced in late October 2022.
“The $750,000 made the entire $20 million investment possible,” Fredrickson said in announcing the grant. “Without that we would have been challenged to make this project work in northern Michigan.”
Designed by Mathison Architects in Grand Rapids, the TCWC “first-of-its-kind facility will be Michigan’s largest distillery,” according to a release. Mathison Architects Founding Principal Evan Mathison attended the groundbreaking on Friday along with Traverse City Whiskey Company co-founders Moti Goldring, Jared Rapp and Fredrickson.
Michigan Lt. gov. Garlin Cilchrist, US Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Michigan Economic Development Corporation CEO Quentin L. Messer, Jr. attended after appearing at the Northern Michigan Policy Conference at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa earlier in the day Friday.
Andy Deloney, Vice President of State Public Policy for the Distilled Spirits Council of the US, so in attendance. So were local officials like Elmwood Township Supervisor Jeffrey K. Shaw, Traverse City City Manager Marty Colburn and Leelanau County Administrator Deborah Allen.
Fredrickson said a grand opening for the distillery is scheduled for early 2024.
“Our goal is to have this nearly completed by the end of the year,” Fredrickson said. “With a project of this size, there is always going to be some pretty big unknowns.”
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