12/27/2023 0 Comments Timekeeper distilleryWe needed more room to grow our product portfolio and ensure we could adequately meet customer demand. These two factors made space in our small distillery a challenge. “The production of whiskey requires storage, and we also had introduced canned seltzers as part of our product offering. As they went through all of this, they soon realized that the train depot did have one limitation: space. They began offering live music, expanded their product offering, hosted small events, and focused on collaborating with other businesses to create a sense of community. And the train station was a perfect fit for us.”ĭan and Kimm, now married, opened the distillery on October 6, 2018. When the idea of Timekeeper Distillery started to become more and more of a reality, we knew we wanted to establish the business here. Kimm said family, friends, and Pabst Blue Ribbon powered them through those initial demolition days. It had been an office building for many years and the original stone walls and floors had been covered in layers of plaster and dry wall. The couple purchased the train depot in October 2017. When you think about the history the building has, and how that ties back to the community, it is really special.” On our second trip to Wausau’s train depot, we both saw the potential. “We are all about revitalization instead of building new. They looked at numerous sites but it was one of Wausau’s most historic buildings that caught their attention. While the business plan had been developed and funding secured, the entrepreneurs still needed to find a home for the business. We had the drive to do it, but the city’s belief in us and these resources sealed the deal.” The city connected us to the right people here in Wausau that helped us connect the dots. Neither of us had ever gone through the process of taking a business idea and making it a reality, and we didn’t know where to start. “There are a lot of resources here for entrepreneurs and we greatly benefited from them. “The support we received, and the confidence the city had in the project gave us the conviction we needed to move forward with this idea for a distillery,” Dan and Kimm shared. Soon, the couple found themselves talking about the concept to Wausau’s mayor, and next, Wausau’s Economic Development Committee. As Dan, and his fiancee Kimm, discussed the idea further, they both commented how the community felt saturated with good breweries but lacked a central place to go for fresh batch spirts and craft cocktails. Joking that he could make moonshine and sell it to his friends, he started jotting a few notes down on a napkin. “Brewers are rich in quality of life, but not so much in cash flow.” One night during league volleyball, Dan Weber, head brewmaster for Wausau’s Great Dane, made a comment to a few friends:
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