Resources:
Rylee Barnsdale's Feature Article: Book bar, whiskey distillery, and organic juicery among new beverage businesses in Ypsi
Water Tower Distilling Co. on Instagram
Transcription:
Rylee Barnsdale: You're listening to 89 one WEMU. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is On the Ground Ypsi. Although spring is not quite here just yet, there is always new growth sprouting up around Ypsi, particularly in its small business community. And what better way to celebrate the approach of spring than to shout out just a few of these new businesses, all with a common theme--a new spot for drinks! Whether you're looking for a healthy alternative to soda, your new favorite coffee shop, or a unique spirit experience, Ypsi will soon have three more options for you to quench your thirst. Today, I'm here with Skott Schoonover, the owner at the incoming Water Tower Distilling Company over on North Washington Street to get an idea of what folks can look forward to from Ypsilanti's first distillery once their doors are open officially. Hi Skott! Thanks so much for being here today!
Skott Schoonover: Thanks for having me! I appreciate it!
Rylee Barnsdale: What is Water Tower Distilling Company and what can folks expect on their first visit?
Skott Schoonover: Well, we're a small craft distillery. My wife and I are the owners of it, specializing in gins, vodka, and bourbons that are a little bit different than what you can usually find on the shelf. Our head distiller is what I refer to as a "botanical genius." And so, it's really exciting to see the recipes that he's coming up with right now and the different gin flavor profiles and things like that. So, we're trying to break into a business that's very long established, and people kind of have an idea of what they like and what's out there. And so, trying to bring things that are both familiar but then also new to people and giving some life back into the downtown area of Ypsilanti.
Rylee Barnsdale: So, you're, as you mentioned, working with your wife. You both will be operating the business together. But do either of you have a background in distilling. Where did this passion come from?
Skott Schoonover: Not at all. I guess the passion came from sitting around during the pandemic and having drinks after she was still working. I was looking for work, and life was not the most fun then.
Rylee Barnsdale: Sure.
Skott Schoonover: So, a lot of days ended up with just having a drink at the end of the day. And we were talking about what our next steps were as I was looking for work and came up with the idea that we wanted to start up a company. We didn't really know exactly what we wanted to do. And then, over the course of a few months, it kind of hit. Why don't we make the drinks that we want to drink, you know? Because there's times where, during the pandemic, things were running low in quantity and supply.
Rylee Barnsdale: Sure.
Skott Schoonover: So, you ended up kind of being forced into things that you didn't always want to drink and things like that. And I thought if we were making our own, this would be awesome! We could just always have drinks on hand that we wanted. And then, that turned more into I don't actually have a favorite bourbon right now. And so, you know, things like that. And that snowballed into us deciding, "Hey, a distillery would be a really cool thing to own!"
Rylee Barnsdale: What is the transition been like from spirit enthusiasts enjoying a drink after a long day to a business owner focusing on these flavor profiles and on providing this very specific and unique experience to the Ypsi area?
Skott Schoonover: Right now, it is far more on the business aspect of things.
Rylee Barnsdale: Sure.
Skott Schoonover: As I deal with permits and the various levels of approval that we need from federal, local, state governments, etc. We haven't actually gotten to start distilling anything quite yet because we haven't gotten that final state approval yet. So, right now, it's a lot of words on paper and saying I'm really excited to get to try that. But right now, it's a lot of business parts. So, the enthusiast part has not actually gotten to come out yet, unfortunately. But we're hoping, by the end of this month, that we'll have all those in place and our doors will be open. So, I'm very much looking forward to being an enthusiast of my own business.
Rylee Barnsdale: Now, you are not originally from Michigan, and neither is your wife, Charlene. Is that correct?
Skott Schoonover: Correct.
Rylee Barnsdale: And you fell in love with Ypsi. You stopped in just to have lunch on a day you were visiting the area. What about this city and its community made this incredibly strong impression on you both?
Skott Schoonover: The quirkiness of the town really just struck a chord. Both of us are a bit quirky ourselves. And so, coming in and seeing things like the Rocket and Unicorn and Feed Supply when that was there, those are the types of stores where you never saw those. I grew up in Southern California. She grew up in rural Ozarks, Missouri, by Saint Louis. We didn't have things like that around. And to see city that supported those and stores could survive here was a really cool thing. And so, we went in and started talking to people, and we realized very quickly, most of the stores downtown, the people working behind the counter were the owners or had been there since the beginning or very close to the ownership. So, it wasn't like a lot of other downtowns where the the workers are completely separate and cut off from the ownership of the place. Downtown is run by the people who support it and are shopping there. It's other business owners and things like that. So, there is a sense of community there and support that. We didn't really see other places as well that really spoke to us.
Rylee Barnsdale: And speaking of that strong sense of community, too, I think one thing that I find particularly beautiful about Ypsi's small business community and Ypsi as a whole, really, is this kind of overarching belief in the "a rising tide raises all ships" kind of philosophy. How has the small business community or the neighbors to Water Tower Distilling Company, how have they supported you throughout this process of, you know, getting the doors open and getting all of those permits, all of those different things?
Skott Schoonover: We have had support--amazing levels--from every one of our neighbors, from helping us clean up in front after big weekends where there's trash everywhere. A lot of business owners will get together on a Saturday morning at 9 a.m., and everyone is there cleaning up trash and spit polishing downtown again after a big night and things like that. Our forklift ended up getting stuck in the parking lot, and Jeff, the owner from Liquid Swords, came over and literally helped me lift this thing up and push it back into my space, which took like a half hour, you know? So, being literally physically supported by our neighbors and things like that, where like, I could just go knock on his door while he was getting ready to tattoo somebody. And he was like, "Hold on one second. I got to help him." And the lady in the chair was like, "Please. Go help." It's that sort of community here, where, the other day, I got a call from Mitch, who owns Crawdaddy Creole. And he just was like, "Hey, just curious how things are going. What's the timeline looking like? Just want to check in." Like, it's really cool that there's no reason for them to do that that helps their business. It's just them being nice people and good neighbors. So, I really like it!
Rylee Barnsdale:This is WEMU's On the Ground Ypsi. I'm talking with Water Tower Distilling Company founder and owner Skott Schoonover. So, Skott, this is you and your wife Charlene's first business. Is that correct?
Skott Schoonover: Correct.
Rylee Barnsdale: And even on top of that, it seems like this excitement and passion for the community that you're now a part of, it's going far beyond just the "Well, I want my business to succeed" sort of mentality. It seems like there's this excitement to be really entrenched in the community. And it seems like you already are. You're forming these relationships with your fellow business owners. How are you hoping that either you as a business owner or the business itself is going to further contribute to the business community here in Ypsi and support other incoming business owners or aspiring business owners that see Ypsi as a good opportunity for them as well?
Skott Schoonover: I think one of the biggest things, it sounds so basic, but just having more businesses downtown right now. Washington Street is not thriving at this current moment, and there's a lot of empty storefronts. And so, even just getting any more businesses that open up right there, it's going to help everyone else and make the street more attractive to where more people are going to want to do business. So, at a basic level, that's where we'd like to help. But we don't serve food. But we are going to allow people to bring in food. So, if you want to go and have lunch or whatever or brought-over dinner delivered to our space, we're fully welcoming of that. So, again, trying to help those other businesses, while everyone's out and about on on Washington Street or downtown, helping them to go to other spots and not just stay at ours and then leave.
Rylee Barnsdale: Do you have any words of wisdom or maybe a compelling argument for an aspiring business owner who is maybe potentially considering Ypsi as the place to settle down their business?
Skott Schoonover: Come down here and talk to some of the business owners. Ask them what they think and get a sense of the community on whether this is somewhere that would feel like home. And then, also, go into City Hall. Talk to the people who are going to be there giving you the permits and everything and see how friendly they are and how much they're really trying to help build this place back up and how they're going to help you start your business and make it thrive instead of throwing barriers to entry.
Rylee Barnsdale: When can we expect to see the open sign on Water Tower Distilling Company's doors lit up and folks are ready to come in and enjoy a nice beverage?
Skott Schoonover: At this point, we are waiting on the Health department to get through our paperwork and schedule our inspection. After that, it should be about a week after that. So, we are hoping sometime between Saint Patrick's Day and April 1st.
Rylee Barnsdale: All right! Well, Skott, thank you so much for being here today! Hopefully, your story not only brings you business, but maybe inspires some other aspiring business owners to also stop in Ypsi for lunch just on a day when they're out and about.
Skott Schoonover: I appreciate it!
Rylee Barnsdale: For more information on today's topic and links to the full article, visit our website at wemu.org. On the Ground Ypsi is brought to you in partnership with Concentrate Media. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is your community NPR station 89 one WEMU FM, Ypsilanti. Celebrating 60 years of broadcasting at Eastern Michigan University!
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