Caledonia Spirits Plans Expansion Into Montpelier

“Montpelier has made it clear that they have a vision for the Capital City, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it,” said Christiansen. “Our search for expansion space had us in contact with many towns, but Montpelier proved to be the greatest opportunity for our business.”

Improvements include a railroad crossing, relocation of a city water line, sewer connection and pretreatment, and the building of a public access road.

According to a press release, Montpelier will finance the costs from departmental and economic development funds and predicts it will recoup $536,000 over a 10-year period from city service rates and property taxes. The proposed river front site will be accessed from Barre Street, directly across the street from 100 acres of undeveloped land known as Sabin’s Pasture. The distillery is one of many developments for Barre Street, including a city bike path that will pass directly in front of the distillery. Construction of the 30,000 square foot distillery is scheduled to begin in fall of 2017.

“Caledonia Spirits is a community-minded company that will be a great addition to Montpelier. This is the culmination of two years of work, and we are excited that they will soon be breaking ground,” said Montpelier Mayor John Hollar.

“The Montpelier Development Corporation is thrilled to have been a part of helping bring the Caledonia Spirits headquarters and distillery to the state capital of Vermont. The entire Caledonia organization is a top-notch group of folks, and working with Ryan Christiansen in this process has been a pleasure. Caledonia Spirits will be a great asset for our business community and tremendous citizens joining our city,” Joe Evans, Montpelier Development Corporation Executive Director.

Christiansen said the business intends to keep a presence in Hardwick but what shape that will take is not yet clear.

“There is no better incubator town than Hardwick, Vermont. We are rooted here, and would not have had such a successful start without the support of the Hardwick community,” said Christiansen. “We will maintain a presence in Hardwick, and are currently discussing internally what that will look like.”

Christiansen said the distillery’s new facility will be build by May 2018. The business currently employs 40 full- and part-time employees and the anticipation is 2-3 more will be added when they move into the new space. How many remain in Hardwick is still being worked out.