Speyside Bourbon Cooperage in Jackson County has announced it is investing $7.5 million in its Jackson facility.
Speyside Bourbon Cooperage, founded in Scotland in 1947 and owned by the France-based TFF Group, started its first U.S. barrel-making operation, known as a cooperage, in Jackson in 2015. Since then, the facility has become the company’s North American headquarters. The company operates three stave mills in southern Ohio to support the cooperage as well.
“Speyside has found the right combination of resources and skilled talent to thrive and grow its market share since coming to Ohio from Europe more than seven years ago,” said J.P. Nauseef, president and CEO, JobsOhio. “Speyside’s latest expansion of its North American headquarters reinforces its partnership with the state and community and will provide 42 jobs for hardworking Ohioans in Jackson County.”
The latest Speyside investment will allow the company to increase total production from 400,000 barrels per year in Jackson to 600,000. This represents a production increase of 50 percent. The company will be creating 42 new jobs during the course of the next three years. The majority of the new jobs will be added in Jackson, but the Speyside Waverly operation also will see some job growth as well as job retention.
“Deciding to invest in Southeast Ohio has been perfect for Speyside and has proven to be an outstanding decision,” said Darren Whitmer, president and GM of Speyside Bourbon Cooperage. “Since 2015 we have experienced everything we had hoped for, from talented people in the areas we operate, excellent help and resources from local and state government representatives, excellent services and infrastructure and the perfect geographic location for our business to thrive and grow. We could not be happier and thank Jobs Ohio and all of the Economic entities that have helped make us a success.”
JobsOhio supported the project with a $125,000 JobsOhio Economic Development Grant and Ohio Southeast Economic Development assisted the company with the grant process. The Jackson County Economic Development Partnership is assisting the company with hiring and training support.
“When Speyside Bourbon Cooperage first announced their commitment to locate to Jackson County, they made a huge impact on our community and region,” said Sam Brady, president and CEO of the Jackson County Economic Development Partnership. “This latest job creation investment by Speyside only underscores the continuing impact they are having on not only Jackson County but southern Ohio. They are a major player, and we are proud that they call Jackson County home.”
The JobsOhio Economic Development Grant focuses on fixed-asset and infrastructure investment by companies. Those investments can include land, building and infrastructure, as well as machinery and equipment.
Speyside Bourbon Cooperage was awarded a Job Creation Tax Credit by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority. This credit will grant the company benefits based on the new payroll it creates in Jackson County.
Submitted by Thomas Crooks, Stonewall Group.
