Springfield Business Journal_2020-11-02

SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 3 NOV. 2-8, 2020 NEWS IN THIS ISSUE James Seahorn makes a career change to the barber business. PAGE 5 A food truck business is now a million-dollar, full-service restaurant in just five years. PAGE 6 Vol. 41 No. 15 Guest columnist Phill Brooks calls for an election based on issu es not political jockeying. OPINION PAGE 39 It’s really challenging to keep COVID out of our business.” —Crystal Webster of Morelock Builders & Associates Inc., on keeping employees safe PAGE 10 QUOTE OF THE WEEK Andy Pearsall : There’s room to grow in the local craft beer market. John Lopez: Initial product at Old Route 66 Wellness will only last days. Microbrewery in the works in Battlefield by Mike Cullinan · mcullinan@sbj.net After Springfield gained its 10th brewery this summer, another craft beer operation is in the works just southwest of town. Battlefield City Administrator Frank Schoneboom confirmed Wire Road Brew- ery is planned for construction on land near Highway FF and Farm Road 172. He said the brewery ownership, Jeff Birchler and Cary Walker, first approached city officials about the concept back in May, and they’re likely just a couple of weeks away from being cleared for a groundbreaking. Secretary of state records list Birchler as organizer of Wire Road Brewery LLC, which was filed in April. The land was annexed into the city over the summer and rezoned Sept. 1 to commercial from residential, Schone- boom said, adding no development incentives were pro- vided for the owners. “My first thought was this kind of brewery would be a really good fit in this community given the demograph- ics,” Schoneboom said. “There’s a lot of professional people here at an age where they would enjoy craft beer.” Schoneboom said the brewery site is less than a mile south of Republic Road and around five miles from Wil- son’s Creek National Battlefield. It sits near Highway FF and south of a strip mall occupied by a Domino’s restaurant and Battlefield Pharmacy. The brewery plans have indoor and outdoor seating – a priority of the owners – with a pos- sibility of food trucks on-site, Schoneboom said. “All along, their vision was a ground-up kind of facility,” he said. “There are places where if they wanted to move in, they could. But you’re not going to get that kind of seating in a strip mall environment.” He deferred additional questions of the project to the owners, who declined to comment. When reached by phone, Birchler said he and Walker weren’t ready to make any formal announcement of plans, but they expect to soon. To better understand the vision for Wire Road Brewery, Schoneboom said he and the owners this summer visited several Springfield breweries. With stops at 4 by 4 Brewing Co. LLC in Galloway Village and Lost Signal Brewing Co. downtown, as well as others, he said it educated him on brewery operations. “They wanted to show me what they were talking about,” Schoneboom said. “Craft brew- eries are a lot different than taverns or bars. One of the things I discovered is these are more places where people congregated for a little while and then left.” Andy Pearsall, co-owner of Show-Me Brew- ing LLC, discussed the beer-making process with the trio at his homebrew supply shop and brewery. He said roughly 30% of Show-Me Brewing’s 2019 revenue was generated by the sale of in-house craft beers. Declining to dis- close figures, he said the demand’s been rising, as he estimates the revenue portion of 2018 beer sales at 20%.  “We don’t really advertise the tap room. It’s just by word- of-mouth,” Pearsall said, noting the brewery has around 12 taps and 80 beers that rotate. “From week to week, half the board’s different.”  Room to grow Pearsall said the local craft brewery scene still isn’t satu- rated.  “There’s still room, for sure,” he said, “especially in that area and side of town. The southwest area has a void that could be filled pretty easily.” It’s a view shared by Tie & Timber Beer Co. LLC co- founder Curtis Marshall. During Springfield Business Journal’s 12 People You Need to Know livestream interview Oct. 20, he cited Statista data showing Missouri as the 29th largest state in craft beer breweries per capita. According to the report, Missouri has 3.1 breweries per 100,000 adults aged 21 years and older. Marshall said that leaves room for growth.  “We personally have not seen negative effects with other breweries coming into the market,” he said. Brewery market growth also continues statewide. Missouri has 140 breweries in production, ranking 18th S ee BEER on page 35 City officials confirm Wire Road Brewing owners plan to build a facility Medical marijuana retailers inch closer to opening by Mike Cullinan · mcullinan@sbj.net The starting flag is about to be waved in Springfield for medical marijuana dispensaries, and one shop plans to roll Nov. 2. Old Route 66 Wellness LLC, 2823 N. Glenstone Ave., is on pace to debut for VIP customers that afternoon prior to opening to the public Nov. 3. The shop will initially only sell cannabis flower, as the owners say it’s the lone product currently available. “I don’t think anything will stop us from opening,” said co-owner John Lopez. “We will be starting out with only 30 pounds, but we hope to get more every 12 days.” In an attempt to stretch out product sales over several days, the store will operate limited hours and restrict each purchase to an eighth of an ounce. Still, Lo- pez acknowledges those measures might not be enough to prevent running out of the first shipment before the next arrives.  “We think we can spread it out to five or six days. Our next round should come in a couple days after that,” he said. “So, we’ll do a few training days with the employees if we have to shut down.” While Old Route 66 Wellness is on pace to be the initial medical marijuana dispensary to launch in the Springfield area, it’s not the first such business in the state to open its doors.  Two dispensaries run by N’Bliss opened Oct. 17 in sub- urban St. Louis. Fresh Green outside of Kansas City began See WEED on page 26