Photo: Templeton Rye Spirits reveals plans for a new distillery and an aging warehouse at a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday afternoon. (From left): Templeton Mayor, Ken Behrens; Templeton Rye Spirits Co-founder, Keith Kerkhoff; and Templeton Rye Spirits Chairman and CEO, Vern Underwood
It was a who’s who of Carroll County and the State of Iowa at Wednesday afternoon’s groundbreaking ceremony at Templeton Rye Spirits. State and county representatives, area organization and business leaders, Carroll County residents and the media filled the front lawn around the pyramid of barrels in front of the Templeton Rye offices and bottling plant for the reveal of plans for a new 37,000 square foot operational distillery and a 67,000 square foot aging warehouse. Production Manager, Kevin Boersma, said to put the size of that aging facility in perspective, the building will house about 40,000 vintage barrels of Templeton Rye. The groundbreaking was truly ceremonial as earth moving equipment and belly dump trailers were busy working the fields to the north of the current building; already leveling and grading for the new construction that will add between 26 to 30 more full-time employees to the 10 currently working in Templeton. Boersma said they are expecting it to take approximately 18 months for the construction, and they are shooting for an opening date in June of 2018. They had really gotten down to work in earnest on this project two years ago, and in October of 2016, the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) awarded Templeton Rye $1.6 million in tax credits to assist with the estimated $26 million project. Bringing the Templeton Rye distilling process home from MGP of Indiana in Lawrenceburg is important to co-founder, Keith Kerkhoff, as his grandfather Alphons Kerkhoff’s adapted recipe enters a new era. Boersma said their goal is a smooth transition, so that the only difference noticed by their worldwide customer base is on the back of the label where it says, “Distilled in Templeton, Iowa. Carroll Broadcasting will bring you more on the groundbreaking in upcoming broadcasts.
