Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • January 7, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 17 1,500-square-foot tasting room and 15,000 square feet of production space. Owners Jack and Peter Baker are plot- ting to build a new barrel house span- ning over 4,500 square feet. The brothers, which sell roughly 3,500 cases a year to about 1,100 busi- nesses, said they would like to see bottle-sale laws mirror what is permit- ted for breweries. Legislative changes would likely mean more square footage and a larger workforce at their Litchfield facility, the Bakers said. Taylor, of Waypoint Spirits, produc- ers of about 2,000 cases this year, said his business would likely launch a sat- ellite tasting room at a second location if Connecticut loosened its grip on the local distilling industry. The company, which has nine employees and 12,000 square feet in Bloomfield, plans to add to its work- force and production capacity in 2019. Waypoint currently sells six spirits year-round to 400 stores, bars and restaurants in Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee and Florida. It also plans to enter the Asian market next year, selling mainly to dis- tributors in Hong Kong, Taylor said. A law change would also mean in- creased production at Hartford Flavor Co. The Arbor Street-based business distributes its seven products to 1,000 bars, restaurants and liquor stores in eight states — Rhode Island, Massa- chusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Colorado, and modestly distributes in Florida and California. With expanded tasting-room laws, Dubay and his wife have pledged to in- crease their workforce and open a larg- er tasting room and possibly a satellite location in a town like Mystic, creating new synergies across the state. Dubay envisions a new tasting room that can host both private and public events. Due to restrictions, however, the couple regularly turns away cus- tomers who are seeking event space. For now, local distillers are mulling how to best advance their wishlist in the early portion of the 2019 legisla- tive session. "We are bootstrapped, so we don't have tons of lobby money," Dubay said. "We just have to be smart about how we ap- proach it. It's going to be about effort and about getting the dialogue going." Brothers David (left) and Jack (right) Baker, co-owners of Litchfield Distillery, produce a variety of craft bourbon, vodka and gin. A family business since 1914, the brothers spent most of their lives distributing Crystal Rock Water until they added craft spirits production in Dec. 2014. PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED Government Total revenue (2016) $16,589,606 Per capita tax $3,134 Total expenditures $16,073,650 Total indebtedness $5,406,365 as % of expenditures 33.6% Annual debt service $486,126 Moody's bond rating NA Actual mill rate 33.67 Net Grand List $408,734,287 Housing stock Existing units 1,850 % single unit 90.6% New permits (2017) 9 as % of existing units 0.5% Residential sales 42 Median price $304,100 Median rent $1,250 Top 5 grand list Company Amount Zygo Corp. $8,289,250 Eversource $7,818,720 Lyman Farm Inc. $7,426,130 Powder Ridge Mountain Park & Resort LLC $3,430,950 CT Light & Power $1,457,300 Town Profile Middlefield Town Hall address: 393 Jackson Hill Road, Middlefield CT 06455 (860) 349-7114 News Around Town ■ ■ In October, Middlefield's The Lyman Farm Inc. was recognized with a Family Business Award by the Hartford Business Journal. ■ ■ In January, Missouri engineering- technology firm Emerson completed its purchase of Middlefield food-service technology manufacturer Cooper-Atkins. ■ ■ The median sales price of a Middlefield home is $304,100 compared to the statewide average of $269,300. General Land area (sq. miles) 13 Households 1,775 Median household income $103,262 Poverty rate 2.5% Crime rate (per 100,000 residents) 385 Population 2000 4,203 Projected 2020 4,428 Median age 48 Largest age demographic 45-64 years (37%) Educational attainment (2016) Persons age 25 or older % of population High school graduate 36% Associate's degree 9% Bachelor's or more 40% Labor Force (Residence) Employed 2,399 Unemployed 110 Unemployment rate 4.4% Places of work Total employers 145 Total employed 1,778 Economics Business profile Sector Units Employ- ment Construction 28 314 Manufacturing 11 561 Retail trade 10 37 Administrative and waste services 8 60 Health care and social assistance 12 125 Total government 12 177 Major Employers • Zygo Corp. • Cooper-Atkins Corp. • Powder Ridge Mountain Park & Resort • Rogers Manufacturing Inc. • TET Manufacturing Co. Source: Connecticut Economic Resource Center

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