A major grant was recently awarded to Stumpy’s Spirits Distillery, providing assistance to a local business currently overseeing its biggest expansion since being first established.

The grant comes from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which recently announced that $22.5 million in grant funding would be going to 89 projects throughout the state, with $17.5 million reserved for tourism-related projects and the remaining $5 million meant for festivals.

Locally, Columbia distillery Stumpy’s – maker of whiskey, bourbon, vodka and gin – was awarded $500,000, which owner Adam Stumpf said will be going toward a “visitor experience center” along Route 3 near Hanover Road between Columbia and Waterloo.

This expansion was the subject of much conversation during the fall of 2021, with Monroe County ultimately rezoning 125.19 acres at Midway Boulevard just north of Hanover Road to allow for the project.

Stumpf said his distillery originally applied for the grant sometime ago but was turned down. Late last year, additional funds became available, and Stumpy’s just recently heard the funding was approved.

This grant, Stumpf said, should help the project along quite a bit.

“Overall, it’s about a $10 million dollar project, and the $500,000 is a substantial dent in that, which really allows us to grow our business more effectively, basically,” Stumpf said. “We’re able to put some things back into the project that we were gonna have to pull out because of rising construction costs and all of that craziness going on right now, so we are incredibly, incredibly excited about this grant.”

With plans for the expansion now further along, Stumpf was able to offer more of an idea of what this new visitor center is projected to look like.

As discussed during several government meetings in 2021, plans for the property include construction of several lakes and at least one rickhouse to store aging whiskey – Stumpf said Stumpy’s is currently able to produce about 20 barrels per day in its main location at 1727 Centerville Road and would like to increase that number moving forward.

The biggest aspect of the Stumpy’s expansion is a roughly 27,000-square-foot multi-purpose venue.

Within the venue, Stumpf described a full service bar and tasting room with seating for about 75 people, including space for a patio.

He also noted a larger, “cool, elegant” space capable of holding about 350 visitors and a lower level able to hold 100 more.

All of this, Stumpf said, is meant to expand on the business’ current tour opportunities, with a focus placed on providing visitors with a unique experience rather than just rushing through a tour.

“It’s really to be able to educate a consumer that is going to take their time to visit our distillery and then really show them everything that we do, and everything that we can do,” Stumpf said. “Everything from growing grain on our family farm, turning that into bourbon and whiskey and vodka and gin, and how we can mix up a cocktail and offer these really cool cocktail offerings and bring everything full circle.”

With Stumpy’s now nearly eight years old as a business, Stumpf added that this is the distillery’s first foray into “fully immersing our consumers and clients into everything that we do.”

Both recently and in past discussions about the expansion, Stumpf made note of the growing and successful alcohol tourism industry and the impact such a business could have locally.

“We think it has a lot of implications for the county, for both Columbia, Waterloo, Monroe County in general,” Stumpf said. “And that’s really based off of kind of the alco-tourism aspect of everything that’s going on in Kentucky right now.”

While the industry is particularly big in Kentucky, Stumpf pointed to a distillery in Indiana that’s relatively small yet had close to 400,000 visitors just last year.

He further spoke about the benefits that such a boost to tourism could have for this area.

“We’re really hoping to be able to do something like that in Monroe County, bring people in from all over,” Stumpf said. “And then, of course, rising tides raise all ships, so that has great impacts for local businesses – be it the different retail places, bars and restaurants. When there are more people in Monroe County, there’s more money being spent in Monroe County, and that’s better for all of us.”

This sentiment was echoed by a number of Stumpy’s supporters in 2021, with Stubborn German Brewing Co. owner Tammy Rahn speaking how she and her husband patronize restaurants and hotels when they themselves travel to Kentucky to tour distilleries.

Stumpf also remarked on Stumpy’s growth over the last few years, voicing his appreciation for the community’s support which has afforded the business the opportunity to grow as it is.

“My wife and I started everything on a bank loan and we mortgaged everything we own,” Stumpf said, “so we’ve just been trying to reinvest in the business and grow it as responsibly and as quickly as we can, but obviously that takes time, so we’re really happy to be at the point where we can reinvest in the business this heavily and bring this kind of thing to the area.”

Currently, Stumpf said the visitor center as projected is expected to break ground this summer, with a hopeful completion sometime in mid-2024.

For more information on Stumpy’s Spirits Distillery, visit stumpysspirits.com.