By Diana Scheddin
Last October, Ed Pedskalny was convincing farmers in the Cochrane district to start working their land again, growing barley. Pedskalny and his son-in-law John Wilkes, creators of Iced Spirits Ltd., want to establish the first distillery in Northern Ontario.
Currently Pedskalny and Wilkes are waiting for the ward chest to be filled.
“It is about a six-month timeframe from when we get our ward chest filled and when we can go into production,” says Wilkes.
The company has also sold their barley to various corporations across North America.
“We have sold thousands of tons of barley to companies like Canada Malting and Anhowser Bush,” notes Wilkes.
When Iced Spirits Ltd. officially opens for business, both partners want to maintain complete control of their product and plan to ship a value-added product instead of just shipping the barley to Milwaukee.
Wilkes explains that in addition to setting up this plan they have picked a site for their business on Highway 11, within the municipality of Iroquois Falls.
Farmers in the area are eager to show their support for this venture. A list of about 20 contract farmers will be used to help Pedskalny and Wilkes get their business off the ground.
Furthermore, the winter months have been spent securing the co-operation of the town of Matheson, Cochrane, and Iroquois Falls.
The intent of Iced Spirits Inc. is to help out the local economy by hiring people who had to leave the area because lack of work, says Wilkes.
They hope to be in business by the summer.
FedNor has contributed funding to help them complete their business plan.
