On our last night in Texas, just before we went to the Broken Spoke, we had an extraordinary conversation at Still Austin, where our friend, Chris Seals, told us what he is up to in the whiskey distilling business in Texas. He even gave me an exquisite bottle of rye to take home with me. I have learned that I do, in fact, like, even love, good rye.
You can learn more about Chris here.
When I first met Chris, I was still running SOCAP and wanted to get him there to talk about the regenerative land work they were (and still are) doing with bringing heirloom grains back to Texas. More acres are being farmed, more farmers are growing crops they can count on, and Texas has some mighty fine whiskey being brewed up at Still Austin.
But in our conversation on this trip, the story was even deeper. As Still Austin has grown their company to 84 employees, they have recognized the need for meeting the basic needs of these employees and others in the food service economy in Austin. In a previous life, Chris was both a church planter and an economist, and the ideas Still Austin is putting together under his leadership to provide quality healthcare, childcare, and even transportation solutions to the folks who work there are incredible. As part of their new campus, they are actually planning on building affordable housing for their employees and others who provide basic services in hospitality in Austin. That new campus will include a new distillery, restaurants, an event space for events as large as 5,000 people. It’s a grand vision, and, it feels like to me if they pull it off, it will have its own “neighborhood economy.”
Building a business with a quality product (I know – I tasted it!), a sense of humor, a focus on the arts, and even a blues band playing every Wednesday night. What’s not to love about this picture? What’s more, all the employees are owners of the company, too.
Chris will be with us to tell a part of that story in February in San Antonio. You’re going to enjoy hearing what they are up to, and he promises to bring some drinks along with him!
Chris’s story is just one of several dozen stories that we are finding as we get to know Texas better. Kevin, Leroy, and Jeremiah are all there this week, and the stories are just going to keep coming. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to meet people doing amazing work to repair their local economies.