David Blackmon talks about the journey that has led him to expand his brewery from Brunswick, MD, to a second spot ‘creekside’ in Downtown Frederick.
Getting Started (The First Time)
Smoketown Brewing started 3.5 years ago in Brunswick, MD in a retired fire hall. Originally, we had purchased the building for a different reason. I remodel properties and had planned to open a place for people to find period building materials. Three months into that project, I went to Milkhouse Brewery and had a beer. Sitting there it dawned on me – that was what Brunswick really needed: Something with energy, something contemporary. We needed to revive the town and a brewery was the sort of place that was missing.
I didn’t have a history with brewing at all. When we made the pivot in our plan, I was just supposed to build-out the building and be a stakeholder in the brewery. Operating it was not in the original cards. But things came up and when we pivoted again, I jumped in to pull the whole thing off. I have learned a lot in the past four years. Let me tell you --- it has been a very enlightening four years.
Learning the Business
I came at this experience from an interesting angle. A lot of people starting a business don’t have a lot of experience in permitting or construction or the logistical side. I was very experienced there. I was in the unique spot of learning the business itself.
But I’m realistic. I advertised to regional brewers, very honestly, that we were starting from the ground up and looking for help. We were very fortunate to pair up with our first brewer who was very talented, patient, and diligent. I was right there with him learning the in’s and out’s.
And we were just constantly talking with people and educating ourselves. I will say in this area --- and I think in this industry in particular -- people are very supportive. If you need anything materials-wise, or have machinery challenges or problems in your tap room, everybody is helpful with advice. Multiple brewers and local owners have pitched in and really helped us out.
Getting Started (The Second Time)
We’ve been around for a few years now and a very common statement is: ‘We love your beer, we love your brewery… but’ [more often than not, there’s a ‘but’] … But we don’t make it out that way very often.’ Targeting critical mass has always been a challenge at our original location. We’ve been working on an events space concept at the Brunswick site to help remedy that, but we’ve run into some regulation hurdles in the process.
So in the meantime-- we saw an opportunity to expand into the City of Frederick. With the amount of energy and foot-traffic pumping through Downtown Frederick – it’s just a no-brainer for a brewery to want to locate here.
Helpful Resources during the Start-Up
We’ve had a very positive experience with local resources. Admittedly, our process was a little easier as we didn’t go through a change of use for the building … but the City’s Building staff was very proficient and very professional to work with. When we were looking at other sites, they helped refer us to the right engineers. When the time came to pull permits, they even let us use the One-Stop-Shop option for same day permitting. The City’s Economic Development’s small business GROW Grant was awesome — that helped substantially with the installation of our outdoor patio.
Really everyone in Downtown was great. The Downtown Frederick Partnership’s Façade Grant and Sprinkler System grants were fantastic program options to know were available. We didn’t even have to reach out to the Partnership about participating in their Alive at Five event series – they had already connected with us first about the opportunity.
As a business person investing tremendous amount of time and money and risk, it’s nice to be surrounded by people that want you to succeed.
Opening Smoketown: Creekside
As you can imagine, we would like to open as soon as possible. The goal is Fall 2019. Between In the Streets, and at the Fair, and just around, we’ve had so many people I hadn’t met before come up to us asking when we are opening the downtown location – it’s really encouraging. We love Frederick so much and its energy. We can’t wait to be open.
Our ‘Creekside’ location will have a different texture from our Brunswick location. We’re big on history and big on uniqueness. Frederick’s got a great history, but you’ll certainly see a Brunswick influence as well... You’ll start seeing new pieces hanging on our walls. People will start asking about it, and we’ll tell them the story.
Advice to Someone Interested in Starting a Business
Get a lot of sleep. Drink a lot of water. .. No matter the business, if you’ve never done it before you’ll be surprised at how many details need to come into place to make it happen.
In seriousness though, the advice I’d give is everything I’ve been talking about. I would encourage people to use the local knowledge assets that are available. The offices – whether it’s Tourism, or the Downtown Frederick Partnership or the City’s Department of Economic Development --- make these resources a first step. You can save so much time.
When you’re trying to get from Point A to Point D, not having done it before or not knowing the area can be a lot to handle. Whereas-- you could just talk to someone and they know who you need to talk to or what you need to fill out. Business people can be nervous or a little secretive. But in reality, talking to people helps. If you don’t know something, it’s served me well to ask people.