Microtourism is impacting small businesses, actually a small business in Dauphin County.
One person described whiskey tours like this, business is booming.
Although something has slowed them down, Hershey’s small business, Hidden Still Spirits, is still expanding. Hope to continue to be the largest producer of Pennsylvania Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
“On the one hand, the fact that we were able to grow during covid is going to be very difficult for anyone to sustain,” David Stein said
Starting in Lebanon in 2019, hidden still spirits started out as a winery. In 2021, 21,000 bottles will be distilled, a figure that increased to 86,000 bottles last year. Representative Tom Mehaffie was very supportive of this growth.
“It’s very exciting to be here because it’s just walls and columns and they’ve done a fantastic job. They’ve put a lot of time, energy and money into the hotel and really turned it into a super restaurant and winery, craft wine Plant. I mean they were just moving and shaking her,” said Representative Tom Mehaffie of the 106th District.
A new enclosed courtyard, new offices, a cigar lounge are part of the extension project. Along with a fifty-foot continuous anechoic tower…it would be one of the tallest in the country.
“We’re just trying to add to an already vibrant tourist community,” Stein said.
Hidden Still Spirits is one of the few businesses expanding in Pennsylvania, and it doesn’t look like it will be the last.
“We’re doing some really great things to help these individuals and these small businesses, and you know small businesses are the backbone of central Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania as a whole. So, we want to promote those and help them as much as we can,” Mehaffie Say.
Although the project has already started, production is expected to be completed by early October.