Tag Archives: cidery

Small Business Spotlight: Potter’s Craft Cider by Central VA SBDC

access_time

Tim Edmond and Dan Potter met as undergrads at Princeton University and quickly bonded over their shared passion for the outdoors, Frisbee-golf, bowling, Neil Young and, most importantly, brewing and drinking good beer.

After graduation in 2007, they both took jobs in the corporate world but still got together on the weekends to brew beer and kick around ideas about how to live “the good life”. Dan came up with an idea in 2009 and finally in June of 2011, they said goodbye to their former jobs and founded a new craft brewing business based in Free Union, VA, Potter’s Craft Cider. All of the ciders made by the company start with locally-grown fruit from nearby orchards and family farms.

Potter’s First Cider Press

Although Tim and Dan did most of the hard labor and legwork themselves, they did seek assistance from the Central Virginia SBDC early-on for help with financing, legal structure and business planning, and more recently in development of an employee handbook.

Their work has paid off! Over the last eight years, the company has continued to grow and now offers a varieties of hard cider available in pubs and restaurants all over Virginia. Their own tasting room, the Cider Garden, is located in Belmont and is open almost every weekend.

Brew Masters!

Stop by Potter’s Craft Cider’s Cider Garden in Belmont [209 Monticello Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22902] and try a brew – or better yet, try a flight and taste a few! And know you are supporting a small business that believes in fresh home-grown ingredients, buying local and supporting other local businesses.