Way back when Uncle Nearest was founded as a new distillery, I wrote a story about how founder Fawn Weaver was planning to establish a scholarship for the descendants of Nearest Green, acknowledged as the first Black distiller and the man who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. I opined at the time that this was a good thing, but even more important was to possibly address why there were still so few BIPOC-owned businesses in the distillery industry at that time.
While it would be extremely conceited of me to think that I had anything to do with it, Uncle Nearest and Jack Daniel’s took up that cause and established the Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative (NJAI) in 2020 to address issues of diversity on the industry, reaching back to the collaboration between Nearest and Jack all those years ago.
In addition to pledging major money to establish the Nearest Green Distilling Academy Program at Motlow State Community College, a curriculum designed to teach employable skills within the distilling industry, the two companies also created a Leadership Acceleration Program to empower entrepreneurs on their own business ventures by providing access to leaders in the field while developing specific business skills and providing resources for success.
As part of that leadership effort, Nearest Green and Jack Daniel’s have planned a Spirits on the Rise Summit on April 15 and 16 in the distilleries’ hometowns of Lynchburg and Shelbyville. The event will bring together a diverse crowd of industry professionals, hospitality experts and panelists to share their knowledge with aspiring spirits entrepreneurs.
At last year’s inaugural summit, more than fifty BIPOC businesses gleaned information from speakers representing some of the nation’s top beverage and hospitality companies, including Brown-Forman, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, Hyatt Hotels, ReserveBar, and Breakthru Beverage Group, as well as learning about access to capital from financial experts from JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Collective Equity.
At this year’s summit, fledgling brands will participate in seminars addressing topics like revenue growth management, distributor management, public relations, funding, route to market and shopper marketing. As part of the proceedings, the participating entrepreneurs will again have the opportunity to present their own stories and products to other attendees, including potential investors. Two of the brands that presented last year, Mission Craft Cocktails and Blackleaf Organic Vodka, were selected as the newest members of the NJAI Business Incubation Program, and they’ll be presenting updates on their brand journeys as part of the summit.
Applications to be a part of this year's proceedings are open until March 1 at the event’s website. All applicants will be reviewed by a selection committee and notified of their acceptance to this important event that will share some vital industry knowledge in hopes of further increasing the diversity of the spirits space. If you are or know someone who is a beverage entrepreneur from a traditionally underrepresented community, I strongly advise thinking about taking advantage of this extremely generous offer. And good for Jack and Nearest for putting their money into such an important cause!
