While Uncle Nearest is still hard at work completing an expansive new distillery campus in Shelbyville, the company is also taking time to look outward for ways to help out in the community and the industry through two important initiatives. The first is their HBCU Old Fashioned Challenge, a program to raise up to $1 million for traditionally underfunded historically Black colleges and universities. Since MLK Day on Jan. 15, Uncle Nearest has partnered with participating bars and restaurants in Nashville to donate one dollar from every Old Fashioned made using their whiskey to HBCUs.
Now admittedly, that’s a lot of Old Fashioneds required to reach a million bucks, but I feel like Nashville natives and visitors have it in them! Participating bars include Vinyl Tap, 1 Hotel Nashville, Virago and Bourbon Steak, and you can check out the entire list at the program’s website, oldfashionedcocktail.com.
In another initiative, Uncle Nearest has partnered with Jack Daniel’s to host the first-ever Spirits on the Rise Summit on April 17 and 18. The two distilleries are connected through history — Nearest Green was the man who legendarily taught a young Jack Daniel how to distill using a special method of filtration and mellowing that literally defines Tennessee whiskey.
The conference aims to empower BIPOC men and women spirits entrepreneurs by allowing them to connect with employees at Uncle Nearest and Jack Daniel’s as well as leaders from corporations that work with the spirits industry in various capacities, including Hyatt Hotels, Breakthru Beverage, ReserveBar and Republic National Distributing Company.
All of this will take place under the auspices of the Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative, launched in 2020 to advance diversity within the American whiskey industry. The NJAI has already established several programs, including the Leadership Acceleration Program, the Business Incubation Program and the Nearest Green School of Distilling, and this two-day education and networking event will allow NJAI to expand its impact even further.
The impact of the NJAI's work can be seen through the first three graduates of their incubator programming: Du Nord Social Spirits, the inaugural graduate of the Business Incubation Program, along with Tracie Franklin and Byron Copeland, the first two individuals to complete the Leadership Acceleration Program.
Participants at the Spirits on the Rise program will spend Monday afternoon visiting Nearest Green Distillery for tours and a networking reception before switching locales to Lynchburg on Tuesday for a full day of panels, seminars and tours.
Thanks to the initial $5 million pledge from Uncle Nearest and Jack Daniel’s to establish the NJAI, it sure looks like the future of the industry is in good hands.
