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Céilí Doyle | The Columbus Dispatch
SHAWNEE — Last summer, restoration of a former coal-mining town was just a faint glimmer of a promise: that outsiders could redevelop a part of southeast Ohio while still maintaining the region's structural and historical integrity.
Six months later, Black Diamond Development, led by a group of southern Ohio investors, has begun transforming Main Street in Shawnee, a village in southern Perry County.
More: How does a former coal-mining town reinvent itself?
More: Trump promised to bring back coal in Appalachia. Here's why that didn't happen.
The old Shawnee Tavern, rebranded as the Black Diamond Tavern, draws a full crowd — within COVID-19 safety parameters — to Wednesday Wing Night. Town residents and Ohioans from nearby communities are drawn to what seems to be the only area restaurant outside Athens and Logan that's not a drive-thru.
Down the street, construction is underway for what will be a co-working space, a retail shop and Airbnb rentals on the second stories. One building, originally constructed in 1912, will eventually house local beer and spirits crafted by students from Hocking College’s fermentation science program in the Black Diamond Brewery & Distillery.
“The plan is to initially focus upon southeast Ohio, and if we have the success, we believe we can have, we will expand beyond a regional beer,” Black Diamond Development company spokeswoman Jenny Maher, said.
Sean Terrell, dean of workforce development at Hocking College, jumped at the chance for his students to develop product specific to southeast Ohio that would both honor the region’s history and offer them the opportunity to boost the economy of the town about 70 miles southeast of Columbus.
“From an academic standpoint, my focus is giving the students the skills and knowledge they need to be successful. That's my number one priority,” he said. “But do I hope these students will give back to the region? Yes, that’s the dream. That’s the ultimate dream.”
The future Black Diamond Brewery & Distillery will open by spring 2022, Maher said. The space once served as the town's auto dealership and originally was the historical Harigle Garage, back when cars were a lot smaller and not everyone in Shawnee drove.
“When construction is finalized, there will be an outdoor patio connected behind the brewery that will double as additional event space for the region,” Maher said.
And above the brewery there will be additional Airbnbs, she added, which Black Diamond investors hope eco-tourists will be attracted to when the 400-spot campground next to Wayne National Forest, just outside of town, opens this fall.
Thirteen miles south of Shawnee, inside The Lodge at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Eric Hedin explained that the college saw an opportunity in 2019 to establish a fermentation program after microbreweries and distilleries took off across Ohio.
“Beer started civilization,” the instructor and master brewer/distiller said. “Hocking College wants to train people for the jobs of today and tomorrow.”
Hedin said that his students crafted two beers currently served on tap in the Black Diamond Tavern: a lager and an IPA.
Two of the program’s recent graduates were part of the group that developed distinct beers for Black Diamond. They created the recipes, retooled product and watched over the school’s three-barrel system.
Hocking is also investing in a beer-canning operation that Black Diamond will help fund in order to distribute the product more seamlessly, Hedin added.
“Currently the Black Diamond Lager and Black Diamond IPA sales are running neck and neck with Bud Light at the Black Diamond Tavern,” Maher said. “No small feat given the fact that Anheuser-Busch has been producing beer for over 165 years.”
Standing in the Lodge, nursing a sample of his students’ banana clove-inspired wheat beer, Hedin said teaching his students the importance of giving back to the region is an important part of his role.
“Sharing my knowledge is so rewarding,” he said. “And beer is in our blood so much — we need to share it.”
Hocking College President Betty Young explained that regional development is a tenet of the college’s strategic plan to reduce generational poverty in rural Appalachian Ohio and stimulate the local economy.
“When we first begin a new program such as the fermentation science program people will question that, 'Do you really think you should be brewing spirits? You're a college,'" she said. "Yeah we're a college, but we're not afraid to say these industries need a workforce and we are here to provide that."
Young sees Hocking College as another branch of advocacy for southeast Ohio, whether that's pushing local and state representatives to bring jobs to Appalachia or partnering with Black Diamond Development in Shawnee.
"We always have our ears open to people who want to bring work into our region and how we, as Hocking College, can facilitate them bringing jobs here, developing ventures here or whatever it takes to grow the region," she said.
Céilí Doyle is a Report for America corps member and covers rural issues in Ohio for The Dispatch. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation at https://bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.
cdoyle@dispatch.com
@cadoyle_18
February 01, 2021 at 06:35PM
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'The ultimate dream': Craft beer forges Hocking College partnership in southeast Ohio village of Shawnee - The Columbus Dispatch
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