Letter on HB 669 - Joe Bidinger, Echo Spirits Distilling Co. (May 26, 2020)

Summary

Letter dated May 26, 2020, from Joe Bidinger, Founder of Echo Spirits Distilling Co., to Chairwoman Gayle Manning and the Commerce and Labor Committee of the Ohio House of Representatives, in support of HB 669. Joe Bidinger writes as a small distillery in Columbus, OH, and states that the distillery turned its stills on for the first time in October 2019 and that by early March 2020 it estimated it was only weeks away from opening its cocktail bar. The letter says the pandemic and the bar and restaurant shutdowns halted that process. It supports making to-go cocktails permanent and allowing serving areas to expand into adjacent outdoor areas.

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Joe Bidinger
Echo Spirits Distilling Co.
985 W. 6th Ave.
Columbus, OH 43212

May 26, 2020

Chairwoman Gayle Manning
Commerce and Labor Committee
Ohio House of Representatives


Dear Chairwoman and Members of the Committee,


As a small distillery in Columbus, OH, I cannot stress enough how important HB 669 is to our ability to
make it through the current crisis. Echo Spirits Distilling Co. has been an in-progress dream for several
years, and in October 2019, we turned our stills on for the first time to make spirits for Ohioans. We
steadily grew our operations over the following months, investing heavily into launching our cocktail
bar. By early March 2020, we estimated we were only weeks away from opening our doors to the public.
The pandemic, and by extension the bar and restaurant shutdowns, have ground that process to a halt.
With City and State agencies operating remotely and adapting to running business differently, the last
two months have shown little to no progress in completing our last steps to open our bar. We have
continued to employ our bar manager over the past months at the expense of taking salaries ourselves.
We feel responsibility for and loyalty toward our lone employee, as many small businesses do.

Though the economy is beginning the process of “reopening”, it is not in the way we knew it before the
pandemic. Bars and restaurants are seeing reduced revenue, and we expect that to continue for the
foreseeable future. Thus, granting distilleries, breweries, bars, restaurants, etc. any means of doing what
they can to remain in business is the only responsibly course of action to take. The financial impacts of
this closure will be seen for years to come, not just over the past two months or the rest of this summer.
These changes must be made permanent to allow for the viability of our businesses.

Specifically – the people of Ohio have shown that to-go cocktails can be responsibly made, transported,
and consumed at home. Many people will have a cocktail, beer, or glass of wine at home with a takeout
meal and providing those businesses the opportunity to provide that to their customers increases
revenue and allows them to create a full experience.

Allowing expansion of serving areas into adjacent outdoor areas increases viable seating area when we
are in most need of it. Many breweries and distilleries, like us, are in small spaces. Adhering to social
distancing rules, as we should, will cause an extreme stress on our seating capacity. Most business
models like ours rely on having a certain number of seats to be viable. At even 50% capacity, it would be
a struggle to pay for the basic needs of the business like turning the lights on for the day – the overhead
is simply too great. By being able to expand outdoors, we can fulfill this need and give customers the
experience they desire.

To be frank, my distillery may not be viable at this scale unless this bill passes. Our bar is where our
stability will come from over the next few months of growth. Further, bars and restaurants are our
primary customers, not individual consumers. Allowing them to thrive allows us to thrive. If this bill does
not pass, our investments into this business plan may wind up costing us the business entirely.

Finally, it is imperative that all businesses of this kind – distilleries, breweries, wineries, bars, and
restaurants – all be able to take advantage of these measures. We are all in this together, and the
playing field must be level. Though I own a distillery, I want our friends in other, related industries to do
well. As a consumer, I also want to be able to take advantage of what they have to offer me, and the
pandemic has made that a challenge.

Thank you for your consideration of this bill.



Joe Bidinger
Founder, Echo Spirits Distilling Co.


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