Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor McConnell.
Hi Taylor, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Since 2023, The Wilds Sonshine Factory (WSF) has become a premiere rural tourism destination along the historic Route 6 in Kane, PA, featuring a Distillery, Education Center, Gift Shop and Event Venue!
As a new innovative “seed-to-still” distillery, WSF created “Sonshine”, the only spirit in the world to be made with sunflowers. Sonshine is trademarked as. “ a distilled spirit made from the sunflower plant that is planted, grown and harvested in the PA Wilds region.” Similar to how Tequila is truly only Tequila if it is made from the agave plant from a certain region in Mexico, Sonshine is truly only Sonshine if it is made from sunflowers from the PA Wilds. So no matter what, the agriculture to produce Sonshine is endemic to our area! Sonshine is available in Original (60-proof) and a variety of flavors (40-proof), including “814 Black Cherry”, Root Beer, White Peach, Black Raspberry and more! In addition, WSF also produces other spirits including “Hunt Camp Whiskey” (86-proof), as well as a “1898 Bayfront Reserve” Spiced Rum made from sunflowers as well! Visitors can taste-test these one-of-a-kind spirits on the “World’s Longest Table Made from One Continuous Piece of Timber” at WSF!
With a passion for agriculture, WSF incorporated educational components throughout our facility that promote the importance and encourage the sustainability of Pennsylvania’s Natural Resources to visitors of all ages. Our “Agricultural Education Center” is a 60-foot long corridor with interactive elements, educational panels, and digital slideshows of important aspects relating to some of Pennsylvania’s Natural Resources- Timber, Water and Agriculture.. As owner, David Conklin, would say, “We want people of all ages to conceptualize with the fact that: ‘Lumber doesn’t come from a Hardware Store’, ‘Water doesn’t come from a Spigot’, and ‘Food doesn’t come from Grocery Store.’”All of these things that we utilize in our everyday lives, come from natural resources.
WSF’s Gift Shop hosts only Pennsylvania based vendors. Just as unique as our area, the items created by these local vendors are just as rustic and beautiful. Some of the items include handmade jewelry, hand-turned wooden bowls, woodworkings, alpaca socks/hats/gloves/rugs, local photography, resin pour art, outdoor lifestyle apparel, in addition to WSF branded apparel, stickers, drinkware and more!
WSF’s uniquely rustic and breathtaking facility is the perfect atmosphere for so many different festivals and events! Warm summer nights, you can find live music on the stage nestled into the outdoor patio with outdoor seating, fire pits and a waterfall! The large indoor Banquet Hall is the ideal location for workshops or Bingo nights! These spaces, and others onsite, are available for private rentals for reunions, conferences, parties, showers, or other events! The Barrel Hall and Courtyard at Wilds Sonshine offers a uniquely beautiful and rustic wedding venue.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Building a rural small business comes with its challenges. From funding availability and formatting more suited to larger more urban companies, to COVID struggles with construction materials that delayed our Grand Opening, to innovating a completely new spirit from sunflowers that has never been done before, our journey has been an uphill battle, but Wilds Sonshine Factory is flourishing and is filling niches in both the distilling industry, as well as the demand for rural event spaces!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Whole facility is “PA PROUD” – materials were sourced hyper-local, Gift Shop is limited to PA Only Vendors, Agriculture utilized in distilling process is limited to only local agriculture, etc.
Only Sunflower Spirit in the WORLD – Innovated, endemic “Sonshine” is trademarked as “original sunflower spirit made from sunflowers grown in PA Wilds region (NC 13 counties in PA)” – similar to how TRUE tequila can only be from certain region in Mexico, Scotch cam only be from Scotland, etc.
Home of the “World’s Longest Table Made from One-Continuous-Piece of Wood” – Old record was in Australia @ 36-ft long, but Wilds Sonshine now boasts the new record made from a local Eastern Hemlock (PA-state tree) at over 43.5-ft long!
Host of the “PA State Sunflower Festival” – always the weekend before Labor Day in celebration of our Grand Opening Anniversary (Aug 2023), with Food Trucks, Artisan Vendors, Live Music & Car/Bike Show during the 3-day festival!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Think a few steps ahead – Things always pop up that you didn’t expect, but the best way to be prepared for the unexpected is to brainstorm for all the potential possibilities and always have backup plans for every scenario
Networking – it is all in who you know a. Never stop seeking out new connections with other businesses, influential individuals, state/federal officials that can mutually benefit from a connection
Karma – good things come back around – you scratch their back, the opportunity for for the favor to be reciprocated always comes back around
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wildssonshinefactory.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildssonshinefactory?fbclid=IwY2xjawUo3WxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mAWJyaWQRMUtIODBPZ1NsamtHT3hPRUpzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeJrG9omdji8lkW1NDBa6LfQsTLBjPSZlFGIovAIfxziO7wJN7SQswoYtAy90_aem_hOgrtd-Lj4jo4as9A-ObvQ
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildssonshinefactory/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheWildsSonshineFactoryINC
