Staunton

MONDAY, News Leader -24,

OCTOBER 10/24/2022
2022 | NEWSLEADER.COM Page : A01 PART

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Common Wealth Crush Co. has moved into the old Virginia Metalcrafters building in Waynesboro. trial a
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Unique facility
moving into Virginia
Metalcrafters building
Laura Peters
Staunton News Leader
USA TODAY NETWORK

WAYNESBORO — The old Virginia Metalcrafters

building in Waynesboro has a new tenant — this
time brining wine manufacturing to Waynesboro.
Work has been ongoing on the building for sev-
eral months, clearing out thousands of square Common Wealth Crush Co. has located in the old Forme
footage for the prospective Virginia Metalcrafters Virginia Metalcrafters building in Waynesboro. Finan
Marketplace. Now, Common Wealth Crush Co. has The company serves as a place for farmers to take pled g
their grapes and have them crushed and made for a d
See WINE, Page 2A into wine. JOHN M

October 31, 2022 9:19 am (GMT -4:00) Powered by TECNAVIA

will take action if he does not comply records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Flori- fiercest GOP critic, expressed dismay affiliation, understand how dangerous
with the subpoena. da. over the number of Republican candi- that is.”

Staunton News Leader - 10/24/2022 Page : A02

Wine
Continued from Page 1A

announced its location in the building.

The City of Waynesboro received a
$25,000 Virginia Agriculture & Forestry
Industries Development Fund grant for
the winemaking operation to add up to
six new jobs for the area. Common
Wealth Crush Co. was founded in 2022
by brothers Ben and Tim Jordan, along
with Pat Eagan. It is a custom crush in-
cubator that meets a thinktank cooper-
ative, its website said.
Small Virginia producers can bring
their grapes to Common Wealth Crush
Co., have them crushed and made into
wine.
“As small producers ourselves, we
founded CWC to help grow the next gen-
eration of fellow Virginia winemakers,
and bring these minds together under
one roof where the collaboration and
creative juices can flow,” the company’s
website said. “Leveraging strength in
numbers and community, we strive to
generate ‘common wealth’ for all the
makers in our ecosystem.”
The company can provide services
for winemakers that allow for physical
production capability executed by the
company’s experienced cellar team, the
website said. Also, there is a full service
custom crush service, which is geared
towards projects that do not already Common Wealth Crush Co. has located in the old Virginia Metalcrafters building in Waynesboro. The company serves as a
have their own winemaker, allowing for place for farmers to take their grapes and have them crushed and made into wine. LAURA PETERS/THE NEWS LEADER
a full turnkey production option from
each step of the project — crush pad to
bottle. “This is nothing short of a surreal ex- of innovative thought and rapid growth, iron foundry manufacturer.
Other services include: perience for us to see it all living and and particularly to now be saved here in “Fast forward to today, we’re experi-
h Bottling and filtration services breathing in front of us here,” he said Waynesboro.” encing the sights, sounds and smells of
h Vineyard development, planting during a press conference Wednesday. The goal is to have a tasting room new commerce,” Waynesboro Economic
and management consultation “And during October, Virginia Wine open by the spring. Development and Tourism Director
h Brand strategy, financial and other Month, certainly adds to the surreality. I “The ultimate goal is to create Com- Greg Hitchin said during a press confer-
business-related consultation feel like we’ve only scratched the sur- mon Wealth for all the producers that ence Wednesday. “Today we celebrate
According to Eagan, they finished up face of the wine growing potential in our will ultimately be using our facility and the second chapter in a reinvention of
their inaugural vintage and have experiences in this region, and particu- be involved in our program, and as an this building. It’s a testimony for the
pressed about 165 tons of Virginia fruit, larly here in the Shenandoah Valley. We extension of Virginia wine as a whole,” reinvention of the City of Waynesboro:
which is about 10,000 cases of Virginia consider ourselves immensely lucky to Eagan said. “We look forward to raising old buildings finding new life ... textile
wine. be involved in the industry during a time glasses with you all, our tasting room manufacturing has evolved in new fab-
will be open in the spring so we don’t rics and an industry is adopting and
have anything quite yet to share with adapting to meet new global demand.
you but everything you see in tank and As a city renaissance evolves, this new
barrel will be available come to spring commerce and reuse of a historical
and the inaugural vintage.” building is an important plot in the new
TODAY’S BONUS CODE

Over the next three years, the compa-
ny is committing to add value to more
than $1.1 million of Virginia-grown
grapes while helping new grape growers
and winemakers refine their craft and
quilt that will make up the fabric of the
city for decades. We salute the foresight
of the building owners the dedication of
the entrepreneur team that put this to-
gether and the creativity of the building

QPF994D
eventually found their own wineries, a
release from Gov. Glenn Youngkin said.
Most recently, it was announced a
coffee roasting business as a tenant of
the Metalcrafters building called Happ
BONUS CODE Coffee Roasters. The biggest tenant is
Basic City Beer Co., which established
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Three businessmen from Harrison-
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and more! Waynesboro — John Hall, Christopher
Mast and Paul Cline — purchased the
Metalcrafters site for $725,000 in 2013.
VM Acquisitions Waynesboro, now
owned by John and Chuck Hall, along
with Mike Hendricksen, received a
$600,000 grant from the Industrial Re-
vitalization Fund program, which is
awarded through the Virginia Depart-
ment of Housing and Community De-
velopment.
In the 1930s, the building became
Virginia Metalcrafters, where house-
hold items were made to be sold in Colo-
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nial Williamsburg. Previously, it was an
design.”
According to Hitchin, there is still
nearly 30,000 square feet of potential
space to be filled in the building, which
will become Virginia Metalcrafters Mar-
ketplace. The property, which is man-
aged by VM Acquisitions Waynesboro,
is looking for tenants as they renovate
the remainder of the building. The prop-
erty is located in an enterprise and tour-
ism zone, so there are a number of in-
centives for new businesses, Hitchin
said.
For more information on Common
Wealth Crush Co. visit commonwealth-
crush.com. The Virginia Metalcrafters
building is located at 1010 E. Main St. in
Waynesboro.
Laura Peters is the trending topics re-
porter at The News Leader. Have a news
tip on local trends or businesses? Or a
good feature? You can reach reporter
Laura Peters (she/her) at lpeters@new-
sleader.com. Follow her @peterslaura.
Subscribe to The News Leader at new-
sleader.com.

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