 First, I'd just like to welcome everyone here. My name is Jason Siner. I'm Director of Sales and Operations for Peak Drift Brewing Company. I appreciate everyone coming out today to this awesome ribbon cutting for our production facility. We are here today to celebrate the launch of Peak Drift Brewing Company, the official launch, in our new state-of-the-art production facility. This is an amazing operation and is all possible to the hard work and many amazing people, trust me when I say there's a lot of different entities that were involved in this facility and a lot of people and discussions. So it's been the last three years. I've been on this project for a little over three years. It's been interesting to say the least to do this post-pandemic. First, I wanna recognize my amazing Peak Drift Brewing team. Again, this is all of our production team, our sales team that we put together so far here in Columbia. It's truly, I'm very blessed at the group that we have. They're a very diverse, interesting group. They come from different places. If, actually, you're gonna have to stand up, I think the rest of the crew's in back, but if you are part of our Peak Drift team, please stand up. The rest are either hiding at the beer or they're hiding in the back. We would like to especially thank all of our elected officials that are here today. Again, part of this project is, and Sarah will get into it more, is a very complex project, which I enjoyed being able to utilize the complex project to our advantage. So if you're one of our elected officials attending, if you could stand up real quick, please, we'd appreciate that. Next, we will recognize all of our partners in this project, and there are many. Everyone from mash burn construction and countless different vendors and suppliers and subcontractors, and as you can see, this facility is put together with equipment from about six different countries, including the US, four different states in the US, maybe not a great decision when you're trying to do a Zoom with all of them. Can you imagine doing that and everyone from Slovenia to California? That can be fun. But if you're a part of one of our partners on this project, please stand up and be recognized. I know the mash burn guys are here, that's for all of them, thank you. So, and last but certainly not least, very special thank you to specifically Greg and Sarah Middleton and the entire Middleton family for really giving us the resources and the ability to do this project. So, I will let Greg is not here today, I'll let Sarah mention that, but I would love for the Middleton family to stand up and Evelyn, Lauren, that's y'all are all here. Papa Dave. All right, so one of the things I will mention about Sarah and Greg that just personally from my perspective, incredible brother and sister yes, which can make meetings amazing and fun. I have four older sisters, oh man. So I know that sibling stuff, but frankly, they're just, they're amazing visioneers. They're entrepreneurs, they're forward thinkers, they want us to be better than what the current expectations are and I just absolutely love that about them. So really without them and their vision this project wouldn't be possible. So at this time I'm gonna welcome Sarah Middleton Styles up to the podium to keep going. Well, first of all, good morning everyone thank you for celebrating here with us today. I'm Sarah Middleton Styles, one of the co-founders and co-owners of Peachtreef Baroon Company. My business partner as Jason so eloquently put it is my sibling, Greg Middleton and who is also supposed to be my co-host today. Unfortunately, he can't be here with us as he's taking his CDL license exams, which after Googling what that was, I asked him, why exactly are you getting a commercial driver's license and missing this event? And I kid you not, I'm gonna read his quote. His response was, because I just bought a big tractor and I wanna drive the Peachtrift 18-wheelers, right? So if you see him around this week or anytime soon be sure and congratulate him on his ability to legally drive really big trucks. Our mission here at Peachtrift is ultimately Jason was talking about the complexities, but at the end of the day, it's pretty simple. It's to celebrate life's peak moments, the moments that no matter how big or how small, when you finally reach that peak moment that you've worked so hard for, it's the moment where you can finally sit back, relax and drift away. And so some of my favorite Peachtrift moments are reaching the top of a mountain on a backpacking trip or hitting the slopes on a snowboard and on the way down, my mind just kind of relaxes and it drifts away. And everyone has exciting events in their lives or things that they're doing like we're all doing today that we need to celebrate. But we can also celebrate little moments or big moments like Greg's, for example, who will be celebrating his CDL license later this week and most likely will have a Peachtrift brew in his hand as he does that. And if you know him, that was really funny, so. Peachtrift is ultimately here to create and be a part of an innovative local craft beverage community and to create an experience around that that cherishes the good things in life. For me and for my brother, it's the mountains, it's the oceans, the lakes, the rivers, but most of all, the people who like us have a passion and a drive to help create life's peak moments within your own lives, your community, and your friends and your family. So we are ultimately dedicated to innovation, sustainability, industry collaboration, and supporting our local communities. And this is only at phase one, as you can clearly see. Peachtrift is soon gonna be the most state-of-the-art brewing and production facility and experience, hopefully in the nation. That's the end goal that's certainly in our local communities. And we look forward to celebrating not only the positive impact that Peachtrift and our brands and our community and our team are gonna bring, but also the endless possibilities. So today is only the beginning. Get really excited for the rest. And on behalf of the entire Peachtrift team, thank you all so much for being here and celebrating with us today. Thank you. Now I would like to introduce and welcome a very special guest, South Carolina's Speaker of the House, Merle Smith, Jr. The Honorable Merle Smith, Jr. was elected to represent District 67 in the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2000. And after years of incredible work for the state on April 28th, 2022, Smith was elected to be the 61st Speaker of the House of Representatives, beginning in his term in May of 2022. Throughout his years in the House, the Honorable Merle Smith, Jr. has worked diligently to help cultivate an environment for businesses such as ours and establish roots and find growth. And we thank him for that. We truly are honored to have him speak today. So please help me welcome the Honorable Merle Smith, Jr. But thank you. It's an honor to be here today and be a part of this. As you know, you heard him. Obviously, I'm a member of the legislature and the South Carolina Speaker of the House, but more importantly, I love beers, you can tell. And so I want to say this, South Carolina right now is booming. We had over $10.3 billion of capital investment to this state last year and 14,000 jobs that accompanied that. And you see us all the time get together and celebrate when we have these announcements for industry and large employers. But what we must remember is our small employers, our small businesses. They are the backbone of this state and of our economy. And I cannot tell you how excited I am to come and be a part of a celebration of a facility like this. You know, you look at it and you look at what investment in businesses like this means to, not only to the state, but to your community. And I look and I see one of the goals of this is to transform this area of Main Street and make it a thriving area like the rest of Main Street. Well, this is what we as elected officials and people who care about our community need to make sure that we take the time to invest and partner in this entrepreneurship because government has a role to play in businesses and we need to foster and encourage them to come and be a part of our community. And let me tell you from someone that's from something South Carolina, what a brewery did for us in our community. It made one of our Main Streets a thriving area of something to which people come all the time and say, wow, I didn't know y'all had this. You even have a brewery over here. And so these are things that we need to celebrate. And this is no small part happens because of the willingness to people to take a risk and build facilities like this. But it also needs us as members of the General Assembly to make sure that these can exist through laws. You have seen a lot of support through the craft brewing industry over the years. It's been an explosive growth and we've had to adapt to our laws there. And I think the General Assembly has been a good partner in helping that. And I can tell you this right now, as long as I'm leaving the house, we're gonna continue to partner with you to make sure that these places and these breweries continue to thrive because they provide entertainment, they provide quality of life, and that is important to South Carolina. So I'd like to congratulate you on this grand opening. I look forward to the next expansion. I know this is gonna be a centerpiece of North Main Street down here and I am proud to be a part of it. So thank you very much for allowing me to be here today. So next up, I'd like to introduce and welcome Councilman Paul Livingston. Paul Livingston has been a member of the Richland County Council for more than 25 years and has made significant and long lasting contributions in the state of South Carolina, well versed and trained in the area of economic development. He has played an integral role in attracting major industry and further economic development in the state, Richland County and the entire Midlands area. Please join me in welcoming Councilman Paul Livingston. When I walked in this morning, all I could say was wow. And I said wow because in my past role as Chair of the Richland County Council, my current role as Chair of the Economic Development Committee, I've had the opportunity to show this building to so many economic development prospects. And you can't imagine what it looked like. It got so bad that I stopped showing it. So this morning when I walked in, like I said, what a surprise. I cannot tell you and half of the folks here cannot imagine what you've done to this particular facility and what it means to our community. I'm so truly excited to be a part of this celebration and I'm honored to be here today on behalf of the Richland County Council and all the citizens that we represent in the Richland County. I'm thrilled for the opening of this facility. What it means to the North Maine community. And you know, it all started with us really working together. It started with collaboration, you know. When I think back with transition of the Penny program and our working together with the City of Columbia and working together with the State of South Carolina to making this a priority. Making sure that we do what we need to do to make sure businesses locate in this community. And you know, some would say, well, if you bill it, provide infrastructure, they'll come and there's some who are denies. Well, this is clearly evident that it was in the best instance of our community to do what we did for this particular community. My fellow council members and I are tremendous invested in driving development in communities that we serve. We're very concerned about enhancing quality of life for all individuals in our community and for all of our communities. Community partners are vital to collaboration and it's the key to success in our community and we're gonna make sure we continue to do that. We know that our role is to make sure we create an economic environment and we have to use whatever tools we can do to do that and we'll make sure we continue to do that. You know, for example, making sure that we provide the appropriate infrastructure for this sidewalks, lighting, tax incentives, all those things that we can provide. Now, and I want you to know now, in North Maine Corp, when it comes to the transmission penny, I mean, you got the rose rolls. You know, a lot of folks are pretty jealous because when we're in North Maine, you know, you got nice sidewalks, you street-wide needs, lights, you know, and you tilt this underground utility. You know how many folks are jealous of what we did in this particular community? Because you deserve it and because we knew what it would do on this particular community. So by working together, we have a great opportunity to recruit businesses and like Pete Drift, for example, and other establishments that are great for our community. Rest around, shop, things on a large scale. So we're so excited about your admission to our community. We're gonna continue to do all we can do to make sure you're successful. Your success is a success for all the citizens of Richland County instead of Columbia. And so we'll continue to make sure that's the case. You know, I clearly understand that the role of government should be to create a nourishing environment for businesses to flourish and make money and just stay out of the way and let development happen. And we'll continue to try to do that. So again, on behalf of the county council, all the citizens we represent, thank you so very, very much. Let them also recognize, so at least one of my colleagues are here, discretion barren, stand up or raise your hand or whatever. So again, with some really surprised what we have here today and we know it's much more to come. And again to the militants, thank you, thank you for your true commitment to our community and please continue to let us know what we can do to make it better for you. Okay, and now I would like to introduce and welcome Councilwoman Dr. Adity Bussells. Councilwoman Bussells has always been a fierce advocate for the people in the local communities. I was not allowed to tell the story how I met her. You can tell the story. She was campaigning at a bar in La Vista. She was really campaigning and she was going around and to me, I thought that was great. I would have probably never met her otherwise and maybe I wouldn't have voted for it because you gotta go where the voters are. Anyways, she's been instrumental in advocating for economic growth, community investment and equitable opportunities throughout Columbia. Dr. Bussells has always been deeply involved in the community and I'm honored she's here to speak at our event. Please help me welcome Councilwoman Dr. Adity Bussells. Good morning, good morning. I am very excited to be here on behalf of the city of Columbia. I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge some of my colleagues that are in the audience. Councilwoman Tina Herbert, this is District One. I'd like for her to stand. She is here and has been a huge supporter of the work that we're doing. Councilman Will Brennan, who is in the back and I believe I saw my counterpart. There he is, Councilman Howard Duvall, our other at-large member. Sarah, the turnout, and I said this to you even before we started, is a testament to you and your leadership and Greg's leadership and your ability to bring people together from all walks of life to get excited about Columbia. Not many people know but I have the fortune of seeing Sarah, Scott, sometimes Greg, bright and early in the morning almost every day because we work out together and that is really a time for us to talk about the ways in which we can make our city grow and be a destination for young people to come and live and work and play. And that was actually what really attracted me to Sarah and why our friendship has grown over the last couple of years in the first place. She understood that Columbia doesn't need to be a destination we see in the rear view mirror. It's a place that we can really call our own because it's special, it has some great things going on and sometimes we undersell it, right? We don't think about all of the amazing things that Columbia has to offer, especially for the next generation. And so while on paper it feels like it's just a brewery, I'm here to remind you all that it's so much more than that. It's increasing quality of life. It's bringing millennials, those that are looking for smaller cities to plant their roots in to come choose Columbia over other places like, I don't know, Greenville and Charleston. And most importantly it's cultivating a local economy, right? And I think the most special part about this opening is that we have local entrepreneurs doing it. They are deeply invested in making sure that not only this business succeeds but that there's community buy-in, that there is a long-term plan for engaging all of the different stakeholders that care and live in Columbia. City Council has spent a long time over this past year really emphasizing the importance of growing our small businesses because when small businesses succeed, communities succeed and when small businesses are healthy, we have the resources in order to ensure their communities are healthy as well. And so if Mayor Rickman was here today, I think he'd probably say something that this is a huge example of we are open. We are open. We're open to some exciting new ways to do business. We're open to new ideas and this is just one piece of this brewery which is very exciting. We're gonna have a whole other side and what I love about the Middletons is they're always dreaming big. So every time we talk about what this is gonna look like, Sarah, Scott, and Greg, they always have all of these grand ideas and they bring it to life. So I'm very excited to see how it all turns out. Looking forward to enjoying some beer with you, Jason. And I wanna say congratulations on behalf of the Mayor and City Council for such an amazing opening. I'd like to introduce and welcome the President and CEO of the Columbia Chamber, Karl Blackstone. Karl Blackstone has always been focused on creating a business environment here in Columbia where businesses prosper. His experience working with small businesses and large businesses as well as professional trade associations on a local, state, and federal level has enabled him to look long term at how today's actions impact our community's future. Karl is confident that Columbia is the perfect place for businesses both new and existing to grow and thrive. And now we're confident, Pete Drift will do so. Please help me welcome Karl Blackstone. Greetings, what a good crowd. Thank y'all very much for having me and the speaker. Thank you for coming. We appreciate it very much. This is an exciting day for all of us, quite frankly, when this was announced a couple of years ago and then going through the pandemic, we were like, oh, is this gonna happen? And it's here. And it's unbelievable the change that has occurred in this facility. But I'm more excited about what's coming because the Middletons have proven they're trend setters. And when they put their money where their mouth is and they start investing in a part of Columbia that has never been involved with in years, you look at the work they did downtown on Main Street and now in Noma. Sabrina, your place is gonna be thriving here. Really, this is awesome. And it shows the power of entrepreneurship. It shows the power of really, as I said, putting your money where your mouth is. They're willing to do it. And they invest, they're harder in money, but it's going to be reciprocated many times over by others that are jumping in and seeing the success here. So yes, we've got a building and we've got expensive equipment and great tasting beer. But we always, what we're also gonna see is the quality of life in North Maine that we've not seen in quite a while. And that's exciting. So between the growth of USC and the Med School and the North Maine, this place is gonna be happening. And it does take a village. It takes a lot of people to do this from the partnership with the city and the county and the state. Thank y'all all for your investment. And your willingness to see the future as well as the militants for one, taking that challenge and willing to take the risk and invest a lot of money because it's paying off and it's changing lives. And so that's the best part because we're gonna stand here two years from now and other buildings are gonna be popping up and new investment dollars are gonna pop up and it's gonna be awesome. So thanks all for y'all coming today. We thank you, Sarah. Sorry, the CDL exam came at the same time for Greg, but we're excited to celebrate with you and we appreciate the invitation to be included. Thanks. Again, I just wanna say thank you all so much for being here. All of our elected officials, all of our speakers here today. There is one person that Carl slightly called out that I'm gonna make her stand, Ms. Sabrina Odom. She's rolling her eyes. I know you gotta stand up. So Sabrina is a powerhouse. She's quick. So years ago when this project was initially announced, Sabrina reached out to me on behalf of the North Columbia Business Association. She said, I know you're so busy, but you have to be on our board. We are just so excited to support this community and what y'all are doing and how can we help and how do we all get involved? And she doesn't only just do that for me and for businesses, she does that for everyone in this entire community. So truly I really wanted to say thank you very much. We very much appreciate you. And then I gotta pull up my other stuff because I forgot the rest, okay. Oh, this is the fun part. Okay, now I'd like to introduce everyone to our superstar, Master Brewer, Ashley Kinerchort. We are so blessed to have a woman of her caliber, her talent, and her passion. While her official title is certified brew master, I usually refer to her as the badass. I didn't know if I should say that or not, but I do do that. Who I'm not only grateful to call a member of this team, but a really close friend who we are just learning so much from each other, from this team, from this project, and we're just so happy to have you on board. So please join me in welcoming Ashley Kinerchort. I was already a little nervous, but now I'm blushing, thank you, so that was really, really sweet. It has been just an awesome opportunity that the Middletons have given me, couple seconds to page through here, there we are. So yeah, so most of all, first of all, good morning, and thank you so much for being here today. This has been a big, huge project, something bigger than I've ever really taken on, and I think I hope so for the family and the team as well. Especially thank you to Sarah, Greg, and Jason for this amazing opportunity to do what I love, which is making amazing beer, amazing beverages, and just craft things in general. So this was really a dream opportunity for me. Not only just to move down to build this, but to move to a new community, and I love what Sarah really said earlier about building a community. It's not just craft beer we're making, we're being part of a community, part of a craft, whether it's food, whether it's beverages, whether it's like the local arts and crafts that I've been really enjoying, and really just getting to know the neighborhood and the state of South Carolina as well. So ever since I took this job, the main thing that has mattered to me is to make a great product and making it the right way. So this production facility has everything we need to create a great product for you. It's a state of art packaging system, which you all see back there. That is the kind of the big scary stuff that I have a little bit less experience with. So that has been just so amazing to be able to get the startup installation and then finally seeing it run for the first time has been just wonderful. Our in-house fruit processing equipment. So we can make better sours, ciders, and even some really fun, smoothie heart seltzer stuff. Not only can we get the freshest of fruit, but we can actually source locally. So we've already been working with some farms to get some special fruits that we can make our beers local and special and better than just buying it from wherever is the easiest. Our surface tension technology, which will allow our brewery to produce not only alkaline water, but also some more natural cleaning solutions so we can cut down the use of our chemicals, be more green, be more sustainable, and just put a little bit less back into the water and kind of doing it in the right way. Our onsite state-of-the-art lab for testing our products to ensure that optimal quality, that is something in my previous experience I have not had the opportunity to really have the kind of equipment that we have here today. So that's really exciting for me as well. Our membrane filtration system. So our herd seltzers and really, really great non-alcoholic beer. I know a lot of people are very skeptical about that, but with this piece of equipment, we can make some really cool stuff. So even if you don't want to have some alcohol, you can have some of the excellent stuff almost exactly like it tastes, just minus the booze. And that's just kind of the beginning. This is only phase one. We have so much more planned. We have so much more yet to add and we are all just so, so excited. And last, but definitely not least, but the people, so not only the Middletons for giving, not only myself, but our whole team is wonderful opportunity and for the community as well. But from top to bottom, people behind Peak Drift are absolutely incredible and you'll have an opportunity, I think to meet the whole team today. And that is something that I just wanted to say thank you to our brewery team, Jordan, Logan and Tom. I could not have done any of this without them. Jason, Chris and Casey on the sales. I mean, even Casey has been a part-time brewer assistant since smoke, since we opened the brew pub. So she's been my official keg cleaner and I hope that has been as exciting for her as it was for me to have that extra set of hands when I really needed it the most. So thank you everybody again for being here. It was such an exciting time for us. We've put so much hard work into it and we're so excited to finally bring y'all in so you can see what we've been doing here. And we hope you enjoy this time and also hope you enjoy Peak Drift beverage. If not a beer today, more non-alcoholic stuff will be rolled out down the line. And also don't forget to ask or at least look for, take some pictures of our beers out at your favorite retailer, whether it's local watering hole or you grab some and enjoy it in the privacy of your own home. Thank you very much.