SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The front door may still be a temporary piece of wood, but with a new deck out front and bright coats of paint on some of the walls, progress is definitely being made at NWT Brewing Co.'s brew pub planned for 50 Avenue.
Owner and head brewer Fletcher Stevens tells Yellowknifer he and his wife have been tackling a never-ending list of things to do. "Things have been just crazy lately," he said.
"Just keeping the ball moving and squeezing out a batch of beer, it's kind of cumbersome."
Marina Stevens is currently in Calgary checking out lights and kitchen equipment for the building, while her husband oversees the floor installation being laid in the brewery room this week.
"We're about a month away before the building is turned over to us," he said, pointing out possession of the building is supposed to take place on April 15.
"It's probably give or take five days."
The tanks for the brewery are also expected to start their 30-hour journey from Portland, Oregon at the end of the month.
Fletcher said he's hoping for a grand opening of the brew pub in June.
"We have a weekend in mind but we don't want to release that yet. It's still kind of early to tell."
One of the major challenges still ahead is finalizing the licensing, which can't take place until the building is fully complete.
"We really stuck our neck out without even knowing if we're going to get a licence in the end," Fletcher said.
While doing things in Yellowknife often comes with delays, Fletcher said it was the designing phase that actually took much longer than expected. He advised any business looking into construction work to plan as much of the process ahead of time.
He also stressed the importance of staying organized due to the numerous forms and permits required.
"There's so many different areas you have to have somebody on board and organized so the applications are going in."
Despite the need for multiple applications due to the brew pub's unique status, NWT Brewing Co.'s has received some grants from the NWT Business Development and Investment Corporation and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, one of them as recently as last week.
However, Fletcher said the amounts are fairly small, estimating they only total about two per cent of his capital costs so far.
Shipping fees for many supplies, including sacks of grain and the 53-foot truck needed to bring up the company's brewing tanks, are up to twice as much as those compared to Alberta.
"It's about the cost of a brand new small car," Fletcher explained, pointing out the trailer returns to Portland basically empty.
Despite all the delays and challenges, the Stevens' are still optimistic about the future of their business and advise others blazing their own path to do the same.
"In the end, we go into the business for ourselves, we want to be our own boss and we're looking for that extra something the city is lacking."
