McHenry County News FRE
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Volume 7 Issue 1
DECEMBER 29, 2016
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Wondertucky Tasting Room holds grand opening By Anne Eickstadt, CORRESPONDENT
On Wednesday, December 21, 2016, at 1:00 pm, Woodstock’s Mayor Sager, the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce and Wondertucky business partners all gathered together to celebrate the Grand Opening of the new Wondertucky tasting room. “The tasting room has an occupancy of upwards of 40 people. I am excited to see the next step in my business plan coming to fruition,” David Cunningham, founder of Wondertucky Distillery & Bottling, Inc., says. Eventually down the road, we would like to do events.” “Quality Tech Services pulled it off in 2 weeks.” Quality Tech Services people are actually taking care of a few last details as members of the Chamber of Commerce enter the building. They have dealt with whatever repairs and revisions needed to be made to the building at 315 E. South Street. (The last building on the left as you approach the one-lane stone railway trestle.) Cunningham tells me, “We made it to the shelf last year but we couldn’t get the tasting room done in time. We have it this year. The tasting room allows us to sell directly to the public. The distillery only allowed us to sell to distributers. Now we are allowed to sell 2500 gallons straight to the public.”
“We start making our own whiskey here today. We have certified American white oak barrels for the whiskey,” says Cunningham. “The distillery is a separate business from the tasting room, it runs under different regulations. That’s why we built a wall there.” Wondertucky Distillery is one of the increasingly popular fad of craft distilleries. Craft distilleries have developed greatly following the success of craft microbreweries. “There’s a lot of passion that goes behind all this, especially for a craft boutique distillery. We manufacture top shelf, hand crafted, fine spirits,” says Cunningham. “We’re the first legal distillery in McHenry County,” says Cunningham. “We are artisans in the flavor of booze. We take it to the next level.” Cunningham purchases his grains and other ingredients locally and specializes in small batch production. He has been putting in seventeen-hour days preparing for his dream – the new tasting room. “The Wondertucky Corn Whiskey is a recipe that I have been making since I was 13 years old. It’s the same recipe.” Originally, Cunningham wanted to open his distillery in Wonder Lake but a site in Woodstock proved better for his needs. “I wanted a name that the locals would relate to but make it universal also. We make bourbon
ANNE EICKSTADT PHOTO McHenry County News
David Cunningham wields the scissors to cut the Grand Opening tape with the help of Mayor Sager, members of the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce and business partners.
also so we attached ourselves to the wonderful state of Kentucky – the bourbon capital of the world.” “We’re still a small company, but we’re growing by the day.” Won-
dertucky is now sold in over forty liquor store chains and bars across northern Illinois. “I couldn’t keep up. I gave the recipe to a company for bourbon,” Cunningham says.
“I’d love to hit the European market within five years. That’s a big goal.” Information on Wondertucky can be found online at www.wondertuckydistillery.com.
Matrix 4 celebrates 40th anniversary
By Anne Eickstadt, CORRESPONDENT
Patricia Miller, grand-daughter of the founder of Matrix IV, used to run around the office with her sisters pretending to be office assistants. Today Patricia runs the business. “I took over a business that was basically dead. There was no team and the economy wasn’t there. I live in Crystal Lake, the business is family owned and I wondered, ‘Can it be revived?’ It’s been a work in process.” “The four in Matrix IV was originally because he had four children. Over time, the meaning changed to the four phases of development at the business: Design, Engineer, Tool, and Manufacturing.” “Nobody knows Roman numerals anymore. If they heard ‘Matrix I-V”, they thought we handled hospital supplies. We needed to modernize the name while keeping the meaning so we switched to Matrix 4 instead.” “This building is 90 years old. It used to be the Brown Camera Company until 1979 when Matrix IV moved in. We debated whether or not to move but we have been in this location for 35 years and there is something emotional about it. We decided not to move, but to renovate.” “I wanted to stay here and grow here. To change this place from the inside This ‘guitar’ created by the out. We painted and put in new LED staff for Patricia Miller is lights. We knocked down walls and put made of material purged in spaces which are more collaborative,” from one of the Matrix 4 she tells me. “We have about 90,000 machines at the end of a square feet here.” project. “I sat with my team the first year I was here. I didn’t have an office. We worked together and they could get to know me and we developed mutual respect. When I was in California last year, they painted my office and moved me in here.” “We have the largest 3D printer on the market. It prints without a mold. We use it at the front end of development or we use the item instantly,” Miller says. “We were asked to make new lids for stadium cups. We bought lots of lids for cups and decided what we liked and what we didn’t like and created something we all liked.” “We make the plastic parts for fire extinguishers; safety equipment; cosmetic applications; display holders for mascaras lipsticks, nail polish,
ANNE EICKSTADT PHOTOS McHenry County News
Patricia Miller stands next to a display of various products manufactured by Matrix 4.
etc. that you can find in the stores; medical devices; plastic pieces for washers and dryers; plastic parts for GM, Chrysler, Ford vehicles, handles for a fire extinguishers, latches for a pool cover... Over the years we have made so many things and we are adding more diversity in our customer base.” “I run at about 60% capacity. When I took over we were running at 10 – 20% capacity so we have grown quite a lot,” Miller says. “Starting in January we are running three shifts with 43 people. We are adding jobs and supporting the local economy. I want to create some fun signage so people know what we do.”
“Over the last two years we have done a lot of the heavy lifting: cleaning the building, updating the machinery and equipment, bringing on a team, introducing more talent and experience, reenergizing our brand and our strategy, building great relationships with our clients and partners, being more present in the community, learning who makes things and who to work with in the area.” “We are poised to go forward and do great things.” Matrix 4 is located at 610 E. Judd Street, Woodstock, IL, 60098. They can be found online at www.matrix4.com.