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Rising Silo Brewery: How a hobby turned into a business
November 10, 2021 - Ryan Schork
What started out as a high school hobby for Greg Zielske Jr., has now become a way of life for those at Rising Silo Brewery. With help from the local Blacksburg and Glade Road community, Rising Silo has become a fully operational business.
Blacksburg, Va. November 10 - Inside the taproom at Rising Silo Brewery, a married couple dances to a local Blacksburg band.
The governing body of Blacksburg also wants to help small businesses succeed by offering a small business recovery grant. According to the outline of the grant, it was created to help small businesses with rent, payroll expenses, utilities and Covid-19 safety equipment. All small businesses need to do is provide proper documentation and the grant is theirs.
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Keeping Blacksburg tight-knit and unique is a priority for those at Rising Silo Brewery. In the future, Rising Silo plans to add more outdoor seating, however; keep the same atmosphere. “We don’t want to sell out at all,” said Ahner. “For other local businesses in town, we might distribute to them, but probably never Kroger.”
Helping small businesses is a staple of business owners in Blacksburg. According to an article by Annie Schroeder, a campaign was launched after the economic downfall to save small businesses in Blacksburg.
The campaign was launched by Virginia Tech alumni and Blacksburg community members. The #SaveBlacksburg movement hopes to recover around $80 million.
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The surrounding community is involved in the everyday processes of Rising Silo.
“This lady whole lives two houses down that’s like our baker,” said Alyssa Ahner, Lead Brewer at Rising Silo.
“We also work with the Huckleberry Trail and the land trust people for the bike trails and upkeeping the trails on this road at Heritage Park.”
Jared Jones said that while most breweries in Va. have a similar outdoor setup, Rising Silo has a small town and homelike feel because of Blacksburg. Furthermore, he says that Rising Silo feels very close-knit.
Above is a timeline of the origin story of Rising Silio Brewery, and how it came to be what it is today.