- Date published
How unconventional skills brewed success for Black Sea Shines Distillery.
Understanding how the Missouri river flows – with the angles, reverse rolls, expulsions – helped Dave Haigler design and hand-fabricate patent-pending distilling equipment for Black Sea Shines Distillery.
Recognizing the geological formations on his land allowed him to identify a way to excavate the property for Black Sea Shines to maximize the natural landscape.
Haigler’s gut instinct, diverse life skills, law enforcement and military training help him identify trustworthy people, which led him to rely on the sound business advice from efactory’s business consultants again and again.
Just like whiskey starts as a small grain that is transformed into a spirit, Haigler’s story is one about a small distillery on the precipice of big moves.
The common thread in his story: He soaks in unrelated knowledge but somehow ties it together to play part in his success.
Business consultants Sandra Smart, Lance Coffman and Amy Jackson from efactory visit with Dave Haigler.
Consider the list of certifications, training and degrees he’s received:
- Fire science administration
- Paramedic licenses
- Law enforcement licenses
- Hyperbaric medicine training
- Underwater commercial deep sea hardhat diving
- Combat martial arts
- Advanced training FEMA courses
- Underwater cave mapping
- Underwater rescue
- High angle vertical rescue
Along with an innately acute sense of smell utilized unconventionally while cooking – something akin to playing piano by ear – he’s created a recipe for success that is simply his own.
“If I decide to do something, I’ve either got to do it exceptionally well and win,” Haigler said, “or I’m gonna die trying.”
How Passion and Perseverance Built a Distillery
Black Sea Shines sits on 23 acres in Kimberling, Missouri, just minutes from Silver Dollar City and other Branson attractions. There they craft full-flavored spirits and hand-crafted barrels.
Business consultants Sandra Smart, Amy Jackson and Lance Coffman from efactory visit with Dave Haigler.
Haigler was on the other side of the world developing his distilling process and equipment when he decided to expand his operation in Missouri. From afar, he and some friends began evaluating the satellite imagery, mapping the property and determining the viability of this location.
“You can build on it if you understand it,” he said. “And we’ve completed everything we needed to be fully operational.”
Beyond the whiskeys and moonshines, he’s created an amazing retreat, retail space and tasting room. In this newest location, they have an acoustic masterpiece – a natural recovery built halfway down the mountainside.
They’ve already hosted the Western Cherokee Nation. For large scale events, they’re able to accommodate six food trucks simultaneously.
Brewing Success with efactory
Although Haigler is the definition of a self-made man, with the enduring support of his wife and some very close friends he also attributes some of Black Sea Shines’ momentum to the guidance he received from Sandra Smart, technology commercialization specialist at the Missouri SBDC at MSU.
“So many banks and organizations want a guarantee before they’ll really help you as a business,” he said. “But I’ve just been so impressed here. I’ll champion efactory and Sandra ‘til the day I die.”
A self-proclaimed hillbilly turned astute businessman, Haigler has his sights on continued growth. That includes more parking and a more diversified product line – including coffee (his other liquid passion and story).
Though his work and passions have taken him around the world, he couldn’t be happier to be building this business in his old stompin’ grounds of the Ozarks. It’s the strength of family, faith and friends; the integrity of the people; the beauty of the land; and the ability to create something with his own two hands that mean the most to him.
