Short Mountain Distillery President and CEO Billy Kaufman addresses the local Woodbury Chamber of Commerce at their annual dinner on the topic of celebrating community values in small business.

Billy talked about how our corporate philosophy, the Golden Rule, guides us to do right by our neighbors by keeping business as local as possible, from the corn we use to our skilled labor and manufacturing equipment. Billy also talked with local business leaders about the opportunity before us to share our community’s values with a world of tourists hungry to reconnect with America.

Sacha and Billy open one of the boxes of Golden Rule coins.

Billy’s great grandfather, Jesse Shwayder, never missed an opportunity to attribute the success of the iconic American brand Samsonite to the Golden Rule. He even went out of his way to communicate this deeply held philosophy in a very special way as mentioned in this TIME magazine article from 1965.

The world’s largest manufacturer of luggage is named after the Bible’s powerful Samson. Its president has a name to match: King David. The firm’s official corporate philosophy is the Bible’s Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”* All company officers and salesmen carry a marble encircled by a gold band on which the Golden Rule is printed, take it out for inspiration when they have a business decision to make.

This philosophical approach — wedded to some pragmatic business practices—has paid off handsomely for Denver’s Samsonite Corp. The firm now accounts for more than a quarter of all U.S. luggage sold, and its sales last year reached a record $55.9 million. Last week, as orders from vacation-bound Americans flooded into Denver, Samsonite raised its 1965 sales estimate from $60 million to $64 million.

Last week, a package arrived with a very special coin inside that will come with every bottle of our authentic Tennessee Moonshine, Short Mountain Shine. They’re Golden Rule coins bearing the moon and the stars, and we hope they shine a little light into your world.

We didn’t have to look far for spare barn wood for Stillhouse #1. Billy remembered there was a damaged barn just around the corner on Pea Ridge.

The owner, Robert Bogle, was home and said we could help ourselves to whatever we needed. He had been following our progress in the newspaper and was happy to hear we got our federal permit. He said the state should be easier.

Robert knew a thing or two about moonshine and the revenuers and took us inside his home where his wife Louise directed him to a small stack of scrap books she had kept throughout his time as Cannon County Sheriff. She reminded us they were lucky the books survived a fire that took their home a couple of years ago.

Scattered throughout the pages were stories from the local newspaper of moonshine and whiskey busts across the county in the late 70s and early 80s. It was clear by the headlines many locals had moved on to growing marijuana and did a lousy job hiding it from Sheriff Robert Bogle. The few old-timers, who weren’t the least bit tempted by the new cash crop, quietly stuck to a 100+ year old folk tradition of whiskey making on Short Mountain.

STILL CAPTURED (1982) – Sheriff Robert Bogle displays a 50 gallon moonshine still that was captured by state Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents and deputies from his department late Friday, Sept 4 in the Pea Ridge section of the county on a farm known as the Keith place. Confiscated in the raid was the still, four barrels of mash and a 1967 Ford pickup truck.

Take a sneak peek at an upcoming in-depth article on Short Mountain Distillery CEO Billy Kaufman’s push to make Tennessee moonshine America’s drink. The Modern Moonshine Trailer (Barcode Magazine August 2011 Issue) from Barcode Magazine on Vimeo.

Check out this nice article by Jennifer Folsom in the latest Watertown Gazette on our effort to resurrect an age-old Tennessee tradition of moonshine and whiskey making on Short Mountain. Awesome photos by Jessica Atnip. Here is an excerpt.

“While we were collecting signatures for the referendum, the people we talked with were very supportive,” says Kaufman, noting that once people in his community realize what his goals are, they are ready to support him and the distillery.

“People want their way of life honored. We did some digging and discovered that in Cannon County before prohibition there were 18 legal distilleries. The people of this area were flourishing at that time and grew orchards, corn and sorghum to support the industry. It was a time when farming made sense.”

Kaufman, great-grandson of Jesse Shwayder, founder of Samsonite Luggage, doesn’t just ask for support from his community – he first gives it. The distillery was founded with his great-grandfather’s tradition of letting the Golden Rule guide him, on hand and in heart.

“I knew I needed to create an industry which would include agriculture, this area’s rural heritage and would encourage people getting together and working together,” says Kaufman of the distillery’s principle of mutual respect. Kaufman wants to “turn the clock back 100 years” and return to a farming model which creates value-added products and not only supports itself but the community as well. He plans to source agricultural products from within 30 miles of the distillery and bring jobs and needed revenue to his community.

This spring Little Short Mountain Farm and a team of neighbors and volunteers planted seven acres of corn. They used five teams of mules from the Middle Tennessee Mule Skinners Association. (See shortmountaindistillery.com for a video of the planting.)

“Everyone who has been employed here since the start has lived within 15 miles,” says Grantham. “We are trusting our neighbors and involving our community, and so they want to be a part this. We want every part of this distillery to reflect this community.”

America has always made whiskey and moonshine. One of the first taxes levied against American businesses to help pay for a nation at war and in debt was the Whiskey Tax.

We love our freedom, and we’ll fight tooth and nail to defend it. We also love to drink more than any other nation in the world, a fact our founding fathers did not ignore as they looked for ways to put our nation on solid footing.

In a recent interview with the Cumberland Business Journal, Short Mountain Distillery CEO Billy Kaufman said it’s time we start “drinking American.”

“Americans should be drinking moonshine, not vodka,” says Kaufman.

Kaufman said if distilled correctly (resulting in 80 to 100 proof), moonshine is fairly neutral tasting, meaning it can be mixed in a variety of combinations. That, he said, is the same premise of vodka, which is the top selling liquor in America.

“People aren’t drinking vodka because it tastes good,” he said.

Kaufman firmly believes that having a toast or celebrating an occasion with spirits is the American way and part of the American culture. To that end, he thinks Americans should be “drinking American.”

Architect Marcus Dipietro and Short Mountain Distillery CEO Billy Kaufman on a conference call with David Pickerell

It would take you a few hours to walk the nearly five mile perimeter of Billy Kaufman’s 300 acre farm on Short Mountain near Woodbury in Cannon County. By the time you’re sitting on the porches of Short Mountain Distillery with friends and family, we will probably have walked that a few times over.

This weekend, Marcus Dipietro came out to walk some of the farm with Billy and me to begin looking for the perfect spot to build the distillery. As we walked the land, our conversation turned to our team’s foundational values and how the distillery design can best express those values for generations to come.

The Golden Rule, community, heritage, stewardship, craftsmanship, and our connection to the land. These are some of the core values and archetypes of the dream unfolding here, and we aim to make it a testament to a way of life that makes America strong.

The first week of 2011 has kept us busy up here on Short Mountain, and we are so fortunate to have you come along with us as we build something very special.

We probably won’t say it nearly enough, but y’all are rocking our Facebook! It’s humbling to see our community grow each and every day. Here’s a little update from the past week just for you.

TEAM: Earlier this week, Billy Kaufman and I traveled to the Maker’s Mark Lounge in Louisville, KY to taste the differences between world class bourbons with former Maker’s Mark Master Distiller David Pickerell (photo).

We are very pleased to announce David has joined our team to help us get up and running. David brings years of experience and wisdom to the growing craft spirits industry and recently helped re-establish George Washington’s historic distillery at Mt. Vernon.

LOGO: We selected our logo from several very good candidates. You’ll see this more and more in different formats, but keep an eye out for it on a “Future Home Of” sign just off of Short Mountain Rd. very soon.

ARCHITECT: Speaking of future homes, we’re very excited to announce the selection of Marcus Dipietro as the distillery’s architect. Marcus was one of three extremely qualified candidates who visited the farm over the past couple of months. We can’t wait to share some of the first renderings of what the facility will look like.

Every step we take to bring jobs and tourism to Cannon County we’re reminded of some very big shoes we have to fill.

The reminders come as fond memories folks share with us of working for Billy Kaufman’s grandfather and great-grandfather at Samsonite in Murfreesboro, TN.

The stories come from local officials, shop owners and farmers. They’re our neighbors, people we know and trust. If you ask around you are bound to know someone who made the daily trip to Murfreesboro to make a living for their family.

One of those neighbors is Harold Stembridge. When he heard Billy wanted to build a distillery on his Short Mountain farm, Harold put the word out through friends that he had something very special to share with Billy.

Harold has lived here all his life. He’s a farmer who now keeps bees, chickens and reindeer. When Harold was younger he worked in a t-shirt factory and wanted something better. His co-workers laughed when he left and told him he’d be back. Harold landed at Samsonite and ended up working for Billy’s grandfather for 34 years.

Harold remembers Samsonite like it was yesterday. For years he tried get the Cracker Barrel in Murfreesboro to hang a portrait of Samsonite founder Jesse Shwayder telling them this was the man who made Murfreesboro. The portrait hung in the lobby of the Samsonite factory greeting employees and visitors for years.

Harold told Billy when his great-grandfather would visit that he’d ask folks if they had their Golden Rule marble on them. If they did, he let them take a paid hour off work. Harold still has his Golden Rule marble to this day among some of his valuable treasures, a blue one with the Golden Rule inscribed on a golden band.

But Harold had one more treasured item he wanted to give to Billy. It’s the portrait of his great-grandfather Jesse, conservatively dressed with the Holy Bible firmly griped in his right hand.

An engraved brass plate at the bottom reads: “Jesse Shwayder, Founder and Chairman of the Board, Shwayder Bros., Inc., Taken on his 80th birthday March 26, 1962.” It’s a portrait of conviction, service and respect that reminds us what good people can do when we expect the very best from each other.

Angie Meadows from the Smithville Review came out and interviewed Billy Kaufman on his Short Mountain farm about bringing jobs and tourism to Cannon County. The article above was clipped from today’s front page.

Voters will ultimately decide in November whether they want to allow a distillery to be built here under a new state law legalizing distilleries. Cannon County was once home to as many as 18 legal distilleries as reported by United States Census data prior to Prohibition.