‘The Hill’: $21 million expansion for home-grown Tennessee Hills based in Bristol

Tennessee Hills Distillery on Tuesday formally launched its new project in Bristol, Tennessee that will construct the fourth-largest automated distillery in the state.

The former National College campus is being revamped for manufacturing spaces at a cost of more than $21 million. The expansion will create 45 jobs over the course of the construction of what the company is calling The Hill.

Tennessee Hills will also incorporate its partnership with ETSU at the Bristol facility. The two recently entered into a learning agreement that will allow students to learn while manufacturing spirits as part of ETSU’s Brewing and Distillation Studies.

CEO Stephen Callahan compared his upcoming campus project with Bristol’s well-known passion for motorsports.

“…We’re kind of like that single car, NASCAR team, you know, we put a car together, we build our own equipment, we put the team together on a budget and we go out. We see if we can go off how to make the race that we can. Well, I’m telling I’m here to tell you right now that we’re on the pole position right here in Bristol Tennessee. And we’ve got a shot of winning this thing,” Callahan said.

(IMAGE: J. Olsen / Bristol Broadcasting Co News)