Iowa Cocktail Startup Opens $3.8M Plant, Creates 8 Jobs

Matt and Jodi Schweiger are bringing their dream back home to Adel, Iowa, with a $3.82 million manufacturing plant that starts construction this week.

The couple launched Offline Cocktails earlier this year, riding a wave of national growth in the ready-to-drink cocktail market. While overall alcohol consumption is declining across America, pre-mixed cocktails are bucking the trend and gaining popularity.

Their new 10,000 square-foot facility on Visions Parkway will handle everything from mixing to canning and packaging. The plant will produce both alcoholic cocktails and premium nonalcoholic mocktails for distribution across the region and nationwide.

The project is creating eight new jobs in a town of 6,500 residents. Three of those positions will pay at least $35.54 per hour, meeting the threshold for Iowa's Business Incentives for Growth program.

That qualifying wage helped Refreshments Manufacturers of Iowa, the company behind Offline Cocktails, secure $121,162 in tax credits from the Iowa Economic Development Authority in March. The state backing reflects confidence in the startup's potential.

The Ripple Effect

Rachel Wacker, executive director of the Greater Dallas County Development Alliance, sees the facility as a turning point for the region. The investment signals that food and beverage manufacturing is emerging as a growth sector in the area.

Adel is already home to manufacturers like Monarch Materials Group, which produces window products. The Offline Cocktails plant adds another dimension to the town's industrial base.

For a small Iowa town, diversifying its economy with modern beverage production positions it to attract more companies in processing and distribution. What starts with one startup could spark an entire industry cluster.

The Schweigers chose to build where they started, keeping jobs and investment local as their business grows.