Claude Bilodeau & Jonathan Goldberg Reflect on their First Year with Heaven Hill
We hope you’ve enjoyed celebrating and learning more about Heaven Hill’s latest acquisition of Black Velvet Canadian Whisky. Heaven Hill is proud to have had this important brand as part of our portfolio for the past year. As we close out our celebration, we spoke with Black Velvet Vice President and General Manager Claude Bilodeau and Black Velvet Master Distiller Jonathan Goldberg about their first year as part of the Heaven Hill family.
Tell us about how you think Heaven Hill has impacted Black Velvet over the past year.
You’ve heard the saying ‘the honeymoon is over,’ but when it comes to Heaven Hill the feelings that we had from the initial purchase have only grown stronger. I believe it has been the best thing to ever happen to this site and every staff member that we have. The investment in the business has been challenging, but outstanding and that just adds a sense of pride for every employee here. It has been an absolutely wonderful thing.
I believe being owned by Heaven Hill at such a terrible time in human history was also a tremendous benefit to this site and to the light that has shown upon us within the community. We would never have been privileged to do the things that we’ve gotten to do whether it was in house or out in the community with hand sanitizer and philanthropy. It’s just such a positive spin from every angle since the purchase. That’s why I use the saying ‘the honeymoon is not over,’ because it has just been so wonderful.
– Claude Bilodeau
I think the engagement of our employees has increased overall since Heaven Hill acquired us. As challenging as this time has been, I think COVID-19 opened even more doors for Heaven Hill to demonstrate what it’s like to be part of a family run company as opposed to what this site was used to previously. The employees are very appreciative of the approach Heaven Hill has taken, so much so that many employees have gone out of their way to talk to me about it, which would have been unusual in the past.
Being owned by a company whose primary interest is whisky helps color that employee enthusiasm a little bit, too. The company understands the business, our process, and we all face similar challenges and objectives. That said, the understanding from employees outside the site is a drastic change for us.
– Jonathan Goldberg
Tell us a bit about some of the significant changes you’ve seen since the acquisition
Just the investment in the right equipment for the needs of the business has had a huge impact. The understanding of the capital needs of the site and the investment required to bring us up to modern standards and make this the facility that it could and should be has been such a welcome change. However, the single largest impact has been in the morale of the people. They all feel that they have found their home and I hear that comment frequently.
In previous years when there were requests for employees to donate to a cause, the participation rate was .01%, almost nonexistent. We were recently able to do a special philanthropy project just for our employees benefiting a charity in the local community and I’m astounded by the participation rate. That’s just another way that our name gets out in the community and our contact at Woods Homes, the charity we’re donating to, is just ecstatic about the money coming in at a time when things are so tough for so many. It’s so great for the community and so great for our people.
Our employees are smart, and they know when something is for real. We’ve worked for companies in the past that will say all of the things we want to hear, but never follow up on it. What Heaven Hill does is different. It is that personal touch, like the summer and fall employee appreciation packages, those little things go so far for all of us, myself included because it means so much. It shows that the ownership and senior leadership of this company truly care about everybody. They’re not in it for themselves, they’re in it for all of us and it’s just such a great feeling.
– Claude Bilodeau
One of the most impactful changes has been that the employees can physically see the investment being made. In the past it may have been one small project a year, but we are physically altering the workplace that some of these guys have come to for 20 plus years. Suddenly there’s a huge storage tank outside, we’re shipping three times the amount of shipments than we used to, and there’s a new building going up. These are huge changes to a workplace that to be honest didn’t have any really significant changes to it since the early 90’s. I think seeing that investment brings excitement and engagement that wouldn’t be there otherwise.
– Jonathan Goldberg
What are some of your favorite things about being part of the Heaven Hill family?
I would say working with the Shapira family and the overall company culture. Max, Allan, Kate and all of the senior leaders exhibit nothing but an understanding of the business and an understanding of the needs of the people, and when you have that the rest comes naturally. That is what I am most appreciative of.
– Claude Bilodeau
I appreciate the fact that when I correspond with someone in Bardstown or Louisville, I don’t feel like I’m speaking a different language to them. They understand the business in a way that we haven’t been exposed to previously.
– Jonathan Goldberg
How do you see the future of the brand as part of the Heaven Hill portfolio?
I see the brand growing, hopefully at a faster rate than many believe it will. I believe in the past it has been so underdeveloped that there is nothing but opportunity ahead of us. COVID-19 has thrown us a bit of a curve ball, but I believe when the world gets going again everyone is going to see some great things from us.
– Claude Bilodeau
We’ve already seen such a drastic change in our local presence alone. Prior to the acquisition, the local community barely even knew who we were. All of a sudden Max is on the front page of the local paper and we’re donating to the local United Way, he’s on the local news, we even have Claude in the local paper, and we’re selling hand sanitizer throughout our community. I think all of the involvement within the community did more for the knowledge of the folks in Lethbridge about our existence than anything else did. It’s a welcome change and I look forward to seeing what’s next.
– Jonathan Goldberg
