Coolest Things Made in Georgia contest spotlights local business
Four determined employees and a lot of jokes helped carry an Ellijay small business to Round Two of the Coolest Things Made in Georgia competition.
“It feels good,” said Caroline Porsiel, the owner of House of Applejay. “We had incredible support.
An immigrant from Germany, she founded House of Applejay two years ago to make high-quality liqueurs.
As of now, the business is the only liqueur-first distillery in the Southeast. It makes three types of fruit liqueurs, one old-style liqueur and two types of vodka.
“I’ve spent more than 20 years liqueurist,” she said. “I’m incredibly thankful that we have the chance to work here in the Ellijays.”
Her company faced massive corporations in the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s competition.
Just a few of the powerhouses in the competition included aircraft manufacturer Gulfstream, Kia, Blue Bird schoolbuses, Chick-Fil-A, arms company Anduril and lottery company Scientific Games.
“We’ve been the only apple production company and one of the few Georgia-grown companies that were in the competition,” she said. “We were definitely the smallest, I’m sure about that.”
Last year, Applejay lost the vote in Round One of the competition.
But this year, House of Applejay soared past the competition’s first round into the top 16, beating Citrus Magic Spray Air Fresheners.
There, House of Applejay lost to Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food from Mana Nutrition in a close race.
Just Mana’s leadership team outnumbered House of Applejay by 24 people.
Even without taking first, she was proud to be part of the competition.
“To be there is everything. Even if we don’t make the title as the Coolest Thing Made in Georgia I know a lot of people think we did great,” Porsiel said.
Competing meant giving back to her audience too. She wrote a song about the House of Applejay’s liqueur and wrote a joke on her company’s social media page every day.
“Every corner of Georgia is over 100°… except Ellijay. Coincidence?” she asked during June’s stiflingly hot weather. Perhaps people should vote for something “cool” in Ellijay.
As a recently-founded small business, Porsiel relied on devoted supporters and loved ones back home in Germany to muster her votes.
But this support experienced a setback in the last
In the last morning of the competition, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s vote-counting system went down.
“I think we might have had a chance to win if the computers weren’t down,” she said. “I told all my family in Germany and all my friends to vote for us too, but they only vote in the morning hours.”
Even without a victory, the competition was a powerful reminder of how much the community supports her establishment.
“I was astonished by how many people voted daily, because we wouldn’t have gotten far without those votes,” she said.
While she hasn’t won, Porsiel hopes that next year will bring House of Applejay the Coolest Thing Made in Georgia title.
“The community circles back to you, and I think that’s why I will try again if they take me next year,” she said.