The La Plata County planning meeting Tuesday will be buzzing with an agenda item from Honeyville.
Honeyville, the third-generation beekeeping and honey bottling family business north of Durango, will ask the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners to approve an expansion of its business. The company, which produces premium honeys and jellies, is 8 miles north of Durango on the west side of U.S. Highway 550; it has operated there for 53 years.
The plan is to erect a new building on the northern part of the property, with more processing and manufacturing areas and a larger retail outlet. The construction would happen alongside current business operations. When the building is completed, the existing one would be demolished. A new paved parking lot is planned for the retail area.
Owner Danny Culhane said his father sold his first jar of honey in 1925.
The story, according to the website, started in the 1920s, when Vernon Culhane removed some honeybees from a buzzing tree near his house to start his own hive. The sweet-tasting honey took off, earning dad the title “The Falfa Honey Man.”
Culhane and his wife, Sheree, run the business with their son Kevin. Danny Culhane said their retail business is especially strong in the summer, with a mix of locals and tourists buying products.
The company opens another local store during the Christmas holiday, and its products are in local grocery stores.
Honeyville also sells its products wholesale regionally, and the products are in stores across the country as part of Great Harvest Bread Co. Retail sales also include Internet and mail order.
“We’ve had our own retail store in Durango for years and years,” said Danny Culhane, who took over from his father in 1974. “It’s kind of a landmark. So one of the things we’re trying to expand is our retail sales.”
He said the family business wouldn’t have made it without local residents.
“We’re really humble about where we’ve gone with this,” Danny Culhane said. “Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
The planning meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the La Plata County Courthouse.
If the expansion is approved, the company hopes to move into the new building around December, with parking and landscaping done by spring or summer 2015.
smueller@durangoherald.com
