Sen. Snowe salutes Twenty 2 Vodka with Congressional Record honor

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
RECOGNIZED — Sharon Campbell, left, of Sen. Olympia Snowe’s office in Presque Isle presents a Congressional Record to Scott Galbiati and Jessica Jewell Friday. The award was read on the floor of the U.S. Senate last summer.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Houlton’s only distilling company, Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka, continues to pile up the awards and accolades.
    Owned by the husband and wife team of Scott Galbiati and Jessica Jewell, their company recently received a Congressional Record from Sen. Olympia Snowe.
    Read on the U.S. Senate floor on June 30, 2011, the framed proclamation was officially presented to Galbiati and Jewell Friday by Sharon Campbell, representative for Snowe in Aroostook County.
    “This Congressional Record is to recognize entrepreneurial spirit,” Campbell said. “Sen. Snowe likes to honor businesses, like Twenty 2 Vodka, because they give so much back to the community and economy of Maine.”
    “We had no idea this recognition was coming,” said Galbiati. “We like to call this ‘good attention’ and we are honored to receive this.”
    Galbiati and Jewell founded the Northern Maine Distilling Company in 2006, and released their first batch of Twenty 2 Micro Distilled Vodka in September 2009. Their product has received multiple awards in the two-and-a-half years of business, including a “platinum” medal for unflavored vodka at the 2011 Spirits International Prestige (SIP) Awards in San Diego.
    The award is just the latest in a series of accolades Galbiati and Jewell have accumulated over the past two years. Twenty 2 Vodka also won a silver medal in the 2011 San Francisco World Spirits competition; gold medals at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits and SIP competitions; and bronze medals at the 2010 New York International Spirits and 2009 World Beverage competitions.
    The couple were also named 2011 Entrepreneurs of the Year by the Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development organization.
    “My home state of Maine is home to countless young entrepreneurs who are working to ensure that our state and nation have a vibrant, growing economy for years to come,” the Record states. “Two of these remarkable individuals reside in northern Maine, where they have begun a booming business based on a college project.”
    Jewell, a native of Monticello, met Galbiati, a New Jersey native, while the two were attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. The two were in the engineering program, where Jewell received a degree in chemical engineering, and Galbiati earned a degree in engineering science and sociology. The idea to create a vodka company began as a business plan for a one of Galbiati’s college courses.
    Their business has expanded to the Washington D.C. and Maryland markets, along with being sold in grocery stores and liquor stores throughout New England. Twenty 2 Vodka is also served in numerous restaurants and bars throughout the region.
    “We’re still growing at a really good pace,” Galbiati said.
    For more information, visit www.twenty2vodka.com, or www.facebook.com/ twenty2vodka.