Kieran Folliard Plans Business Accelerator

Restaurateur-turned-whiskey maker Kieran Folliard has found yet another outlet for his creativity. The former owner of Kieran’s Irish Pub and founder of 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey is now opening a “small business accelerator” in Minneapolis, according to a report by The Journal.
 
Folliard and his 2 Gingers staff hope to get aspiring small food and beverage producers off the ground by providing professional guidance and services. According to the newspaper, the business accelerator will be called Driven Donkey and will offer businesses help with accounting, legal, marketing, and sales solutions.
 
Folliard certainly has the resumé for the job, having achieved success in several past business endeavors, first in the founding of Kieran’s Irish Pub, as well as three other bars in the Twin Cities, then in selling his stake in his bars in 2011 in order to focus on his 2 Gingers whiskey business, and then by selling the brand to Beam Inc., the maker of Jim Beam, in 2012 for an undisclosed sum.
 
“People are familiar with the term ‘incubator;’ we want to take it one step further than that,” Carrie Nicklow, president of 2 Gingers, told the newspaper. “We’re looking for people that already have a product, they’re in the market, and they’re looking to take their business to the next level.”
 
Folliard and his 2 Gingers staff plan to set up shop in a 31,000-square-foot building at 1401 Marshall Street Northeast in Northeast Minneapolis.