Cherry Republic establishes a colony in Empire

By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor

Not a shot was fired. No bugles blared. There were no casualties, and so far, no injuries. Few saw them coming. But Cherry Republic now has a beachhead in Empire after a benign “invasion.” When the press was allowed at the front, three men were found to be hoisting the Cherry Republic flag, silver stars on a dark-sweet-cherry-colored background, onto one of the advance vehicles, a fork-lift. Soon pallets holding up to 2000 gift boxes on a good day will be loaded onto semi-trailers with UPS on the side and dozens of people will be working and spending money in Empire. And the invaders hope the citizens will be glad they have come.
The old boat building, where fiberglass speed boats were manufactured in the 50’s and 60’s before it burned down, was replaced by a big pole building by Fred Salisbury. It functioned as the warehouse for the National Park Service for awhile, and then it held lumber as an annex for the Empire Lumber Company. Captain Pete Edwards, PFC Derek Prechtel, and Special Forces adjunct Chris Tiihonen explained how Cherry Republic plans to use the space. “This will be our total warehouse for shipping, receiving, gift-boxing, staging, and production/packaging of Cherry Republic products,” explained Edwards. “We have over 100 products, and we fill gift box orders 5 days a week with a year around crew of about 20 packers.” Adds Prechtel, “During the holiday rush in December there will be 50 – 60 people employed here.”
Cherry Republic has been getting their dried cherries, chocolate-covered cherries, candies, and cherry nut mixes packaged by Lakeshore Enterprises in Frankfort/Benzonia. “We hope to bring their crew to Empire now,” says Tiihonen, “so that all of our production can be under one roof.” (Another supplier, Food for Thought, operated by Tim Young with connections in Glen Arbor, Empire, and Honor, who makes the preserves, jams, jellies, salsas, barbeque sauces, and cherry toppings, may or may not join in the move at first.) The first job for the three point men was going to be a battle much larger than the invasion itself: scrubbing a 10,000 sq. ft. floor with straws and toothbrushes. As soon as they ready the colony, the workers will be moved in and settled.
Bob Sutherland, the benevolent despot and president of the Cherry Republic, told me “We’ve moved our shipping facility five times in the past six years, expanding every time. Let’s hope we can stay in Empire for awhile.” Other places were considered before this opportunity in Empire was seized. “It seemed to make more financial sense to build a structure near the Empire Airport and be centrally located for our suppliers,” reported Sutherland, “but that really wasn’t good land use. It made more sense to use an existing building as close to a town center as possible. Empire is great because several employees already live there, having found housing to be more affordable and available in Empire (than in Glen Arbor). We have quite a few young people working for us who want to settle into the community.”
For Sutherland and his troops, the biggest bonus in being at the Empire warehouse is that it means an end to hand-lifting. “We’ve never been where we could use a fork lift before,” he said. “Every day we have been hand-lifting over 2000 lbs twice a day, once bringing stuff in, and again sending it out. It will be a tremendous pleasure for all of us to have that fork lift doing all of the work! And we hope this will be good for Empire as well,” adds Pres. Sutherland. “Those 20 plus employees will be spending money in town, using the bank and the grocery, buying lunch, etc. Hopefully it can be a little boost to the local economy. We’re excited to be in Empire, and we hope to keep the flag flying on this soil forever!”