Taylor McConnell, PA WILDS Sonshine Factory general manager, recently talked with the Times Observer about how the factory’s ownership and management team are proud of all the accomplishments the Sonshine Factory has made in spite of COVID interrupting initial plans. The concept started in 2010 when the original landowner started farming to rejuvenate a ban on agricultural lands in Elk and McKean counties; where today over 700 acres have been rejuvenated. What once was pasture, now grows corn, rye, soybeans and in 2014 the introduction of sunflowers is when the ideas for the factory came to be.

The original idea for farming in general was to create a wildlife feed and food plot called Accuforage. Sunflowers are a good protein source and sunflowers are what drew tourists in and got the wheels turning for the Sonshine Factory. Since the USDA considers sunflowers a grain, it meant that an untouched liquor could be created – something never done before. A recipe was then developed and the process to distill sunflowers had a lot of tweaking to do, but the idea is an innovation in terms of the process.

In 2017 the Sonsine Factory company was created. In 2018 the property was purchased and 2019 construction started. Project manager, Taylor McConnell began her work in 2020 by organizing and outfitting the building. During COVID, costs were increasing and many materials were not available. That did not stop the owners-over 90% of the owners are local tradesmen and so most of the work was done in-house by the investment group. Materials from local places were repurposed and used for much of the rustic decor of the building. This took a bit longer than they planned due to COVID and also with the tradesmen, all having full time regular jobs. But they spent their extra time building the factory, and made it quite unique in what was the end result, having each with their own specialties showcased throughout.

The sunflowers are the main product produced and Taylor offered a fun fact that the world’s tallest sunflower used to be over 30 feet tall and was found in Russia but has been surpassed by one in Indiana, coming in at just under 36 feet tall.

A display at the PA Wilds Sonshine Factory is pictured.

Back when the sunflower seeds were being planted, a high sugar content was needed in order to distill and make their products with the liquor – which is similar to moonshine. It has now tripled the sugar content because of agronomy and soil science that has improved the health of the crops. Another field in the Erie area, at the Girard Hagen History Center, had 1.2 million flowers there this year. Taylor said that the tourists from Kane to Erie have produced an economical benefit to the entire region, with 1 million sunflowers in the Kane field and a total of 4 million flowers per year on all of the fields owned.

In the summer of 2023, the soft opening took place with a grand opening in August. Today it is now fully operational, and when the one year anniversary took place in August of 2024, the Sunflower Festival was born. The annual event is always held the weekend before Labor Day weekend. It is certainly an event worth planning for as it keeps growing each year. The Grand opening in 2023 brought in about 2000 people throughout the three days, the second year over 6000 people and this past year’s celebration was around 7500 people.

There are three pillars that make up the Sonshine Factory: first and foremost the distillery. The name can only be trademarked using “s-o-n” as opposed to the usual spelling of “sun,” which is a noun. However, the word “son” is trademarkable as the only distilled spirit that is made from sunflowers that are only from the PA WILDS region. This helps keep agriculture and manufacturing jobs local. It also helps with the company signage since the sunflower takes the place of the “O.”

The second pillar is the agricultural education center where water and timber agriculture is what helped to build Pennsylvania. The interactive corridor is great for tours for not only schools but also any organization since every tour can be tailored to the age group. The main idea is to promote Pennsylvania and its career opportunities. Pennsylvania has job prospects to keep its workforce local. All the wood and photography has been taken from the region, making the whole facility focused on Pennsylvania’s beauty.

The third pillar is that it is a venue for events from weddings to conferences, banquet dinners and more. They’ve held celebration of life events, and ten weddings are already booked for 2026. A variety of events can take place in the rental space bringing caterers in for now but with hopes to do some catering of their own. The large hall can accommodate approximately 200-250 and there are other spaces that can be used for smaller groups. There seems to always be something happening there from special private events to public events with music and food trucks.

For more information check out their Facebook page or visit https://www.wildssonshinefactory.org