Madera Community College preparing to launch an agave distillery program

MADERA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Along the road when you drive onto the Madera Community College campus, and near the administration building, you'll find agave plants.

While they were planted to add to the landscaping, they also served a bigger purpose.

"The main reason we planted this is so we can create the buzz and start to get the feel and the look that we do agave here at Madera Community College," President Ángel Reyna, Ed.D. said.

Reyna has been researching the spiky Mexican plants that resemble a cactus and distilling agave for the last two and a half years.

"We're being thoughtful, and that's why it's taking this long, because we want to be intentional and strategic on how we roll this out," Reyna said.

In Mexico, the agave plants are cooked and fermented.

Its juice is then distilled to create tequila.

Reyna has taken multiple trips to Mexico to see it firsthand and is working to replicate that process at Madera College.

"We see it also as an economic engine for our county and the region as well, to be able to provide a program that's going to be beneficial socially, economically and culturally," Reyna said.

In May, the college signed a five-year lease with a former winery in Madera County.

A total of $300,000 worth of equipment has been purchased through the state's Strong Workforce funding to get the "Madera College Agave Distillery" up and running.

Reyna believes the program will help separate them from other colleges.

"I think we will be, to our knowledge, the first in the nation to actually distill the plant," Reyna said.

By next spring, they will plant 10 acres of agave north of campus where there's currently a grape vineyard.

He says local farmers have taken an interest because agave plants require minimal water.

He says in the next 10 to 20 years, the goal is to have a hotel, bar, restaurant and distillery managed by students to prepare them for the workforce.

"We want to lead the research, be able to help our local community, so we take the risk for them, they don't, but at the same time, we provide an educated workforce during that process," Reyna said.

By this time next year, Reyna expects to have a working program in place.

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