The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley After being owned by the Warner family for 45 years, Elkins Distributing Co. was sold March 1 to Northern Eagle Distributing, which also has facilities in Romney and Beckley. The majority of the Elkins facility’s employees are being retained by the new owners, officials said.

The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley
After being owned by the Warner family for 45 years, Elkins Distributing Co. was sold March 1 to Northern Eagle Distributing, which also has facilities in Romney and Beckley. The majority of the Elkins facility’s employees are being retained by the new owners, officials said.

ELKINS — Owning and operating the Elkins Distributing Company, or the Budweiser plant as many call it, made the name Warner a big part of the Elkins business community for many years.

Tom and Jerry Warner purchased the business 45 years ago. In more recent years the business has been overseen by Crystal Warner Gibson, Jerry’s daughter, and Donnie Warner, Tom’s son. That arrangement continued all the way into this year.

On March 1, Northern Eagle Distributing completed the purchase of Elkins Distributing and took over the company.

“It was just time for us to make some changes in our lives, so we decided to sell the business,” Warner Gibson said this week. “Now we can relax a little bit and do some of the other things we’ve been wanting to do.”

Like 90 percent of Elkins Distributors’ employees, Warner Gibson was retained by the incoming company and will continue to work for the company for a time.

“Prior to the Warner family taking over business there were two previous owners,” Warner Gibson explained. “And with them we are one of the longest continuously operating businesses in Elkins. It’s been a long tradition and the nice thing is that the new owners are keeping the company open here in Elkins and retaining almost all of the employees.”

Like Elkins Distributing Company, Northern Eagle Distributing is a family owned company that currently has three locations in Romney, Beckley and now Elkins.

“We’ve been friends and had a business relationship with the Warners for over 30 years,” said Northern Eagle co-owner Scott Parkes. “The Warner family expressed interest to sell the business at one time in the past and about a year ago the conversation came up again. So we came together and worked out a deal to buy the business.”

Parkes said that with the purchase of Elkins Distributing, his company has almost doubled in size.

“Prior to this purchase we were about exactly the same size as they (Elkins Distributing) were, so we doubled the size of the business,” he said. “And we picked up another warehouse and more counties of territory.”

Parkes noted the welcome he has received since taking over the location in Elkins has been tremendous.

“It’s been a great experience and the people we’ve met in Elkins have welcomed us with open arms,” Parkes said. “Everyone has been fantastic to work with and the Warners have treated us like family during this whole transition.”

The new owner also said he wants to keep things as close to the way they have been, and wants to keep company traditions, like bringing the Clydesdale horses to the Mountain State Forest Festival, alive and well.

“Continuing the business in the manner the Warner family has run it is important,” he said. “It’s a well-run operation and a very highly esteemed business in the eyes of Anheuser Busch and Yuengling, the brands that they have carried. And we always like to keep up any traditions, so if there is an opportunity out there we will do it.”