Young B’ville entrepreneur takes over Cedarvale Maple Syrup Co.
By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
Michael Spicer has been tapping trees and turning sap into syrup for nearly half of his young life. Now, he is taking on a tradition that is twice as old as he is.
Spicer, 20, of Baldwinsville, recently acquired Cedarvale Maple Syrup Co. from former owner Karl Wiles. The 265-acre operation, which Wiles founded in 1977, is located just outside of Marcellus.
Cedarvale Maple Syrup Co. will be open this weekend and next for the New York State Maple Producers Association’s annual Maple Weekend, in which maple producers open their sugar shacks to tours and offer samples of syrup, candy and other maple products. (Visit nysmaple.com for information on other area producers participating in Maple Weekend.)
“Since I’ve always been more of a backyard operation, I’ve always dreamed of a big operation and a storefront,” said Spicer, who started sugaring at age 11 and founded Dunbar Maple in 2010.
Wiles and Spicer first crossed paths early in Spicer’s career, meeting through the NYS Maple Producers Association. Wiles nominated Spicer for the NYS Young Maple Sugarmaker award, which he won in 2012.
The Cedarvale property has been on the market for almost two years. Spicer said he approached Wiles in mid-January about taking over the operation.
“He was very open to it,” Spicer said. “I just knew he’s a good businessman and he cared about his customers.”
Many young entrepreneurs might find the prospect of taking over a four-decade-old business daunting, but Spicer said he is up for the challenge.
“I wouldn’t say it’s made me nervous or scared. … I’m proud to carry it on,” he said. “There’s pieces of equipment that are 40 years old. I go up in the trees and there’s lines up there that are older than I am.”
For the next couple of weeks, Spicer is on spring break. He is a sophomore at Hamilton College, where he plays football and runs track. He spends his weekdays on campus and in class, returning home on the weekends to work on his sugaring operations, which has 1,200 taps.
“My family’s been a huge help,” he said.
Even when he’s in Clinton, the college student is still in business mode.
“At school, I’ll be in the middle of homework and ordering supplies,” he said. “My friends make fun of me when I answer the phone all the time.”
Spicer has been upping Cedarvale’s social media presence. He recently created an Instagram profile for the company, @cedarvalemaplesyrup, and has been holding #SapSaturday contests on Facebook to give away discounts. Half of Cedarvale’s sales are made online, so the social media boost is key.
Spicer said he is thinking of starting a subscription service to ensure his customers never run out of syrup.
“A lot of times I’ll be at a friend’s house getting a snack, and I see Wegmans maple syrup in their fridge. It’s a joke like, ‘What’s this?’ ‘Oh, we just ran out!’” he laughed.
While Spicer is implementing new things at Cedarvale — “I have a ton of ideas all the time,” he said — veteran customers can rest assured that one tradition will remain the same: the popular maple rounds. Wiles cooled his maple candy at a lower temperature than most producers, making it impossible to pour into the ubiquitous leaf-shaped molds.
“At first, I thought people would want the maple leaves, so I was hesitant,” Spicer said. “People came in and said, ‘No, you have to keep doing the sugar rounds — that’s Cedarvale Maple.’”
The Cedarvale Maple Syrup Co. is located at 3769 Pleasant Valley Road in Syracuse, outside of Marcellus. The store will be open 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays, March 23 and 30, and Sundays, March 24 and 31. To learn more, visit cedarvalemaple.com or call 315-730-5804.
