Iceman cometh: This town's highway superintendent is selling bagged ice he makes at home

Not many people may call Ryan Knapp the "Ice Man" — at least not yet — but that doesn't mean he's not working on it.

Knapp launched Andover-based Southern Tier Ice LLC on July 13, with the goal of producing and selling "crystal clear" ice from well-pumped water to a thirsty public.

The business is off to a solid start. Stores in Andover, Scio, Wellsville, Hornell and Canisteo are carrying Knapp's ice and commitments from stores around Belmont and Fillmore are lined up, he said.

Southern Tier Ice offers seven-pound bags at stores and restaurants, but the ice is also available for parties and other special events.

The 28-year-old Scio native and Scio Central School graduate dismisses any notion that making and selling ice was some sort of lifelong dream. Instead, Knapp said he saw a market need when a locally-owned bagged ice business in Wellsville was sold to a larger outfit.

He said the former owner of the Wellsville business got him interested and also provided guidance.

“Ice is hard to come by nowadays," Knapp said. "I wanted to start something and see where it would go. I hope to be in every town (eventually).”

Ice made from 'perfect, crystal clear water'

Knapp was determined to avoid chlorinated, municipal water for his ice. His vision was to produce the product from well water on his property off county Road 12.

That required additional time and investments to meet health and safety regulations, but he felt it was important to provide the best product.

“We have a well, so we had to put in a bunch of water filtration equipment to meet county and state standards," he explained. “I was trying to get away from the chlorinated water."

Knapp said Root Water Well Specialists of Scio installed an "elaborate" filtering system "to make sure that I have that perfect, crystal clear water" to work with.

Knapp began building his production facility last fall, installing a freezer, four ice machines and an automatic bagger.

The entire process took about 18 months from conception of the idea to opening, he said.

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He hoped to start in April but meeting the filtering standards and having to navigate pesky supply and demand issues delayed the start.

Still, Knapp and his partner, Amber Niedermaier of Andover, are optimistic.

“I gambled and am still gambling but we will see where we go with it," he said.

Knapp knows ice: He's West Almond highway superintendent

Knapp runs into ice, not to mention snow, in his other job. He is the superintendent of highways for the Allegany County town of West Almond, a position he was appointed to more than a year ago.

Now, he not only clears ice, he makes it.

He compares the ice business to dairy farming, at least in one respect.

"I can say that doing this bagged ice is almost like milking a cow twice a day," Knapp said. "That’s how I got to do it to keep up. You have to bag ice once in the morning and once in the afternoon.”

He is trying to get the business of big corporate-owned stores, but it takes time to find someone to listen to his pitch.

He said securing contracts with small "mom and pop stores" is contingent on word of mouth.

When asked how to keep the business growing, his answer is fairly simple: “You just keep working hard."

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This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Andover business makes 'crystal clear' ice from well water