Two years go, inspiration struck Jennifer Huls Wayland.
While interviewing a travel planner from Arkansas, Wayland learned was told the woman ran snow cone stands in the summer.
“A year later when we were visiting her, she talked about what a great entrepreneurial project it would be for my boys as they enter high school,” Wayland said. “We worked for the weekend in her snowcone stand, and my boys loved it and couldn’t stop talking about what worked, what didn’t, what were popular flavors, and they even enjoyed opposite roles in the snowcone stand, so I knew they would be good partners.”
Now, Island Snow 2 Go is a summer staple in the area.
Wayland said there community has embraced the business and often compliment the quality of the product. The most popular flavors are blue raspberry and strawberry.
Wayland said opening a snow cone business was more challenging than expected as the Champaign County Health Department, which issues permits, is one of the strictest in the United States.
“In Champaign County, our snowcone stand was treated just like a steakhouse,” she said. “We researched fixed structures and finally decided that a mobile vehicle would be a better value. It took over a year to find a concession trailer that would come close to satisfying our Champaign County Health requirements.”
Wayland said the trailer they finally ended up purchasing came from Tampa, Florida.
The best part of the business, Wayland said, has been the staff and the customers. Kids say they enjoy working in the stand and the customers are grateful for the experience.
“There is a lot of satisfaction in the job from day-to-day,” she said. “There is a lot of organization and inventory that has gone into perfecting the process – it’s been a learning process, but so satisfying.”
Island Snow 2 Go is downtown today until 3 p.m. on Main Street.
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