Vinton Popcorn takes sales online

VINTON - Students at Vinton-Shellsburg High School are working hard to return one of Vinton's brands to nationwide acclaim.

The Vinton Popcorn Company originally achieved fame in the 1970s. It closed in the early 1990s, but the brand and its products were revived in 2012 for an entrepreneurship class at the high school. Vinton's Business Opportunity Group provided initial funding for the project, which is overseen by a board of Vinton residents and business owners.

'The Vinton Popcorn Project gives students a chance to do things they might otherwise just read about or talk about in a traditional classroom setting,” said Instructor Aric Chvala.

For the past few years, the popcorn has been sold at numerous local businesses, at sporting events, and to Vinton-Shellsburg students during lunch.

'A major decision moving forward is whether to keep Vinton Popcorn small and run it as a project or look for opportunities to grow it as a full-fledged, gears wide-open company,” said Don Eells, Vinton Popcorn board member.

Student Wyatt Tumilty said students recently decided to pursue an online expansion in order to increase sales and overall reach.

'We have reached out to 13 different states, which means the word of Vinton Popcorn is starting to spread countrywide,” Tumilty said.

Vinton students created the online store by looking up shipping prices, calculating profit margins, and discussing how to get the word out.

In conjunction with the launch of the online store, Vinton Popcorn has started a 50 State Challenge, aiming to sell popcorn to someone in all 50 states by April 6. Any order placed within the time span of that challenge will receive a free bag of microwave popcorn.

Those interested can follow the company's progress and place orders at vintonpopcornproject.org.