POULTNEY, VT — BHAKTA Spirits, the purpose-driven family of spirits brands founded by Vermont entrepreneur Raj Peter Bhakta with an aim of reviving the state’s once-storied Green Mountain College, has announced today that it nears the final expansion stage of its groundbreaking Stockholder Program.

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Backers from around the globe have sought to bend Mr. Bhakta’s ear for a chance at entry; as Stockholders, the proceeds from their purchase of prized vintages of BHAKTA brandy will be used to supercharge the founder’s ambitious campus redevelopment plans.

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Only a handful of Stockholder Collections remain. These sought-after offerings of rare and ancient Armagnac range in price from $30,000 to $1,000,000 and carry evocative, thematic titles such as “From Gatsby to the Moon” and “The Grand Imperial Collection.”

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Much like the gravity-defying valuations of WhistlePig rye whiskey, Mr. Bhakta’s previous Vermont spirits venture—whose bottles now regularly earn returns of 2000%, 4000%, and even 7000%—BHAKTA is billed as a nec plus ultra investment.

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Stockholder Membership carries with it an invitation to join a group of select, high-level business and media leaders, including entry to the lavish gatherings through which Mr. Bhakta has built his profile as a tirelessly engaging promoter.

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Plans for a junior Stockholder Club are also rumored to be underway. Sources suggest that this program will be limited to aspirants under the age of thirty-five and will involve a rigorous vetting process. Proceeds will likewise directly support the revitalization of Green Mountain College.

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Since its sudden closure in 2019, Green Mountain College—which was known for its commitment to sustainability—has teetered on the edge of decrepitude, with experts estimating the full cost of restoration at “well north of $50 million,” according to one contractor familiar with the school’s facilities.

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More buttoned-up than ever, Mr. Bhakta—perhaps Vermont’s most successful self-made entrepreneur and no doubt its most colorful—appears undaunted by cost, and has made the College’s resuscitation the sort of Quixotic personal mission seldom seen in the present day.

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On a recent Tuesday evening, a passerby braved falling snow to stand outside of the floor-to-ceiling windows of Mr. Bhakta’s office, which was once occupied by the school’s head librarian, to watch the entrepreneur in action.

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Save for the embers of a bonfire in front of nearby dormitory Sage Hall—where an artist from Montréal, a spirits collector from Connecticut, and a well-known Manhattan corporate leader sat sipping the once-forgotten brandy which bears Mr. Bhaka’s name—the only light on campus shone from Mr. Bhakta’s office, where he is said to have been spotted with the receiver of an antique telephone in one hand and a Nicaraguan cigar in the other.

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An anonymous source within Bhakta Empire LLC has confirmed that the energetic Mr. Bhakta has been more active than ever, fielding calls from other national business leaders to line up Stockholder support for his redevelopment mission.

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To date, the BHAKTA Stockholder Club has attracted boldfaced names in tech and finance; investors bullish on aged spirits, a booming alternative asset class; scions and socialites; and philanthropists eager for an overdue reversal of fortunes for the region.

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“It’s impossible to overstate what this Stockholder Program and corresponding redevelopment plan will mean for the town of Poultney and the people of Vermont,” says Mr. Bhakta. “We are using a purpose-driven model to raise alternative capital for a cause believed in by countless folks on the local, national, and even international level. We’re bringing jobs back to Poultney. We exist to inspire optimism. Over the coming years, Vermont will reap hundreds of millions of dollars and more of economic activity from our efforts. Forget the marble, dairy, and railroad booms of days past—our state’s next spike will come from entrepreneurs doubling down on tourism and high-end, made-in-Vermont agricultural products like craft spirits.”

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Small business owners and residents anxious for increased business activity have pinned their hopes on both Bhakta the business and Bhakta the man—whom they know as a friendly, soft-spoken neighbor. Mr. Bhakta, his wife Danhee Bhakta, and their family all call Poultney home. Mrs. Bhakta is the founder of the Green Mountain Community School.

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With the long-term mismanagement of Vermont’s economic affairs at the federal and gubenatorial level squeezing middle class families and leaving workers behind, new jobs and local opportunities have been in short supply—until recently. Bhakta Spirits has been hiring, with numerous new employees relocating from major urban centers to purchase homes in the area, join Poultney’s community, contribute to its tax base, and signal their belief in Mr. Bhakta’s vision of Vermont revival.

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Leaving Griswold library, Mr. Bhakta is said to have stopped by the bonfire to bid goodnight to his visitors—who offered him a glass of his BHAKTA 50 brandy, which contains rare Armagnac distilled the year of Ulysses S. Grant’s election to the presidency. To the surprise of his new Stockholders, Mr. Bhakta declined.

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“I’m late to dinner with the priest,” he said. “Have you met him yet? He revives spirits even better than I do.”

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According to an anonymous source, the light in Mr. Bhakta’s office was back on by six o’clock the following morning.

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About Bhakta Spirits

Bhakta Spirits (https://bhaktafarms.com/page/bhakta-spirits), based on the campus of Green Mountain College in Poultney, VT, is the spirits division of Bhakta Empire LLC—a protean family of brands defined by its commitment to tradition, embodiment of authentic luxury, and possession of the oldest and rarest spirits collection known to man. The latest project of visionary entrepreneur Raj Peter Bhakta—founder of the renowned rye whiskey brand WhistlePig—Bhakta Spirits is animated by four core principles: Age, Rarity, Exquisiteness, and Truth.