Meet Paulla McCarthy, the very first Black woman to own and run a spring water bottling plant in New York. The nurse and single mother of three not only owns the water plant, but owns the land in Poestenkill, NY from which the spring water is obtained.
“I was able to raise $130,000 in two days,” McCarthy said.
Shortly after purchasing the plant, she was offered over $20 million from a major water company to sell her property, but she is steadfast in holding on because of the importance of black ownership of natural resources.
In an interview with EYL, the Brooklyn mom explained the idea of buying the water plant came to her after she gave her twin boys $1,600 to sell pallets of water purchased from BJs, during the pandemic. Through the boys’ company called The New York Water Boys, they sold pallets of water on the street, working their way up to selling pallets to supermarkets and bodegas, and also making home deliveries. Through word of mouth and Facebook ads, the young men became successful enough to land a contract selling water to 21 supermarkets. At the time, water was extremely hard to find, during the pandemic.
@PaullaMcCarthy financed and managed the operation. With no former experience in the industry, the business quickly grew into a local success story netting the twins a few thousand dollars every week in revenue.
After seeing the profit margins in water, Paulla did some research and found out how valuable of a commodity water is. There is a global water shortage that is getting progressively worse. The fight for control of drinking sources has led experts to predict that water will become more valuable than gold over the next 50 years.
After realizing the importance and business model of water, she focused her attention on bigger playing fields. Six months after starting the local water distribution company with her sons, she purchased the spring water bottling plant from an elderly couple in upstate New York.
After McCarthy and her children met with the owners they eventually offered to sell her their 15 acres of land, which included an Aquifer which is also known as “The Spring.”
Now that’s a BOSS 🏆👏🏽🙌🏽
