Why I Built My Business in Prattville, AL

MRaine Industries

Marquis Forge was born and raised in Autauga County and named the valedictorian of his high school in 1995. In his speech, he shared that if he ever made something of his life, he wouldn’t forget where he came from and might return someday. 

“Everyone leaves Autaugaville and never comes back,” Forge says of the less than 800-person town where he grew up. “Even I, myself, graduated from the University of Alabama and got a good job in the automotive sector elsewhere. But one day after attending the funeral of a family friend back in Autaugaville, the deceased’s widow told me that I should return to my hometown because people in Autaugaville would celebrate my life someday.” 

In 2015, he moved back and in 2018 launched MRaine Industries, which produces bottled water called Eleven86 Real Artesian Water. Forge shares more about his story and why he launched his business in Prattville: 

What did you do after getting advice to return home? 
I wasn’t sure what I should do, but I went to see a former mentor who talked to me about Autaugaville needing help with its economy.

He suggested I begin running a water bottling plant. There was already such a plant in town, but it had closed and was sitting empty. 

Did you have any experience bottling water? 
None. But I started asking questions and looking into things, and I saw that it could be a viable business because of a local natural aquifer and artesian wells. 

How did you go about launching your business in Prattville? 
I learned about utilizing pumps and piping so no contaminants can get into the water. After I passed all the approval checks by the FDA – about 18 months later – I opened a 22,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility with high-tech equipment, great wells and a handful of employees. We started bottling with a goal to help revitalize Autaugaville in some small way, and our Eleven86 Real Artesian Water is now the official state water of Alabama. 

Where does the name Eleven86 come from?
One day, I asked the Apple virtual assistant, Siri, a question of how many chapters there are in the Bible, and the answer came back 1,186. I later learned that the correct number is 1,189, but we had already named the water Eleven86. However, we later learned that it was actually OK using the 6 instead of the 9, because God made man on the sixth day.

And your company’s name is MRaine Industries. Where does that name come from?
Our daughter is Makiah Raine, so we thought it was perfect for the MRaine Industries’ name.

How has your company grown since 2018?
In 2018, we shipped 632,000 bottles of water, and that number grew to shipping 18 million bottles in 2023. Today, we are sold online to customers in 48 states, and we are available in stores in 13 states. We have also expanded the original 22,500-square-foot bottling plant to our current 66,000-square-foot facility.

Have you received help from the community along the way? 
Yes, very much. We received help and advice from county commissioners, the chamber, the sheriff’s department and even the City of Prattville, all of whom wanted to see us succeed. We now have 34 employees. 

Any other successful points you want to mention?
Yes, Budweiser has become our main distributor throughout all of Alabama, and the Retirement Systems of Alabama, which owns nine Marriott resorts across the state, is putting two bottles of our water in each hotel room every night. Eleven86 Real Artesian Water is also found at all the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail courses in Alabama.

Do you receive feedback from customers? 
Because we include a Bible verse inside the bottle caps, so many customers have told us they have received inspiration from that. Every bottle also has Autaugaville on it, so more and more people are hearing about our little town.