May 9—A pair of penguins on a sign appear to wave to passersby on a busy corner in Old Colorado City.
They are new faces on the block beckoning travelers to stop at their igloo, Twice the Ice, a purified water and ice self-serve station that opened in March 2022.
Jeff Benson and his partner, Courtney Beck, built the ice station and a parking lot on a small plot they purchased at 2102 W. Colorado Ave.
The couple opened the ice and water station not far from where they live in Colorado Springs after starting their first Twice the Ice station in November 2019 in the mountain community of Silver Cliff, an hour west of Pueblo.
"Between the city population that was using the machine as well as the weekenders in the spring to fall, we'd run out," Benson said. "It cannot make it fast enough."
Benson has a home near Silver Cliff. He and Beck discovered the need for ice between the boom of summer vacationers and their own camping excursions. Beck, a nurse anesthetist, proposed the idea to start an ice shop.
Benson, a disabled veteran, provided IT support to the government but was getting fed up with the job.
"I quit and became owner and operator of these machines," Benson said. "I've never looked back."
Ice House America, a Jacksonville, Florida-based ice vending machine manufacturer, sells ice makers to entrepreneurs who want to own and operate a Twice the Ice machine.
The couple's business, SoCo ICE, started in Silver Cliff with Twice the Ice brand's midsize option, which makes up to 4,500 pounds of ice in 24 hours and can store up to 3,000 pounds.
After the Silver Cliff location's demand outpaced what the machine could make, Benson upgraded to the largest of three machines offered, which stores up to 6,500 pounds of ice. He operates the same size machine in Colorado Springs.
The machines have multiple filters and purify the water through reverse osmosis. Customers can buy water for $0.25 a gallon, bag ice for $3 or bulk ice for $2.50 using Twice the Ice's mobile pay as a touchless option in lieu of credit card or cash.
Benson said the Springs location has more sporadic use from individual customers than Silver Cliff.
"When it's cold in the city, people don't need as much ice," Benson said. "In the mountains, they live off grid or go hunting so they need ice all the time."
But in the city, Benson said he often delivers ice to restaurants or for events such as festivals and parades.
"I was extremely reluctant, but Courtney was always right," Benson said. "Do I regret it? Absolutely not. I see that the customer is coming, I see how happy they are, or at least satisfied when they leave with the product be it the water or the ice."