Owner Mike Knepps recently reopened the GLG Bar at the Lake Guilford Event Center. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

LISBON — Mike Knepps knows a lot of things about a lot of things. But admittedly the bar business isn’t one of them, but that didn’t stop Knepps, an entrepreneur by nature, from throwing his hat into the beer-slinging ring by opening GLG Bar at the Lake Guilford Event Center.

“I have no experience running a bar, none,” said Knepps, a resident of New Georgetown. “But I have friends who own bars and they encouraged me to open it. I already had a liquor license and the liquor liability insurance and the bar was here so I thought ‘why not?’ and so now here we are.”

What experience Knepps lacks in the running a bar, he more than makes up for it in experience of running businesses. He already owns and operates a scrap business and has been buying and selling real estate for years.

Last year, he bought the former Guilford Lake Grille and Banquet Center at Guilford Lake State Park. The 13,000 square-foot property had been shuttered for six years before Knepps took it off the market.

Knepps took a chance on that business as well, reopening the banquet center last May. He had no experience in the banquet business either but so far, it has taken off. The Blue Heron Banquet room which can accommodate up to 400 people, is already booking events for 2026. Recently, Southern Local held its prom at the lakeside property.

Much like the GLG Bar, Knepps wasn’t looking to reopen the event center. He bought the property not for its business potential but for its views and with the intention of converting the upstairs where GLG is located into a home and the bottom where the banquet hall is into a garage. But intentions have a way of changing and now Knepps has added two more businesses to his entrepreneurial portfolio.

“I wasn’t looking for another business, but I found this and it was pretty much ready to be reopened,” Knepps said. “It took a lot of cleaning and some other things here and there, but I figured I would give it a shot and it’s been good. It’s been a great experience.”

The GLG Bar , located at 7094 E. Lake Rd. in Lisbon, officially opened its doors last Thursday and is open Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 10 p.m.