With an open house Saturday, production will begin at Black Dinah’s new Westbrook facility.

At Black Dinah Chocolatiers’ new headquarters Monday, staff members were scrambling to organize the new space in the Edwards Block off Main Street, but were still pausing to have a little fun.

Employees Cait Powell and Hannah Siebert snapped a photo of themselves crouched inside a large box, with their boss, Kate Shaffer, looking on. It felt almost like a family had just moved into a new, much bigger home.

Since 2007, Shaffer and her husband, Steve, have been making their signature gourmet chocolate truffles from a house on tiny Isle au Haut, off midcoast Maine, gathering national attention and food awards. This winter, the couple announced the business would shift production and distribution of their handmade products to Westbrook – and is now on the cusp of officially opening.

An open house will be held this Saturday, June 20, from noon-2 p.m., in the new Westbrook location, at 869 Main St.

On Monday, over the sounds of power tools working on what will be the retail space for selling chocolate, Shaffer said her tight-knit group of workers has all relocated to Westbrook from Isle au Haut in order to get the Westbrook facility up and running.

Powell began working at the chocolatier on the island a year ago, learning about crafting chocolate from Shaffer. She said two months of training on the island turned into a full year. Also in house Monday was Dianne Bowen, Black Dinah’s shipping manager.

“We have an island team here,” Shaffer said, about the employees.

Once up and running, she said, the business might enlist additional local employees.

Steve Shaffer was in the middle of a long trip Monday, taking a U-Haul truck from the island with the last bits from their kitchen. The ferry trip alone is at least 45 minutes.

“Our store there is basically out of our house,” Kate Shaffer said about their original location.

Black Dinah’s cafe? on Isle au Haut will be closed this summer in order for the Shaffers and their staff to concentrate on the Westbrook production. Shaffer said Monday that the cafe? will reopen next summer. The business also operates a “tasting room” in Blue Hill.

In an email Tuesday, Steve Shaffer said he’s excited for the Westbrook location to finally open its doors.

“I’m very excited for the opening and to be working from a much larger space,” he said.

Kate Shaffer said their space on the island was roughly 500 square feet. The new space, which was formerly occupied by the office furniture supplier Red Thread, is nearly eight times the size, at about 4,000 square-feet.

The facility has a packing and shipping room, inventory space, a large space for production, a separate kitchen for prep work, and a dish room. In the production room, two chocolate enrobers, the quintessential chocolate-making machinery, will be visible to the public from large glass doors and windows.

“People really like to watch it, so the public will be able to walk in,” she said, adding that production on the island was often claustrophobic. “It’s been a huge transformation.”

Shaffer said she hopes to begin making chocolate at the facility this week, with production running in time for Saturday’s open house. Because Black Dinah uses only local, all-natural ingredients, the process is more time (and space) consuming.

“There’s not a whole lot of chocolate makers who do it that way,” she said. “We needed a big space because it’s very labor-intensive.”

She also said it makes a “huge mess,” pointing to their brand new dish room.

Bill Baker, Westbrook’s assistant city administrator for business and community relations, said Tuesday that he’s “thrilled” to welcome Black Dinah to Westbrook. He said Black Dinah is a “superb brand” with community-oriented owners.

“They have approached the development of their new space like they do their product line – with class and dignity, and we look forward to a long, positive relationship between them and our downtown,” he said.

Isle au Haut, reachable by ferry from Stonington, is approximately six miles long and two miles wide. A remote area of Acadia National Park covers about half of the island. According to Isle au Haut Boat Services, the town’s year-round population of 65 grows to several hundred in the summer season. Steve Shaffer said Tuesday that the couple has officially moved from the island to an apartment on Munjoy Hill in Portland, but says he already misses island life.

“There are some aspects of island life I miss – friends, the beauty of Isle au Haut – but I also am enjoying the ease of living on the mainland,” he said.

The staff of Black Dinah Chocolatiers made a big jump recently by relocating to Westbrook from the small island community of Isle au Haut. From left, Dianne Bowen, Cait Powell, Hannah Siebert, and owners Kate and Steve Shaffer, will host an open house at their new production and distribution facility this weekend.Staff photo by Andrew Rice