How Can a Microbrewery Grow Your Local Economy?

Thursday, January 10
2:30 - 4:00 pm EST

Questions? Please contact [email protected]

Everybody's into "buying local" nowadays. Why should your beer be any different?

Microbreweries offer substantial opportunities for communities. Not only do they allow for re-using vacant space, they also create local jobs; attract new companies or expand existing ones; and increase the tax base. In IEDC's first web seminar of 2013, you will hear the academic, professional, and practitioner perspectives on how microbreweries help grow their local economies.

One of several recent academic studies on the economic impact of microbreweries was completed by Scott Metzger of the University of Texas-San Antonio. Scott completed the study on behalf of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, where he is also a member of their Board of Directors. Scott, in addition to being a well-respected economist, is also the owner of the popular Freetail Brewing Co. in San Antonio. He will share with attendees his extensive knowledge related to the economic development impact of microbreweries, experiences opening a brewery, as well as his advice for how best to nurture microbreweries in your community.

Our second speaker will provide the economic developer perspective. Ben Teague, Senior Vice President of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and Executive Director of the Asheville, NC-based Asheville Economic Development Coalition has years of experience working with microbreweries in his community. Asheville, NC, current holder of the title 'Beer City USA,' is home to 11 microbreweries. They also recently secured deals with larger craft brewers New Belgium Brewery (Colorado), Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (California), and Oskar Blues Brewery (Colorado) to invest hundreds of millions dollars in the Asheville-Buncombe County region of North Carolina. Ben has previously been a featured speaker on the subject of microbreweries and will share with participants his experience in working with local microbrewers and larger craft breweries and the impact they can have on the broader community.

Attend our web seminar on Economic Beer Gardening and:

• Hear from the perspective of a microbrewer, the steps that an economic development professional can take to attract and support microbreweries to their community.
• Learn from detailed new data that supports the strong economic impact of microbreweries, including growth potential, job creation, and growth in tax revenue.
• Understand the importance of place-making in nurturing microbrewery growth and how to capitalize on the success of microbreweries in your community.
• See how buzz created from local breweries can impact everything from tourism to research at your local university; lessons learned by our experts can help you as you explore microbreweries potential in your community or look to capitalize on those already pouring pints and growlers.