The Charlotte Observer details how breweries act as “pioneer businesses” in certain areas of town, seeking buildings to renovate and reuse, and bringing neighborhood revitalization along for the ride.
Full article: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article140415733.html
The Charlotte, NC region is preparing to serve thousands of glasses of local craft beer at the world’s largest industrial trade fair, the Hannover Messe, in Germany.
The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery sent over 13,000 bottles of its locally-made beer to Hannover, with the help of Kuehne + Nagel logistics and the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Charlotte. 560 cases of Charlotte’s craft beer will hopefully land in the hands of thousands of lucky trade fair attendees, including President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. Secretary of Transportation (and former Charlotte mayor) Anthony Foxx, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.
The Charlotte Business Journal writes, “At a Charlotte Chamber event this morning at The Olde Mecklenberg Brewery, the chamber, the Charlotte Regional Partnership and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina announced they will lead a delegation of more than 20 people representing private companies and public-sector organizations to this year’s Hannover Messe. It is the world’s largest industrial trade fair, slated for April 25-29 in Hannover, Germany, and expected to draw 6,500 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors.”
My firm, BridgehouseLaw LLP, will be attending the Hannover Messe as part of the official Charlotte Regional Partnership Delegation. A full list of the delegates can be found in the CBJ article here. We are honored to assist in the region’s economic development activities, and look forward to welcoming even more jobs, businesses, and investment to Charlotte and the surrounding counties. Cheers and Prost!
Charlotte, NC startup BREWPUBLIK – which has been described as the “NetFlix of Beer” – has been accepted to participate in 500 Startups, a global venture capital seed fund and started accelerator based in Silicon Valley.
Brewpublik delivers craft beer to their subscribers’ front door each month, using an online algorithm to determine their individual tastes and preferences. They just celebrated the company’s 1-year anniversary, and have enjoyed business growth by more than 20 percent month-over-month. Monthly members currently exceed 1,000 in Charlotte and Raleigh.
“We’re excited to take part in 500 Startups to represent Charlotte and the craft beer industry,” said Zach Jamison, BREWPUBLIK co-founder. “It’s the perfect platform to help us accelerate city to city, globally.”
Find The Charlotte Business Journal press release here.
Charlotte news outlet FOX 46 interviewed Olde Mecklenburg Brewery‘s sales director about their decision to back out of the Triad market due to the NC law capping craft beer production at 25,000 barrels per year. Click here for the video.
Opponents of the current law claim that the annual 25,000 barrel limit abruptly cuts off small breweries’ abilities to grow, and does little to incentivize their investment in delivery trucks, kegs, and new employees. Once a brewery hits the cap, they are required to hand over distribution for ALL of their beer to a third-party distributor, thus third party would gain control over all sales, delivery, distribution and quality control during transportation (everything that matters to the Brewery), resulting in a loss about 30% of the brewery’s revenue and margin to the distributor.
Many breweries would prefer to engage a third-party distributor as their own business decision, and not be forced to comply with an arbitrary rule. While North Carolina is often cited to have the most “beer-friendly” laws in the Southeastern USA, there is still room for improvement. South Carolina limits breweries to selling 48 ounces of beer to consumers in a 24-hour period, while Georgia breweries have been fighting for over a decade for the mere ability to sell growlers.
The craft beer scene has exploded in cities like Asheville, Charlotte and Raleigh, creating jobs and adding to the tourism industry. Local consumers and beer fans alike could help to further convince legislators to update the law to meet today’s practical considerations.
See also: http://www.craftfreedom.org
The Queen City’s commercial real estate market continues to be thirsty for more craft beer!
Real estate firm Colliers International compared the growth of craft breweries in 29 markets and found that Charlotte, NC is among the industry’s fastest-growing areas in the country.
The Charlotte Business Journal article cites, “The survey showed Chicago had the largest craft-beer footprint at 1.6 million square feet of space, while Charlotte ranked 21st in size. But Charlotte had the highest growth rate from 2013 to 2014, with its footprint growing by 77%, much higher than the 20.7% growth rate for all markets.
According to Colliers, the Charlotte footprint grew to 167,624 square feet in 2014, up from 94,687 square feet in 2013. Today, the number stands at 229,281 square feet, according to the firm.
Asheville’s footprint ranked eighth in size overall but ranked first on a per-capita basis at 1.58 square feet.”
Several of Charlotte’s breweries can be found in the South End and NoDa neighborhoods, which offer older industrial buildings and warehouses capable of housing large brewing operations.
Charlotte’s largest craft beer maker, Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, pulled out of its $130,000 investment in Greensboro, NC only one year after expanding into the Triad market.
OMB cites the reason for the retreat is North Carolina’s barrel cap on craft beer breweries: Once a brewery makes 25,000 barrels of beer in a year, it must turn over distribution to a third party. The brewery is opposed to the NC law, and has committed to staying under the 24,999 annual barrel limit, even though its brewery could potentially produce 100,000 barrels per year.
OMB’s founder stated they would preemptively pull out of Greensboro in order to avoid underserving its home market of Charlotte. “Every drop counts. It’s one of those laws of unintended consequences,” he adds. “It takes OMB from something that is growing every year as an employment and tax creator and puts us in a holding pattern.”
Demand for OMB’s beers continues to grow, but the current production cap limits the brewery’s ability to release additional varieties and seasonal brews.
Original article ran in the Charlotte Business Journal.
Additional details on current opposition to NC’s production limit can be found at CharlotteBeer.com.
photo credit: letloveguideus.com
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