Alan Szuter
Special to the Canton Repository

I gained my interest in craft beer for the same reason most brewers do: a love of beer.

As I learned about the art, the science and the incredible history of beer making, the more interested I became. But one of the major draws for me was — and is — the craft beer community.

I’ve found an industry that’s creative, collaborative and that works hard to delight our customers. I worked with a lot of companies in a lot of industries, and the kind of passion and community that exists in the craft brewing industry is very rare. It’s what drives me every day.

What used to be a small collection of enthusiastic beer lovers has grown exponentially in size and importance since Ohio’s first craft breweries opened in the late 1980s. Our state is now home to 393 independent craft breweries, 48 of which opened just last year.

Ohio craft breweries are responsible for $880 million in economic output and employ more than 8,300 people, and by providing inclusive gathering places, volunteering and partnering with local charities, craft breweries have an outsized impact on our communities.

With that increased visibility and growth, we’ve seen the need for increased advocacy for our industry. We’ve always had to work hard for rights — to homebrew, to make higher alcohol beers, to expand our premises, to deliver directly to customers — and we’ve had a lot of success.

The past couple of years in particular have really shown how we can move the ball forward in gaining rights for craft breweries.

Many of these gains could be characterized as a fight against inertia. We’re a highly regulated industry: for the past 100 or more years, there’s been a lot of legislation created and modified around us, establishing a status quo.

To accomplish much of what we’ve done, we’ve mostly had to fight the inertia embedded in that huge body of legislation and regulation that we exist in. That’s generally gone well: People of all backgrounds and politics like beer, and we’re an industry that works to include everyone.

It can take a while: The push to solidify federal excise tax reform for small brewers took more than a decade to come to fruition, and that was an initiative that enjoyed broad, bipartisan support.

We’ll continue to see the need to fight for those kind of changes, just due to the complex nature of our industry. We have been on a good trajectory lately, passing bills that modernized outdated alcohol laws and helped breweries adjust to the effects of the pandemic.

These efforts are intended not only to ease burdens on Ohio’s craft breweries, but also to make the beer marketplace more robust for the consumer.

We’ve also had challenges where we’ve come up against established and entrenched power.

There are sizable and influential players in the beer industry who see some of what we’re seeking to do as a threat. We have seen that in the past, with moves by some of the larger manufacturers to roll back our gains or restrict some of our advantages.

We’ve been successful in fighting back on those efforts by engaging our breweries and their customers to advocate for our industry. As we continue to grow and improve and protect our competitive posture, we’ll see some of these bigger players mobilize their standing and connections to attempt to corral us and keep us from achieving our objectives.

However, as I said before, we’re no longer just a few small players. We’re a lot of players, some very small and some among the largest in the nation.

There are craft breweries in 69 of Ohio’s 88 counties, serving urban neighborhoods and rural towns alike. We’re getting attention for the economic impact we have in the state of Ohio, for the jobs we create and for the taxes we pay.

Our coalition of small breweries is organized under the leadership and advocacy of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association, which fights for the rights of independent breweries every day. Most importantly, we have the support of our communities: That same passion that led each of us to get into the industry fuels the interest and support of thousands of our friends and neighbors.

The craft brewing industry has grown and thrived over the years because of our unique spirit of cooperation and collaboration. We will continue to lean on that strength of collective purpose to make positive changes for craft breweries, which in turn will create more diverse and widely available beer choices for consumers.

Alan Szuter is co-owner of Wolf’s Ridge Brewing in Columbus and president of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association board of directors.

Founded in 2007, the Ohio Craft Brewers Association is a nonprofit guild that exists to promote, preserve and unify Ohio’s craft brewing industry. We aspire to be recognized as the industry leader at both state and national levels for preserving the art of making high-quality, unique craft beer; to serve as the unified voice for craft brewers across the state; to advocate on behalf of the Ohio Craft beer industry; to contribute to systemic, local community development by driving economic and job growth, while creating experiences that bring people together; and to serve as a beacon for local production and manufacturing through craft beer, resulting in diverse choices for consumers.

###

MEDIA STATEMENT

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Below is a media statement from Mary MacDonald, executive director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association:

“Ohio’s craft breweries have led by example throughout the pandemic crisis, taking extraordinary steps to protect the health and safety of customers and employees.

“Safety and sanitation are necessary parts of the brewing process, and the rigorous standards that apply to the brewhouse are also manifested in the taproom. When the state issued its public health requirements for eating and drinking establishments, craft breweries often went above and beyond the Department of Health’s guidance.

“Breweries were early adopters of touchless ordering as they pivoted their beer sales for curbside pickup and home delivery. Already adept at traditional sanitation, breweries began to implement UV disinfection of surfaces and advanced air filtration to provide clean, safe environments for customers and employees. Breweries even did their part to offset PPE shortages during the early days of the pandemic, donating excess beer in their tanks to distilleries where it was turned into badly-needed hand sanitizer.

“All of these upgrades came with significant investment on top of the costs of hand sanitizer stations, plexiglass barriers and other required measures. With tables appropriately spaced, surfaces rigorously cleaned and mask-wearing enforced for customers and employees, breweries were among the safest places to visit during the pandemic.

“Now, even with all of these safety measures in place, even with data showing that the spread of COVID does not appear to be tied to eating and drinking establishments, even with reports that 95% or more of these establishments are following public health guidelines, the state of Ohio is planning another shutdown of breweries, bars and restaurants.

“Make no mistake: a second shutdown would almost certainly devastate our industry and force many small businesses to close their doors for good.

“Under current conditions, 37% of Ohio breweries report that they are likely to be forced to shut their doors within a year. A second shutdown would surely accelerate the permanent closure of those businesses and could place up to two-thirds of Ohio’s 359 breweries in peril.

“Ohio breweries employed more than 8,000 people before the pandemic, many of whom were furloughed during the first closure and able to be brought back to work with funding from the federal Payroll Protection Program. With Congress unlikely to provide additional stimulus or relief funds in the near future, a second shutdown would result in another massive spike in unemployment and no mechanism to support those workers.

“Ohio breweries are responsible for nearly $1 billion in economic activity within the state. There are breweries in 67 of Ohio’s 88 counties, breathing life into big city neighborhoods and rural communities alike. Breweries are integral parts of their communities, donating more than $1.15 million and 13,000 volunteer hours to charity each year.

“As we have been told repeatedly for the past few months, the rise in COVID-19 cases is directly attributable to unregulated, private gatherings. Because of the exceptional public health measures we have put in place, contact tracing data does not suggest that breweries, bars and restaurants play a significant role in the current upward trends in COVID-19 diagnoses, hospitalizations and deaths.

“As an industry, we are greatly concerned about the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the state, a situation which poses its own challenge to our small businesses. However, the effects of a second shutdown would cripple our industry, cost thousands of Ohio jobs and ultimately doom many small businesses to fail. We urge the state to point their efforts toward the irresponsible actors that are perpetuating this crisis and allow Ohio breweries to continue to set the example for how to conduct business safely during the pandemic.”

Founded in 2007, the Ohio Craft Brewers Association is a nonprofit guild that exists to promote, preserve and unify Ohio’s craft brewing industry. We aspire to be recognized as the industry leader at both state and national levels for preserving the art of making high-quality, unique craft beer; to serve as the unified voice for craft brewers across the state; to advocate on behalf of the Ohio Craft beer industry; to contribute to systemic, local community development by driving economic and job growth, while creating experiences that bring people together; and to serve as a beacon for local production and manufacturing through craft beer, resulting in diverse choices for consumers.

###