The Benefits of Attracting Breweries and Distilleries to Your Downtown Developments

Craft breweries and distilleries thrive in downtown developments

Georgia's craft beer and spirits industries are booming.  Thanks to recent legislation, breweries and distilleries can now offer sales direct to the consumer from their location.  Cities such as Woodstock, Roswell, Athens, and LaGrange thrive with breweries as part of their downtown areas.  Nationwide craft beer and spirits continue to grow in popularity across with craft beer sales up 8% in 2017 and craft spirits seeing an impressive 23.7% growth rate.

Consumers also have a renewed passion for their city’s Downtown areas.  Many people make the choice to enjoy their leisure time closer to home, and having a variety of amenities available helps them to accomplish that.  Breweries and distilleries frequently become key destinations in downtown areas, helping to spur the growth of related shopping and dining businesses and increasing tourism.

In this podcast, we'll hear from local government officials, real estate and project developers, as well as brewery and distillery owners on the benefits of attracting these businesses to your developments, along with advice on how to do so.

Presented by the Georgia Municipal Association.

For more information visit https://www.georgiacitiesfoundation.org

PANELISTS

• Mayor Mike Eason of Dawsonville
• Cheryl Wood, Founder of Dawsonville Distillery
• Keri Stevens, Assistant City Manager of Avondale Estates
• Nathan McGarity, Co-owner and Developer of Oconee Brewing
• Taylor Lamm, Co-owner and Brewmaster of Oconee Brewing
• Rob Hopek and Stacia Familo-Hopek of The Lost Druid Brewery

MODERATOR

• Tim Dennis, Co-host and Co-founder of Beer Guys Radio

Presentation Guide

• Podcast Introduction | 00:00
• Panel Introduction | 00:51
• A distillery in city hall | 01:17
• Challenges of opening a distillery in a public space | 03:02
• Structuring the partnership | 03:57
• City, state, and federal hurdles | 04:28
• Addressing public opposition | 06:32
• New laws allow direct sales from breweries and distilleries | 08:54
• Increasing tourism (visit brewery/distillery, festivals and events) | 0

Thanks for listening to Beer Guys Radio! Your hosts are Tim Dennis and Brian Hewitt with producer Nate "Mo' Mic Nate" Ellingson and occasional appearances from Becky Smalls.

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