The craft beer boom creates jobs and breweries in Erie County – The Buffalo News



[ad_1]

The craft beer is not just a pleasure! it's a big deal in the west of New York.

In fact, the brewpub is a larger market in the Buffalo area than almost anywhere else in the state of New York. By 2018, Erie County had the third largest number of craft breweries and the second largest number of jobs in the brewing industry, according to a report by the New York State Brewers Association.

In addition to creating jobs, the sector attracts tourists, revitalizes neighborhoods and gives life to previously vacant buildings. And while craft beer once slowed its double-digit growth, it continues to grow at a faster pace than the beer market as a whole, according to the Brewers Association.

Last year, there were 24 breweries in Erie County. It is the third highest number of all counties in New York, behind Suffolk County on Long Island (which has 36 counties) and Monroe County in Rochester (which has 26). More have opened this year. In 1919, shortly before prohibition, Buffalo housed 29 breweries.

All these breweries have created new jobs.

Erie County alone breweries directly employed 646 people and insured another 739 related jobs. Related jobs unrelated to the brewery include beer retailers and distributors, as well as those providing services to the brewing industry, such as banking and marketing. Together, they reported a total of $ 81.2 million in salaries, according to the report. Wages were calculated using data from a survey sent by the brewers' association and average wages from the industry.

The study estimates the total economic impact of the brewing industry on Erie County to $ 294.6 million.

Timothy Glass, Labor Market Analyst at the Department of State Labor, said the craft brewers had a "multiplier effect" that reinforced the communities' economies. Analysts have observed the impact of the industry on the entire state since 2012, when New York amended its legislation to cut red tape for small-scale breweries.

"One of the interesting things about the industry is its resilience," Glass said. "The craft brewers have proved that they were not a fad, but an economic engine that could still develop.The industry has helped revitalize the city's downtowns with their power of attraction. "

Although Erie County has one of the highest concentrations of breweries, there are 14 in western New York: three in Niagara County, one in Allegany County, four in Cattaraugus County and six in Chatauqua County. Together, they account for 281 other direct jobs in breweries and $ 45.5 million in wages, according to the report.

Other breweries have opened their doors west of New York this year. The 2018 report does not include data from newcomers. Operation nano Prosper Brewing opened on Webster Street in North Tonawanda in March. Belt Line Brewery opened on Swan Street in January. Froth Brewing Co. opened on Military Road the same month.

Others have developed. Woodcock Brothers Brewing Co., a Wilson restaurant that makes its own beer, opened a second site in the Wurlitzer building in North Tonawanda in March. Thin Man Brewery opened a second site on Chandler Street earlier this month, with a new $ 3 million brewing operation next door.

RG Brewery and Five Sons Winery in Brockport took off in Barker's Mix Brassing & Creamery, which produces beer-infused ice cream and a brewing event. (This location replaces Barker Brewing, which has closed.) Buffalo Brewing Co., on Myrtle Avenue, is planning an expansion. The Rusty Nickel Brewing Co. of West Seneca will open a second branch at 36 Broadway this summer.

More new breweries are on tap. Joe Artanis, a local investor and co-founder of the Florida brewery, Three Sons Brewing, plans to create a brewery collective, also on Chandler Street, which would include five national and international breweries. The late opening of Jamestown Brewing Co. is promised soon. Britesmith Brewing began work on its Williamsville site earlier this month. The Hofbrauhaus franchise is still under construction at 190 Scott Street, despite construction and financing issues.

Traditional breweries revitalize neighborhoods and reuse old factories and warehouses. According to Willard Brooks, founder of the Buffalo Niagara Brewers Association, there are practical and cultural reasons for breweries to settle in industrial buildings. Most of them have been inactive since the Buffalo Gold Age. The old manufacturing buildings have an aesthetic and cool factor that beer lovers appreciate. And, as a former industrial giant, Buffalo's old manufacturing buildings have the infrastructure that brewers need.

"It's a factory.It must be in a factory.They have the sewer pipes, water, everything you need to manufacture because it's this that is – to manufacture, "Brooks said.

Riverworks Brewing Co. redeveloped the abandoned grain elevators for the waterfront on Ganson Street. Community Beer Works opened its first location in a former malt garage. Pressure Drop Brewery is only one of the renters of artisanal alcoholic beverages that has revived a former 116-year-old barrel-making plant located in the Old First district. Before moving to its current location in Larkinville, pioneer craft beer Flying Bison breathed new life into the Riverside neighborhood and helped revive Black Rock, located nearby.

The Buffalo Brewing Co. is considering renovating the former Schreiber Brewing Co. on Fillmore Avenue. Schreiber, who made a beer called Manru, opened in 1899 and closed in 1950. Community Beer Works will add a site in Niagara Falls this year, in a long vacant building being renovated by Savarino Cos. Thin Man is located in Chandlerville, Rocco The $ 50 million neighborhood of restaurants, businesses and businesses in Termini will reuse, among other industrial buildings, the former Barcalounger plant. The Artanis project will reuse the former vacant Keystone Manufacturing industrial building that he purchased in 2016 for $ 200,000 and of which Brooks is also the main one.

The craft beer sector of western New York could grow – or even double -, Brooks said. The region consumes about 800,000 barrels of beer a year, but only 5 to 7% of it is produced locally.

At the national level, the market share of craft beer is increasing by 13%. The conversion of national brand drinkers into local breweries will be one of the keys to growing market share. To do this, craft brewers will expand their repertoire by offering easy drinking beers and less alcoholic beers.

This should not be a problem.

"That's the good thing about craft beer," Brooks said. "There is something for every taste."

And that includes tourists.

Visit Buffalo Niagara printed 25,000 copies of a brochure titled "Brewcation Destination" last year and placed digital and print locations in locations such as Southern Ontario, Cleveland, Pittsburgh , Erie and Rochester. A new book will be printed soon to include recent openings such as the Belt Line Brewery & Kitchen, Froth Brewing Co. and Labatt Brew House.

The tourism office has placed "Buffalo Brewcation" ads in beer publications such as "The Growler", "Craft Pittsburgh" and "Hop Culture". He has also turned a mounted version of a promotional video on the Buffalo Brewery's stage into commercials on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

In October, the Shelton Brothers Festival will be held in Buffalo, providing further evidence that the city has claimed its status as a destination for craft beer. Attracted by Mike Shatzel, it is considered the Super Bowl of Beer and should attract craft enthusiasts from around the world.

Patrick Kaler, President of Visit Buffalo Niagara, said that "it's no coincidence that Buffalo's brewery boom is directly linked to its growth as a tourist destination."

"These breweries are an integral part of the history of Buffalo that we promote in our advertising campaigns and in the buzz that we have helped to strengthen national and international media coverage," said Kaler.

The brewery scene embodies the authentic and unique experiences sought by today's travelers, he said.

[ad_2]

Source link