Dear readers,
In these tough times for breweries and the brewing industry, the little bright spots of hope really matter. When we announced our Craft Beer & Brewing Cares grant program two weeks ago, we didn’t predict the response we would receive, but 399 brewing businesses submitted applications for grants from the $100,000 pool we initially established.
Over the past couple days, we worked through this long list—looking at the contributions these businesses have made to the broader world of brewing, the scope of benefit, the number of people that could potentially be helped by this, and more—and it became very apparent that we couldn’t narrow the awards down to just 20 applicants.
Instead, we’re awarding 28 grants of $5,000 advertising packages. On top of that, every business that applied but did not receive that top tier of grant is going to receive $500 in free, geotargeted advertising on our websites, so they can connect with craft beer and beverage enthusiasts in their local areas. The net value of this grant program has now grown to $325,500.
We want to say “thank you” to the contributions these people and their businesses make to the world of craft beer. We know these ads alone won’t immediately change the fortunes of these businesses as they navigate this incredibly difficult time, but we hope it will help them connect with customers in a meaningful way as we turn the corner on this unprecedented worldwide emergency.
With socially distant pints in hand, we raise a toast to everyone in the brewing industry and broader world economy facing these challenges head-on.
John Bolton, Jamie Bogner, and Haydn Strauss
Co-owners, Craft Beer & Brewing and the Brewing Industry Guide