Inside Sierra Nevada’s Hunt for a New Brewery
Finding the right site for production operations is a challenging process for any company. After a long search for the right site, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. chose North Carolina for its new $100 million brewery now serving as its East Coast headquarters.
The nation’s largest craft beer maker considered more than 200 sites in 2011 before settling on Mills River, a small town near Asheville and the Great Smoky Mountains. Based in California, Sierra Nevada was looking for a public-private partnership for it’s latest facility.
“Everything about it just felt right,” said Brian Grossman, second generation brewer and son of Sierra Nevada’s founder Ken Grossman. “From the site to the partnerships to the people we found here, we recognized Western North Carolina offered the opportunity we were looking for. It allowed us to grow in an environmentally responsible way and meet increasing demand for our beer.”
Sierra Nevada’s team liked a large wooded tract along the French Broad River, close to Interstates 26 and 40 and the Asheville Regional Airport. And it was drawn to North Carolina’s promise of a public-private partnership that offered everything it would need to succeed.
Among the attributes North Carolina offered were:
◾Good proximity to the eastern half of the United States, with more than 100 million people within a day’s drive.
◾Easy access to major transportation arteries including five interstate highways, four international airports, two deep-water seaports and the nation’s largest consolidated rail system.
◾Dependable source of water and affordable energy rates below the national average.
◾A workforce steeped in manufacturing, both traditional and advanced.
◾A business-friendly regulatory environment—with low taxes, performance-based incentives and the willing partnership of local and state-level officials—working with the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, which recruits new businesses and helps existing companies grow within the state.
According to Grossman, few sites could match Western North Carolina’s beauty and outdoor culture. “It felt like home in Chico, CA,” said Grossman, referring to the small town near the Sierra Nevada mountains where his father started the business in 1979 and had grown it to capacity. The vitality he found in Asheville also helped them zero in on the city, with its progressive values and devotion to the environment.
“The Asheville vibe is alive,” Grossman said. “They’ve got a lot of good culture, arts, restaurants and a vibrant street scene – not to mention some really good beers on tap. I remember saying to myself: ‘I want to be part of that.’”
Sierra Nevada has enjoyed record sales since the North Carolina brewery came online in 2015, helping to produce the company’s flagship Pale Ale and dozens of other beers. The brewery employs 400 people and runs one of the busiest restaurants in the state, serving as many as 4,000 plates on a Saturday. Its popular taproom, brewery tours and natural setting drew more than 60,000 visitors in 2016.
“North Carolina gained a significant company, and Sierra Nevada gained a great place to live and work,” said Andrew Tate, CEO of the Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development. “They set high expectations, but in the end, it came down to two things: Do we have the product they want? And do we have the will to get this project done?
“The answer to both was yes,” Tate said.
