Ohio’s beer industry is growing. Are you tapping into it?
Ohioans drink beer — more than an estimated 30 gallons per person above the legal drinking age per year. That ranks the state as 23rd in beer consumption in the country (for context, North Dakota tops the ranking with over 44 gallons consumed per person).
There are 156 breweries and brewpubs in our state, according to the Ohio Beer Guide, which excludes multiple locations. There are ale trails, also known as beer tours, that take consumers on a beer-sampling journey through breweries in many regions of the state. The Summit Brew Path sends thousands of beer lovers on a quest to visit 14 breweries within a year and get their “passport” stamped at each location. When they’ve visited them all, they get a t-shirt.
We sit over a pint with family and friends and talk about the beer, the atmosphere, the service, the location and the community. We hear the brewer’s stories of entrepreneurship. There are dozens of beer events held throughout the state every year. It’s fun, but its also big, serious business.
Facts and figures
The beer industry contributed over $1.3 billion to Ohio’s economy in 2016, according to the Beer Institute & National Wholesalers Association. The industry employs more than 40,000 people and is growing at 6 percent per year while generating almost $2 billion in business and personal taxes.
The industry has spawned a new business model. One brewery raised money by selling shares direct to its customers, built its facility and is planning to build a hotel next to it using the same model as developers look to build retail shops close by. Along with its sister industry, wine, the beer industry is revitalizing downtowns and small communities, rehabbing old and abandoned warehouses and industrial properties into beautiful locations that bring energy and music and people together.
As of May 1, there were 58 applications for new licenses pending with the Ohio Bureau of Liquor Control, according to local beer guru Rick Armon, of the Akron Beacon Journal’s The Beer Blog. Northeast Ohio has 21 of those with six in the Akron/Canton area alone.
Get your fill
How can your business participate in and benefit from this unprecedented growth industry in Ohio? All these companies, whether big or small, need materials and supplies, websites and merchandise. They need engineers and systems help, legal and accounting help, and designers to create labels for bottles and packs. They need pallets, glasses, kegs, drums, barrels, forklifts, packaging lines and lots and lots of hops.
Ohio is already a national and international supplier of hops, the most critical of beer’s three main ingredients. However, The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences says 100 Ohio craft breweries source an estimated 4 million pounds of hops, worth more than $30 million, from out-of-state farms.
Creative companies and entrepreneurs should find a way to tap into this industry’s growth before out-of-state businesses siphon off the opportunities.
John Myers is helping the University of Mount Union build out its entrepreneurship program, connecting with manufacturing companies to provide R&D and to establish a patent and IP commercialization policy as well as managing its incubator.
