MiMfg Magazine
INDUSTRY
22
May 2019
Member
Spotlight
Brad Stevenson
Founders Brewing Co.
Member since January 2017 • Employs 400 Michigan workers • Learn more at www.foundersbrewing.com
“Beer” may not be your first response when
asked to name a leading manufacturing sector but,
in Michigan, it ought to be. Over the last 20
years, Michigan’s success as a manufacturing hub
has become increasingly supported by the in-state
growth of craft breweries. When Founders
Brewing Co. started in 1997, there were 11
Michigan breweries. Today there are nearly 400
and Founders has grown from a small, local
brewery to a national brand with a sales footprint
stretching from coast to coast.
“Craft brewing starts with a passion to share
something you love with others so they can love
it, too,” said Brad Stevenson, chief production
officer for the Grand Rapids-based brewery.
“There’s something romantic and quaint about
what we do because it’s inherently local. It’s
people in one community or one region working
and growing and innovating together to make
something delicious.”
Like most manufacturers, Founders felt plenty
of growing pains moving from “romantic and quaint”
to a company with a sterling reputation for quality
and more than 600 employees nationwide. It started
with a few friends driven by a dream and not
willing to let a lack of revenue slow them down.
Brushes with bankruptcy were not uncommon.
“The threat of closure wasn’t rare for us in
those days, but what we were doing wasn’t just
something we wanted to do — it was something
we had to do, so we didn’t close; we stepped up
and figured out what had to change so we could
keep going,” Stevenson recalled.
Founders’ Grandville Ave facility boasts new technology,
including the hop doser atop their 1,500 bbl tanks, pictured
here and ready to drop in 1,400 lbs of hops for All Day IPA.
What changed? Perspective.
“The first thing we did was remember why we
wanted to do it in the first place,” Stevenson
explained. “We went back to our roots and what
led us to start the business. The tagline you see
today of ‘Brewed for Us’ came out of that shift.”
Founders kept the passion, they kept the
dream and they kept the drive, but they added a
much-needed business mentality.
There’s something romantic and quaint
about what we do because it’s inherently
local. It’s people in one community or one
region working and growing and innovating
together to make something delicious.
“Once we took on a business mindset, a
manufacturing mindset, the product improved,”
said Stevenson. “We built processes to improve
consistency, we locked down rules for safety and
cleanliness, we developed standard operating
procedures, we built a quality lab and hired a
microbiologist. When you’re making a consumable
product you need to take it seriously. You don’t
have to lose the love for it; but you still need to be
a business. It’s not an either/or choice.”
The company’s growth ever since has been
stellar and the symbols are everywhere. A national
leader in annual growth. Expanded operations to
what is now a one-million-barrel-capacity brewing
operation in Grand Rapids. A brand-new Detroit
taproom. Sales teams covering the country.
The story of Founders is proof that beer
production in Michigan can thrive but steps must
be taken to secure that future. As Founders has
grown, it’s been able to lend its voice to the serious
challenges ahead. The brewery industry remains
susceptible to people who lack a focus for quality
and safety, FDA compliance and oversight isn’t
where it needs to be, and breweries face the same
struggles to locate talent as the rest of manufacturing.
“Brewing begins with passion and that’s
something we share with all manufacturers,”
said Stevenson. “I’m really excited about where
we’re going. People are beginning to notice us as
more than just brewers; we’re part of Michigan’s
manufacturing fabric. We love what we make
and we love sharing it.”
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