Brewing Big Beer Bucks

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "manufacturing" as "making something from raw materials by machine or by hand." 

Brewing beer is the latest form of manufacturing to take hold in West Michigan, specifically metro Grand Rapids.

The Grand Rapids City Commission granted a $430,000 tax break to Founders Brewing, one of the most active breweries in Grand Rapids, December 4, 2012. 

 Founders brought beer brewing back to Grand Rapids, moving into one of the iconic relics of Grand Rapids’ past; a rat and gang infested, broken down furniture factory on the west bank of the Grand River. Police and hazardous materials crews had to sweep the place clean before they would allow reporters in for a press conference to announce the antique wood-and-brick building’s rebirth in 1996.

 The company might be in the midst of a $6 million expansion, but Founders nearly went bankrupt a few years after opening. CEO and founder Mike Stevens, a self-described “beer geek,” admitted he and his partner Dave Engbers made some bad beer decisions. They were able to keep their doors open and their beer brewing by switching their strategy. Mike and Dave started brewing the kind of beer they wanted to drink.

Founders' early days might not have been easy, but they did have fun.

“When you are fighting for something you really believe in you tend to fight a little bit more. So, if times are a little bit tough you just come out swinging,” he said.

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I will have more on the pioneers of the reinvention of the West Michigan brewing industry in a new book that will be published early next year. -- Rod

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community, the story of the transformation of Grand Rapids into one of the centers of the biotech industry in Michigan, is available now wherever books are sold including Schuler Books & Music in Grand Rapids and Kentwood, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Abbott Press and at www.rodkackley.com. Or you can simply click the Buy Now button on this page.