MAYOR SANDERS KICKS OFF

“CRAFT BEER MONTH”

Event Hosted by Coronado Brewing Company

Ron Chapman (left) and his brother Rick with Mayor Jerry Sanders at a recent press

conference. The Chapmans are founders of the Coronado Brewing Company. Photo by Joe Ditler.

SAN DIEGO - “Something must be brewing in San Diego when the New York Times says that beer has become as much a part of San Diego’s identity as surf and sun,” said San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders.

The Mayor spoke at a press conference Friday hosted by the Coronado Brewing Company at their new facility, “Knoxville,” located near Tecolote Canyon. Present were numerous representatives of the craft brewing industry, whom Mayor Sanders referred to as “San Diego’s elite.”

Sanders used the opportunity to present Proclamations to the brewing pioneers in attendance while announcing June as Craft Beer Month throughout San Diego County. “This is my favorite Proclamation,” said Mayor Sanders with a laugh. “What better way to end a week.”

Some of the products offered by the Coronado Brewing Company and other members of the San Diego Brewers' Guild were on display at Mayor Jerry Sanders’ press conference Friday. The event

was held at CBC's new and expanded Knoxville brew facility. Photo by Joe Ditler.

In recognizing the rapidly growing San Diego craft beer industry, Sanders mentioned five new breweries and one yeast manufacturer that have opened for business or expanded operations in the past year alone - Green Flash Brewing Company, New England Brewing Company, Rough Draft Brewing Company, Societe Brewing Company, White Labs and Wet & Reckless.

Two additional San Diego microbreweries - Coronado Brewing Company (CBC) and Hess Brewing Company - are scheduled to open expanded brewing facilities later this summer. The CBC brewery at Knoxville is a 20,000-square-foot production facility and tasting room – a much-needed expansion for the award-winning, 16-year-old Coronado brewery.

“It’s pretty exciting to be known as the ‘Napa of craft beer,’” said Sanders, in referring to the 50 craft brew members currently involved in the San Diego Brewers’ Guild.

From left, Dot Harms of the San Diego Brewers’ Guild, Mayor Jerry Sanders, Ron and

Rick Chapman – founders of the Coronado Brewing Company. Photo by Joe Ditler.

He described the tremendous impact these brewers have had on the local job economy. “Breweries generate one of the highest job multipliers of any of the different industry clusters,” said Sanders. “They generate about 5.7 indirect jobs for each job they create. That’s a job multiplier we are very happy to support.”

Sanders went on to explain what a good investment the craft beer industry has been for the city and how the City of San Diego had recently provided micro lending to two breweries based on their obvious potential to generate new jobs and tax revenue.

“Additionally, our Tourism and Marketing District has granted $75,000 to help the San Diego Brewers’ Guild market their November “Beer Week” events and to grow awareness,” said Sanders. “Each weekend we have groups coming into our city to take pub and brew tours. We see them everywhere. This has become big business for our tourist industry. We estimate we’ll get back $470,000 in Transient Occupancy Tax just on that small $75,000 investment.”

Four local television stations and three major print media turned out for Mayor Jerry Sanders’ press conference announcing June as Craft Beer Month in San Diego, demonstrating the importance

of the craft beer industry in San Diego County. Photo by Joe Ditler.

Mayor Sanders will be speaking next week at the Clinton Global Initiative in Chicago about job creation. One of the clusters he will talk about, in addition to the old ones such as bio tech, high tech, wireless health, clean tech, etc., will be beer tech. “I plan to share with them how this cluster is one of the fastest growing industries we’ve seen, creating lots of jobs, and this will highlight us on a national level.”

Rick Chapman, a board member of the Brewers’ Guild and co-founder of the Coronado Brewing Company described the knowledge and expertise of Mayor Sanders and his staff as incredibly valuable to the growth of this industry.

“They [the mayor and his staff] have been there for us every step of the way,” said Chapman, “not just at Coronado Brewing Company, but with our fellow brewers and the SD Brewers’ Guild. Not only did they assist us with the somewhat difficult permitting process, but they opened doors for the brewing community to better collaborate with the Alcoholic Beverage Control and the San Diego Police Department.”

In addition to June being San Diego Craft Beer Month, November 2-11 is San Diego Beer Week. It comprises more than 500 events throughout the city, generating an enormous amount of tourism.

Supporting craft breweries for Craft Beer Month, June 2012. Photo by Joe Ditler.

“When we surveyed tourists during Beer Week in past years,” said Marty Mendiola, President of the San Diego Brewers’ Guild, “we discovered that, in 2010, $175,000 was spent in hotel revenue alone. That figure jumped to $475,000 in 2011. We are continuing to become better organized, to grow, and to develop. This is an exciting time for all of us.” Mendiola is also head brewer at Rock Bottom Brewery.

Marty Mendiola, President of the San Diego Brewers’ Guild and head brewer at

Rock Bottom Brewery. Photo by Joe Ditler.

The Coronado Brewing Company is located at 170 Orange Avenue, in Coronado. For more information call (619) 435-4452 or visit www.coronadobrewingcompany.com. For more information on the San Diego Brewers’ Guild visit www.sandiegobrewersguild.org.

This release was prepared by Part-Time PR, serving all of Coronado's public relations needs. For more information call (619) 435-0767 or write josephditler@san.rr.com.