Breakside Brewing Announces ESOP
Portland, Oregon-based Breakside Brewery closed a deal last week to launch an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), according to the Portland Business Journal.
Breakside founder Scott Lawrence, who started the craft brewery in 2010, told the outlet that he explored other options but ultimately decided that an ESOP was the best option for the brewery's 160 workers.
"It became more and more evident that I didn't want to sell to another company or private equity just to get me rich," he told the Business Journal. "I have a lot of long-term employees, and I wanted to take care of them. This adds a lot of life to the company and gives the staff an awesome program for long-term retirement."
To initiate the ESOP, Lawrence sold 30% of his 95% stake in Breakside to a trust set up by the company, which is distributing the shares into employee retirement accounts. Employees can cash out their shares when they leave the company. The remaining 5% of the company is owned by Breakside brewmaster Ben Edmunds, Lawrence told the Business Journal.
Other breweries that have implemented ESOPs include Modern Times Beer Co., Mass Bay Brewing Company, Deschutes Brewery, Left Hand, New Glarus, Alaskan Brewing Co., Voodoo Brewery, Odell Brewing (partial ownership), New Belgium and Switchback.
As seen in Brewbound maagzine.