New Belgium Brewing CFO/COO promoted to president

Christine Perich, looking very presidential.

We’ll start off this week honoring those who got promoted last week. New Belgium Brewing Co. announced the promotion of long-time Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer, Christine Perich, to the position of president.

We say congrats to Perich, who started as CFO with New Belgium in 2004 and has overseen all aspects of operations since 2009. At the end of 2012, she guided the company through a 2nd Stage ESOP transaction, which resulted in New Belgium becoming a 100 percent employee-owned company.

Perich will now have oversight of all day-to-day operations and the construction and integration of the company’s second production facility in Asheville, N.C., which is slated for completion in late 2015. She will continue to report directly to CEO and co-founder Kim Jordan and New Belgium’s Board of Directors.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to have worked closely with so many talented people through a dynamic period of growth for both New Belgium and the industry,” Perich said. “This opportunity will allow me to focus on aligning our Fort Collins and Asheville operations and leading New Belgium through the next stage of growth.”

“Christine has been an incredible presence at New Belgium; her work on key strategic issues, coupled with her grace and professionalism in everyday management makes her selection as New Belgium’s president a dream fit for the company and for me,” Jordan said. “Her coworkers, the board and I have a great deal of confidence in her as she moves into this new role.”

Current New Belgium Director of Finance and Accounting, Danielle McLarnon, will move into the role of chief financial officer. McLarnon, a graduate of Siena College, has been with New Belgium for more than 10 years.

“Danielle has grown to be a vibrant leader at New Belgium and I am extremely excited for her to move into the role of chief financial officer,” Perich said. “She is incredibly talented and we are fortunate to have someone of her caliber.”

“Both of these women have proven themselves time and again to be sound stewards of our financial and operational systems,” Jordan said. “Growth creates opportunity, and they have both worked expertly on complex projects like our transition to 100 percent ESOP ownership and the financing of our Asheville brewery. We are excited for this next chapter.”

Both positions will go into effect immediately. Jordan will remain as CEO of New Belgium, focusing on branding, sales, industry affairs and the company’s strategy.