• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

Craft Brewing Business Craft Brewing Business
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment & Systems
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • COVID-19

Brewery hosing company New Age Industries goes employee-owned, explains the impact

September 12, 2019Chris Crowell

brewsavor-001

Craft breweries are no strangers to the employee-owned stock ownership (ESOP) business structure and now one of their suppliers has joined them (here is an article on how to do it if you’re curious). At a company-wide meeting, NewAge Industries, maker of BrewSavor brewery hose and tubing, made it official and is now an ESOP. The event was the culmination of a plan first considered by CEO Ken Baker more than two decades ago.

“I’ve had a lot of other business owners ask me, ‘Why employee ownership? Why not just take the highest offer and walk away?'” Baker said. “And my response has always been, ‘Because I don’t want to see the company that my father started, and that we’ve worked so hard to build, get broken into pieces, or shuttered, or absorbed by some big conglomerate.’ There are a good number of people who’ve been with NewAge for over ten years. Another group has passed the fifteen-year mark, and several more have over twenty years of dedication. There are even a few employee-owners who’ve been with NewAge for over twenty-five years. The ESOP is one way to reward these long-term team members after they retire.”

NewAge’s ESOP was initiated in 2006 when Baker sold thirty percent of the company to its employees. Ten percent more was sold to the ESOP in 2013, and then another nine percent in 2016, bringing the total percentage of ESOP ownership to forty-nine percent. Since its inception, the share price has appreciated 975%.

“Many people have misconceptions about how an ESOP works. It doesn’t cost the employees anything. It’s overseen by a trustee, whose job it is to handle the ESOP’s assets in the best interests of the employee-owners. The company receives tax benefits, which in turn benefits the ESOP. And, yes, the business owner can make a nice sum from the sale of the company’s stock. Everybody wins,” noted Baker.

Joel DeVine, NewAge’s Quality Control Supervisor and a fourteen year team member, said that the “ESOP means that we as owners have an understanding about our company and how we all play a fundamental role in not only the success of our business but also in the health of our retirement by remaining focused on our customers and our team members.”

“I am proud to be a part of something that affects so many people… our customers and their customers, all of my fellow owners and their families,” stated Kimly Ourn, Mold Shop Supervisor. “I consider myself very fortunate to have become part of the NewAge team seven years ago. I worked at several jobs prior to NewAge, and not many offered benefits and nothing like what we have here. Working here has made a big difference in my life. I’m healthier and happier, and knowing that I can retire with a piece of something that we’ve all helped build is like the cherry on top.”

Cool stuff.

NewAge-Solar-Powered-10-Years-6x3-300dpi
FYI: NewAge Industries’ headquarters is now powered by solar energy
NewAge-Industries-Scrap-Silicone-Tubing-Hose-Into-Silicone-Oil-8x11-300dpi
BrewSavor tubing, hose manufacturer can now recycle waste from its process for other applications
NewAge-BrewSavor-website-7x4-72dpi
Need brewery hose and tubing? Check out BrewSavor’s new-look website
NewAge-Industries-BrewSavor-butyl-hose-7x5-72dpi
BrewSavor releases new Kink Resistant Brewery Hose

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • Blue Moon plans limited run under its original name, Bellyslide Wit, coinciding with baseball season
  • Craft sales continue to struggle in 2023, NBWA March Beer Purchasers’ Index confirms
  • Sockeye Brewing’s new Alehouse has one of Boise’s largest outdoor patios + a 9-hole putting course
  • Distribution update: pFriem Family Brewers goes to LA + news from Wiseacre, Anderson Valley, FÜL and more

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • Craft sales continue to struggle in 2023, NBWA March Beer Purchasers’ Index confirms
    March 30, 2023
  • Distribution update: pFriem Family Brewers goes to LA + news from Wiseacre, Anderson Valley, FÜL and more
    March 29, 2023
  • Watch how White Labs’ WLP077 Tropicale yeast intensifies fruity flavors in hop compounds
    March 29, 2023
  • Boston’s Dorchester Brewing and Yakima Chief Hops team up to offer contract breweries discounts on hops
    March 28, 2023
  • 10 craft beer variety packs that have us excited to try new beer
    March 27, 2023
  • Take a look at Jack’s Abby’s renovated Beer Hall and its sweet new Tradition Meets Tech pilot system
    March 27, 2023

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2023 · CBB Media LLC