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Hiring during the pandemic? How WeldWerks Brewing’s strategic pivot paid off during the Covid-19 crisis

August 5, 2020Chris Crowell

Weldwerks Brewing

“We didn’t necessarily pick up more accounts, but we entered this year with a defensive mindset. We felt something was going to happen — looking at the macro beer trends, the number of breweries, seltzers — how many years could we keep this all going with the economy and the market? So we just felt something was going to happen this year, and we took a defensive position.”

That’s Colin Jones, cofounder of WeldWerks Brewing in Greeley, Colo., explaining a strategy his brewery implemented dating back to last fall that was more prescient than they could have imagined. Weldwerks is one of the few breweries that has maintained a solid chunk of business and even grown a bit during the Covid-19 shutdown — to the point of needing to bring on new employees the last few months. How they did it is interesting. Check out the WeldWerks story and business strategy in our interview below.

1 min: The benefits of being in Greely and not relying on taproom business previously.

3 min: How they pivoted fully to cans and advice for taproom breweries pivoting to other distribution channels now.

6 min: Dealing with stress in this crisis

8 min: Discussing the value of online distribution services (specifically Tavour) and how they utilize this channel.

10:30: How Weldwerks has structured its staff and operations so that it’s actually been hiring during the pandemic.

12 min: The importance of having sales people on staff

16 min: Figuring out the efficiencies of scale – and finding that key efficiency point with your equipment and manpower without killing staff.

18 min: What changes they exactly made to their marketing strategy, and how they are measuring the value.

20 min: Is there a future of virtual events or was that a special circumstance early in the quarantine?

22 min: Will the business of craft beer actually be fundamentally altered by the shutdown? If it is, the answer might just be better diversification.

26 min: What is a thriving brewery in 2021 or 2022 going to look like?

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