Today, Good Beer Hunting reported more layoffs at the Brewers Association, a not-for-profit trade organization that protects and promotes small and independent U.S. brewers. This is the second round of layoffs at the Brewers Association this year resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and comes less than two months after the BA laid off nearly 25% of its staff in April.

The layoffs include two highly visible Brewers Association employees – Julia Herz, formerly the Craft Beer Program Director, and Acacia Coast, formerly the State Brewers Guilds Manager. More importantly, the new round of layoffs provides a clear indicator of the uncertainty facing the viability of the Brewers Association in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the Craft Beer Program Director at the Brewers Association for 13 years, Julia passionately led promoting and protecting small and independent craft brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. In her role, Julia was one of the independent craft beer industry’s most visible and prominent representatives. You can read my recent interview with Julia Herz by clicking here.

In her role as State Brewers Guilds Manager for 9 years, Acacia Coast crisscrossed the country to support the organizational development of 51+ state brewers guilds, disseminating resources and best practices to our nation’s small nonprofit state and regional craft brewers associations.

Acacia Coast – Photo taken from her LinkedIn Profile

In a recent interview I had conducted with Julia Herz, I asked her about the impact of COVID-19 to the Brewers Association and the resulting first round of layoffs. Julia responded, “…. you can’t assume that anyone is immune. We have had dramatic budget cuts because of events that we were no longer able to host in a format that resulted in fees …. We had dramatic budget cuts and were forced into the hard decision of cutting our workforce by 23%. So in the history of an organization that is a very dramatic moment in time and we continue to have to shift our thinking and be nimble on how we can best serve members. And what we will be doing tomorrow isn’t necessarily what we were doing pre-March because of the disruption to the whole beverage and hospitality industry.”

As noted by the Brewers Association website, “More than 5,600 U.S. brewery members and 46,000 members of the American Homebrewers Association are joined by members of the allied trade, beer wholesalers, retailers, individuals, other associate members and the Brewers Association staff to make up the Brewers Association.” The Brewers Association is ineligible for PPP loans because it’s classified as a 501(c)(6), meaning it’s a non-profit focused on the business interests of members, largely through marketing and lobbying.

The Brewers Association provides the collective voice for this member consortium, including lobbying State and Federal governments on their behalf. In addition, the Brewers Association provides invaluable information and support resources for its members. The continued layoffs represent a significant blow to the Brewers Association’s ability to support its members.