http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/11/greg-koc ... g-ceo.html
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/new ... -chairman/
Stone Brewing co-founder Greg Koch is stepping down as CEO, assuming the new title of executive chairman.
“I’m getting bumped upstairs, so to speak,” the 51-year-old Koch said in a video the brewery released Friday afternoon.
Koch, who founded the company with Steve Wagner, will continue in his current post until Stone hires his replacement. That person will step into some large, colorful shoes. Koch has been this brewery’s freewheeling, energetic and sometimes abrasive face for its entire 19-year history. While not a brewer — Wagner was Stone’s first brewmaster, a job currently held by industry veteran Mitch Steele — Koch is credited with helping to build what is now the nation’s ninth largest craft brewery.
Employing more than 1,100 employees and operating two brewery-bistros and a network of tasting rooms, Escondido-based Stone is on track to sell more than 300,000 barrels of beer this year.
News of Koch’s resignation came at the end of a frantic week in California craft beer. On Thursday, MillerCoors announced that is acquiring San Diego’s Saint Archer Brewery. On Wednesday, Holland’s Heineken revealed that has bought a half share of Petaluma’s Lagunitas Brewing, the sixth largest American craft brewery.
On Friday, a two-day California Craft Beer summit opened in Sacramento. The keynote speaker: Koch.
In recent years, Koch has displayed some restlessness. In February 2014, he embarked on a four-month sabbatical that took him around the world. In January, he began talking to Wagner about leaving the CEO position and taking on a new role.
Koch’s impact on the company, though, has remained strong. Weeks after ending his sabbatical, he announced the company’s most ambitious plan: a brewery and restaurant in Berlin, becoming the first American craft brewery to operate an independent brewery in Europe. In October, he announced plans for an even larger operation Richmond, Va.
Stone Berlin is set to open next spring. The Virginia brewery should be producing beer by mid-2016; an opening date has not been set for its bistro.
In Friday’s video and news release, Koch was vague about the scope of his new duties. He pledged to work closely on the Berlin and Richmond expansions, but noted that he had entered the craft beer trade in the 1990s.
“The skill sets needed for this position,” he said, “have changed.”
Stone is expected to soon post the requirements for its CEO position.
Big news at Stone? Maybe
Moderators: BlackDuck, Beer-lord, LouieMacGoo, philm00x, gwcr
Big news at Stone? Maybe
PABs Brewing
Re: Big news at Stone? Maybe
So...you'll be applying? It will be interesting to see if Stone changes as a result. Well, that's stupid to say because they WILL change. It's just a matter of whether it is a good change or a bad change I suppose.
But, whoa I didn't hear about this:
I guess I can take solace in the fact that InBev (IIRC) owns 10 Barrel in Bend, Oregon but they are still good.
So much change....
But, whoa I didn't hear about this:
They are one of my new (to me) favorite breweries right now. I have enough concerns about Heiny acquiring Lagunitas, now this?!?!On Thursday, MillerCoors announced that is acquiring San Diego’s Saint Archer Brewery.
I guess I can take solace in the fact that InBev (IIRC) owns 10 Barrel in Bend, Oregon but they are still good.
So much change....
