A National Beer Wholesalers Association report released Wednesday calculated the beer industry currently supports 10,670 jobs in Utah, generating $255 million in annual wages and $134 million in excise and consumption taxes for state and local governments.
To Bill Christofferson, director of the association's chapter in Utah, those numbers prove beer is a "legitimate" business. "We provide jobs. We pay taxes like everybody else. Our businesses are locally owned, not run by someone off someplace in the wild, blue yonder," he said. "We're not just a truck in a dark alley delivering beer."
In a prepared statement, Beer Institute President Jeff Becker noted that a wide variety of jobs are involved in making and supplying beer. Farmers grow crops used for brewing. Truckers deliver those grains to breweries and finished beer products to restaurants, bars and stores.
"The economic impact of the beer industry grows exponentially when you factor in products and services needed for the production, distribution and sale of malt beverages," Becker added.
Will Hamill of Uinta Brewing and Greg Schirf of Wasatch Brewers Cooperative may be competitors, but they agree that their industry contributes more to the state's economy than many people understand.
"I know we pay more than our fair share of taxes," said Schirf, citing the $12.80 per barrel tax that the state assesses on beer production, one of the country's highest rates.
Despite the heavy tax burden, Hamill said the industry has managed to grow steadily. His company initially produced 2,400 barrels of Uinta beer in 1994, its first full year. It is now a regional brewery, putting out nearly 17,000 barrels annually, and provides 17 full-time jobs plus five positions filled by temporary workers.
Schirf oversees an even larger operation, with more than 100 employees at the Salt Lake City brewery where it manufactures and bottles Wasatch and Squatter beer and its brew pub in Park City. Squatter's Restaurant in Salt Lake City employs another 65.
"Those are direct, immediate, tangible jobs," he said. "I can't estimate the trickle-down effect."
Both brewers also emphasized that their companies provide extensive support for nonprofit groups and other community organizations and are leaders in efforts to utilize environmentally friendly production and delivery practices.
"Our trucks run on biodiesel fuel and we have post-consumer recycling of glass," said Hamill. "And we provide grassroots support of the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center, Utah Open Lands and other things that bring community to Utah."
Nationally, the Beer Wholesalers Association estimates nearly 1.8 million Americans are employed directly and indirectly by the beer industry, earning $54 billion in wages and benefits.
mikeg@sltrib.com
From farms to bars
The National Beer Wholesalers Association's 2005 report contends Utah's beer industry contributes $754.2 million to the state's economy through direct and indirect employment, broken down into the following categories:
Brewing: 171
Wholesale: 884
Retail: 5,715
Agriculture: 228
Business, Personal services: 1,795
Construction: 141
Financial insurance, real estate: 554
Manufacturing: 494
Transportation, Communication: 253
Travel, entertainment: 302
Other: 133
TOTAL: 10,670
Source: http://www.beerservesamerica.org
