NC Craft Brewers Guild reflects on 1 year of Helene recovery

One year after Hurricane Helene devastated their businesses and communities, craft breweries in western North Carolina are still on the road to recovery.

Western North Carolina has long been integral to the state’s craft brewing industry, accounting for roughly one-quarter of breweries in the state and playing an outsized role in shaping North Carolina’s beer culture. So, when Helene hit the state last year, the industry was severely impacted. Asheville, home to over 50 of North Carolina’s 430 breweries and named “Beer City USA” four times, went without potable water for 54 days. And across western North Carolina, breweries were further damaged by flooding and high winds.

In the immediate aftermath, craft brewers across North Carolina and the US played an important role in relief efforts. Individual breweries acted as distribution centers to deliver critical supplies to the region, and donations poured in from brewers all around the country. While awaiting IRS tax-exemption for a new charitable foundation it established in response to Helene, the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild coordinated much of these donations under its “Pouring for Neighbors” campaign.

Reflecting on the campaign in an interview with the Carolina Journal, Craft Brewers Guild executive director Lisa Parker said, “In the beginning, because we didn’t have the foundation open, what we did was just encourage everybody to donate their proceeds to boots on the ground, ground operations, recovery and rescue operations. That very first month it was much bigger than a brewery issue, and we knew that. So we wanted to channel the help of our very broad national industry towards helping the broader communities.”

Despite an underwhelming federal response to the hurricane, most western North Carolina breweries have since physically recovered, with all but five taprooms having reopened. However, craft breweries in the region are still suffering from Helene’s lingering impact on tourism.

“I think the biggest impact we are seeing to date is still that lack of tourism,” Parker stated. “There’s still a lot of work to be done to get back to even close to where it was, but the mountains have reopened. The mountains are there, they are ready for it.”

As a result, recovery efforts have shifted focus to rekindling tourism in western North Carolina. Alongside Gov. Josh Stein’s tourism initiative, “Rediscover the Unforgettable,” the Craft Brewers Guild has launched its own efforts to direct visitors and money back to WNC’s breweries. They are currently running a sweepstake that rewards visits to multiple state craft breweries with the chance to win a beer-centered trip to Asheville. Additionally, the guild recently held one of its industry events in Asheville, which “brought over 100 members of our own industry out to the mountains to see for themselves that western North Carolina was open for business again.”

However, renewed tourism is unlikely to immediately make up for lost revenues caused by months of closures and limited-to-no tourism, which Parker described as “a huge hurdle to overcome for small businesses.” To help struggling brewers clear that hurdle, the NC Craft Brewers Foundation has distributed $250,000 in business recovery grants, extending a lifeline until tourism in western North Carolina rebounds.

When asked what the next year of recovery may look like for craft breweries in western North Carolina, Parker affirmed the Craft Brewers Guild’s commitment to supporting the recovery of craft breweries in the long run and in the face of future disasters. “We know that other hardships are going to impact our state down the road, so this foundation and this fund is going to be available for that.”

She concluded by reflecting on craft breweries’ support for their communities in western North Carolina after Helene.

“These are small businesses who, in many cases, are family owned and operated. And they gave so much of their own time and business resources to come together and make life better for others in their community and in their state. They are truly special businesses.”

“NC Craft Brewers Guild reflects on 1 year of Helene recovery” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.