The New B and B: Beer and Bicycle

By brewing beer and rewarding employees with bicycles, New Belgium Brewing Company in Ft. Collins, Colorado is one model of a company that supports the sustainability of  both its employees and the environment.

I've had family in Ft. Collins since the early 1900's, so my ears perked up at this interview.  As she spells out her philosophy it becomes clear that responsible citizenship is the face of her company.  It's a refreshing way to view business, one that can be embraced by so called 'pro' and 'anti' business forces.

Kim Jordan is the CEO.  You may have enjoyed Fat Tire, their signature brew. You can listen to the 4 minute interview with Ms. Jordan  at:
 <http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/npr.php?id=160697491>

In her interview with Audie Cornish, Ms.  Jordan stayed focussed on  the value of business rather than playing a partisan political card.  As she presents it, business, NB in particular, does not operate separate from the community  just because it needs to make money to be viable..  Rather it is a partner in building community with an emphasis on sustaining people, their families and communities and the environment.

Politics and policy enter the conversaton when she looks at which political candidates share her vision and practice.  The beer industry is highly regulated, but she does not oppose useful regulation. On future tax policies that some claim would hurt small business, her opposition to being taxed is not automatic.  Risk, including projecting the impact of taxes is part of the process.   And, she added, “to whom much is given much is required.”

Given the current discussion of 'I built that' versus 'we built it' , her most telling comments include her recognition that to create and distribute New Belgium’s product, many, many hard-working, dedicated people have to work together in a collective way.  Profits, she believes,  should go the people that do the work and re-invest in the company as well as to the ‘outside’ investors who often provide capital necessary to launch and advance the business. But her contention and commitment is that outsiders do not receive an unfair proportion of the profits.   Kim Jordan knows that ‘we’re in this together’ and that community well being trumps the profit motive.

That may be the heart of the matter.  If New Belgium didn’t make money and create jobs, the discussion might be different.  They made $140 million last year.  The implication that somehow successful business and quality of life for the whole community are not deeply inter-related is based on a different model for community.

A business can BE the healthy community that sustains families and gives back to its community.

It’s been several years since I toured New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins.  It was the new kid on the block then and Fat Tire was its brand.  You could only buy it in Colorado and not nationally for a number of years.  But in those early days what made New Belgium special is what makes it strong today, a commitment to sustainability, employee participation in investment and profits, and to an esprit de corps that engages everyone in running the business.

After the tour I asked an employee about a very cool retro bicycle, the one pictured on the Fat Tire label.  He said come and work here a year and we’ll give you one.  I’m never quite sure why I didn’t. I loved that bike!  My favorite NB beer is called 1557, a dark Belgian special.  B and B.  Especially on warm days, it doesn't get much better.

** I was born in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Even though we moved 40 miles north to Cheyenne, Wyoming when I was 4, my parents had 12 brothers and sisters each!  Ft. Collins was ‘Brunz-Deines’ country for many years. I've been to 'Collins' a hundred times and have fond memories of the streetcars, the American theater with its cartoons, newsreels and cowboy double features.  My mom, with her 18 month old (me) in tow had just seen “Gone With the Wind”  there when the news about Pearl Harbor was announced.  Poudre Valley Creamery had the best milkshakes in the world and Colorado A & M (a college of 1500 students, now Colorado State University with 50, 000) was a place for getting a glimpse of a more diverse world. Our family picnics at City Park were the stuff of today’s community festivals. (figure it out with 51 first cousins.) A highly competitive softball game would end the day's festivities.