Brewing, Cideries & Spirits  January 17, 2019

Sen. Bennet urges Treasury to address shutdown impacts on breweries

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Colorado U.S. senator Michael Bennet has called on Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to address the effect the federal shutdown has had on craft brewers.
“The uncertainty of a government shutdown is affecting these business owners’ ability to invest, hire, grow and hit revenue targets,” Bennet wrote in a letter to Secretary Mnuchin. “The inability of these companies to plan also affects farmers, suppliers, and everyone along the craft brewing supply chain, an industry that contributes $76.2 billion and more than 500,000 jobs to the U.S. economy.”
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, a branch of the Treasury Department, has been unable to review permits, new formulations or labels for brewers. More than 11,000 applications for labels have been backlogged since the start of the shutdown.
Bennet cited several Colorado breweries being impacted by the shutdown: New Belgium Brewing and Oskar Blues are both delaying the launch of new products. Spice Trade Brewing in Arvada and Westminster Brewing Co. still have their permits pending.
“If the shutdown worsens an already lengthy approval backlog, brewing companies could suffer delays and tens of thousands of dollars of lost revenue,” he wrote.
Bennet concluded his letter saying he hoped Mnuchin could impress upon the Trump Administration the importance of working with Congress to end the shutdown and to outline how the Treasury Department plans to address the backlogs hurting breweries nationwide.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Colorado U.S. senator Michael Bennet has called on Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to address the effect the federal shutdown has had on craft brewers.
“The uncertainty of a government shutdown is affecting these business owners’ ability to invest, hire, grow and hit revenue targets,” Bennet wrote in a letter to Secretary Mnuchin. “The inability of these companies to plan also affects farmers, suppliers, and everyone along the craft brewing supply chain, an industry that contributes $76.2 billion and more than 500,000 jobs to the U.S. economy.”
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, a branch of…

Christopher Wood
Christopher Wood is editor and publisher of BizWest, a regional business journal covering Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties. Wood co-founded the Northern Colorado Business Report in 1995 and served as publisher of the Boulder County Business Report until the two publications were merged to form BizWest in 2014. From 1990 to 1995, Wood served as reporter and managing editor of the Denver Business Journal. He is a Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder. He has won numerous awards from the Colorado Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and the Alliance of Area Business Publishers.
Sign up for BizWest Daily Alerts