By Cristina Kumka
posted
Jan 17, 2013
BRIDGEWATER CORNERS - Long Trail Brewing
Company recently confirmed that its president and CEO for the
last six years, Brian Walsh, has left the position and is
being replaced by the head of the private equity firm that bought
the local brewery years ago.
"Brian left at the start of the year to explore other professional
and personal pursuits," said Jed Nelson, the brewery's new director
of brand marketing, in an email Friday.
"It will not affect any of our sponsorships. We look forward to
continuing all our partnerships exactly as we have in the past. As
a matter of fact, we will have more projects with local and
regional partners in 2013 than we did in 2012," Nelson wrote.
Managing partner Daniel Fulham of the firm Fulham & Co. will
take over Walsh's duties for the time being until the brewery finds
a permanent CEO in the first half of this year, according to a Jan.
8 article by Brewbound.com, the news organization that first
broke the story.
Nelson confirmed the validity and accuracy of the Brewbound
article.
The Bridgewater-based brewery started in the basement of an
old town mill in 1989 and has since bloomed into the 15th
largest, and most profitable, distributor of craft beer in the
U.S., according to the Brewbound article.
Over the last decade, Long Trail Ale has landed Vermont on
the craft beer-making map nationwide and its become a
household name, taste and brand.
The brewery itself continued to expand into a tourist
destination and under Walsh's leadership, acquired Otter Creek
Brewery in Middlebury and The Shed Brewery in Stowe.
Future plans include working with even more breweries and
distributing and making even more beer than last year - about
140,000 barrels.
The brewery strives to be environmentally conscience and
socially responsible - reducing its carbon footprint while making
beer and feeding area residents and tourist alike.
The brewery is a sponsor of both large and small projects - from
summer concerts in Killington to the international Spartan Race to
a power company program that uses "cow power" as
energy.
Cristina Kumka can be reached at cristina_kumka@yahoo.com
