For VBC Co-Founders, New Holding Company Ensures a Stable, Prosperous Future

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Victory Brewing co-cofounders Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchet.
Victory's $39 million Parkesburg facility.
Victory’s $39 million Parkesburg facility.

As more beer critics weigh in on Victory Brewing Co.’s revolutionary craft beer alliance with Southern Tier Brewing Co., the consensus continues to steer Victory’s future toward hometown innovation rather than outside intervention.

“I estimate brewery owners spend four days out of their work week dealing with the business of beer. That’s a necessary part of the business, but it’s not a fun part of the business,” said John Coleman, CEO of the alliance, called Artisanal Brewing Ventures, in a Forbes feature by beer columnist Tara Nurin. “Now they get to spend the majority of their time brewing and innovating, concentrating their time on the reasons they got into craft beer.”

Despite the ties that Coleman and CFO Bill Wild have to big-name breweries like Pabst and Anheuser-Busch, analysts keep coming back to the unique and unprecedented nature of the alliance: “Nothing about the philosophy of the company will change, while the efficiencies and economics will allow it to better compete in the modern marketplace,” Nurin wrote.

For Victory Brewing leaders Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchet, it’s all about keeping the Victory kegs flowing in the face of competition.

“For us to sit and see the competitive clouds forming on the horizon and just fold our arms as if nothing was happening, that would be irresponsible,” Covaleski told Don Russell for the Joe Sixpack take on Downingtown’s big news.

“This will definitely put a mark in the sand that says that there already is a strong player in the Northeast,” Barchet added in that article.

What the deal changes more than anything is whose money is funding Victory Brewing’s continued growth and new $39 million Parkesburg facility: investors rather than employee stock options or banks.

“This transaction retires our existing debt, allows us to buy the property that our new facility occupies and grow forward as a company,” Covaleski said in the Forbes piece. “… I can’t underscore enough the importance of what this means to our stability.”

And the deal should go down smoothly with customers, too. “From a beer drinker’s point of view, the partnership makes sense: The two breweries are highly regarded in craft beer circles, with solid reputations for well-made styles that will likely complement rather than compete with each other,” Russell concluded.

Read more from the experts’ perspectives on JoeSixpack.net here, Forbes here and the Cleveland Democrat & Chronicle here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of the Victory Brewing alliance here and here.

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