Economy & Economic Development  July 28, 2015

Report: Colorado beer industry accounted for 24,000-plus jobs in 2014

The beer industry directly accounted for 24,395 jobs in the state of Colorado in 2014, according to a new report released by the Beer Institute on Tuesday.

One day after the Boulder-based Brewers Association announced mid-year growth figures for the craft-beer industry, the Washington-based Beer Institute unveiled economic-impact figures for the beer industry as a whole both on national and local levels.

The Beer Serves America report, which was to be presented during a Congressional briefing Tuesday, was compiled by economics firm John Dunham & Associates and is based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and private companies.

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Nationally, the report touts the industry as accounting for $252.6 billion in economic output and $48.5 billion in tax revenue. It notes that brewers and importers directly employ 49,576 Americans.

The Colorado direct job figure includes those attributable to brewing (4,917), wholesaling (2,184) and retailing (17,294). When the impacts on suppliers and other indirect economic impact is factored in, the industry helps support a total of just more than 50,000 jobs in Colorado, the report states.

The Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado clearly play a large role in that impact, with the areas serving as the epicenter for the state’s craft-beer boom, not to mention the presence of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s brewery in Fort Collins.

In Colorado’s second Congressional district, which includes most of Boulder and Larimer counties, the report states that the beer industry directly accounts for 5,135 jobs. The industry directly accounts for another 2,176 in the fourth Congressional District, which includes Weld County.

“It can be said that beer truly serves America,” Beer Institute president and chief executive Jim McGreevy said in a prepared statement. “Beer is more than our nation’s favorite adult drink — it is a powerhouse in job creation, commercial activity and tax revenue.”

The beer industry directly accounted for 24,395 jobs in the state of Colorado in 2014, according to a new report released by the Beer Institute on Tuesday.

One day after the Boulder-based Brewers Association announced mid-year growth figures for the craft-beer industry, the Washington-based Beer Institute unveiled economic-impact figures for the beer industry as a whole both on national and local levels.

The Beer Serves America report, which was to be presented during a Congressional briefing Tuesday, was compiled by economics firm John Dunham & Associates and is…

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