NEW Workplace Wellbeing Portal Available to Breweries

Infinite Ingredient, Hazelden Betty Ford collaborate to provide substance use, mental health resources to craft brewing industry employees

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - January 23, 2024 - The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and Infinite Ingredient, a non-profit working to support the mental and physical well-being of people working in the craft beverage industry, today announced a collaboration to help the craft brewing industry address substance use and mental health concerns among its workforce.

Beginning today, the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation’s Workplace Wellbeing Portal, launched in 2023, will be available to the more than 150,000 U.S.-based people working for craft breweries, offering a confidential avenue to discuss and address substance use and mental health challenges.

Hazelden Betty Ford is the leading nonprofit system of substance use treatment, mental health care and family services — with sites and services across the U.S. as well as an acclaimed graduate school, publishing house and research center, and a global reach and reputation.

Founded in 2021, Infinite Ingredient has been focused on removing common barriers to mental and physical health resources and making resources available to everyone working for craft beverage producers across the world, starting with craft breweries in the United States.

“The craft beer and craft beverage industry is often treated both inwardly and outwardly as a giant party, in spite of the fact that each facet of the industry requires hard work and can often be grueling,” said Katie Muggli, founder and executive director of Infinite Ingredient. “The question I keep coming back to is: how can we demonstrate and cultivate a healthy relationship with alcohol, when producing, selling, and serving it is our job? This is our first step in providing answers to that question, and we're excited to launch this resource in collaboration with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.”

Mental health challenges, especially substance use and addiction, have long been ignored and under-discussed in the craft beverage industry. Providing people working in the industry with a safe space to explore such challenges and creating conversations around overall health in the alcohol industry have been goals of Infinite Ingredient since it launched.

“Most folks in the industry have seen or have even personally experienced the effects of consuming too much too often,” added Muggli. “Being able to collaborate with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation to offer these resources and provide access to this Wellbeing Portal for folks to confidentially have these conversations will be really important for providing that safe space.”

This is the first of what Infinite Ingredient hopes to be many tangible resources it can offer to individuals in the craft beverage industry.

“When an employee of a U.S.-based craft brewery signs up for the Hazelden Betty Ford Workplace Wellness Portal or calls, they will be able to explore a whole suite of resources including assessments to determine substance misuse risk, receive personalized recommendations, and connect to resources and services from Hazelden Betty Ford and elsewhere,” said Muggli. “The best part is that it isn’t just for the individuals working in the industry–it’s for their families and loved ones too–so help and guidance is available whether you’re exploring resources on behalf of yourself or someone else.”

This service allows employees to seek help confidentially.

“We don’t want anyone to struggle alone or avoid help out of fear, so we’ve designed our portal to provide people with resources they can access immediately and confidentially, and a place to call for additional help whenever needed,” said John Sakacs, outreach manager and large employer solutions specialist for Hazelden Betty Ford. “Help could be as simple as talking to somebody over the phone about what’s going on and receiving some feedback and direction.

Help could be guidance on assisting a loved one. Help could be learning about options available to those who are suffering and feeling alone. And help could also include direct assistance with initiating a treatment admission as a pathway toward recovery and a healthier, happier life.”

Calling the collaboration a “perfect marriage,” Sakacs—whose professional experience is supplemented by 21 years of personal lived experience in recovery—said Hazelden Betty Ford’s Workplace Wellbeing Portal helps remove the barrier of stigma and creates a healthier, more productive workforce.

“I know a lot of employees are suffering and need help. But they’re often afraid to get help in the workplace,” Sakacs said. “By creating these types of partnerships, providing confidential resources and also openly encouraging their use and access, we can reduce stigma as a barrier and help more people. Together, we’ll be able to get more people to walk through the door to help. Because the Workplace Wellbeing Portal and our specific collaboration with Infinite Ingredient includes many resources to support, nurture and educate families, we’ll be able to help them, too.”

To learn more about the Workplace Wellbeing Portal offered by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and Infinite Ingredient, visit infiniteingredient.org/wellbeingportal

About Infinite Ingredient

Infinite Ingredient is a non-profit founded in 2021 whose mission is to actively support the mental and physical well-being of individuals working in the craft beverage industry through outreach, education, and access to resources. To learn more, visit infiniteingredient.org.

About The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Harnessing science, love and the wisdom of lived experience, the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a force of healing and hope for families and communities affected by substance use and mental health conditions. As the nation’s foremost nonprofit provider of comprehensive behavioral health care, the Foundation leads the way in helping society rise above stigma and overcome addiction. With a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center, the Foundation now has treatment centers and telehealth services nationwide as well as a network of collaborators throughout health care. Charitable support and a commitment to innovation drive ongoing advances in care, research, programs and services to impact more lives. In addition to clinical care, Hazelden Betty Ford encompasses a graduate school of addiction studies, a publishing division, a research center, thought leadership and advocacy, professional and medical education programs, school-based prevention resources and a specialized program for children—with a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in all of its endeavors. Learn more at HazeldenBettyFord.org.

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Mass Brewers Guild Partners with Speakfully

A New Member Benefit and HR Tool to Help Monitor Internal Work Culture  

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. | The Mass Brewers Guild, the state’s trade association that exists to protect and promote the interests of Massachusetts craft breweries, has partnered with Speakfully, an anonymous third-party reporting system that will be offered as a new member benefit at no additional cost to breweries starting January 2022. 

Speakfully gives employees an opportunity to report toxic work culture, harassment, or give general feedback about their overall workplace. The platform provides employees a safe and anonymous way to speak up while empowering employers with real-time data and analytics to promote proactive action. Once employee experiences are submitted, employers can communicate with employees privately through Speakfully’s secure messaging portal. The system will be offered to members of the Mass Brewers Guild in English, Spanish and Portuguese. 

“In wake of the industry’s powerful #MeToo movement and after having multiple conversations with brewery owners, managers, and staff across the state, it became increasingly clear that our breweries need more HR support,” says Katie Stinchon, executive director of the Mass Brewers Guild. “In too many instances employees did not have a path forward to share complaints or they didn’t feel comfortable doing so. Our goal with adding this new benefit is to help remove barriers for our industry’s employees and to bolster support for our small business owners. After researching many different services, we’ve found that solution with Speakfully.”

The opt-in program is just one of the many services that the Mass Brewers Guild will offer its members in the New Year, including additional employee law and HR education, as well as bystander and de-escalation training for staff. Breweries that have already enrolled in Speakfully include Brick and Feather Brewery, Castle Island Brewing Co., Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Co., Four Phantoms Brewing Co., Gentile Brewing Co., Harpoon Brewery, Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, Lost Shoes Brewing & Roasting Co., Night Shift Brewing Co. and Timberyard Brewing Co. – covering nearly 700 employees statewide. The association expects more members to sign-on in the coming weeks. 

Speakfully was founded as a direct result of inappropriate workplace interactions experienced by CEO and co-founder, Jana Morrin. What started as a simple documentation process led to the larger idea that employees need a private and secure platform to voice concerns without fear of retribution. 

“Speakfully helps to bridge the gap between employees and leadership by providing transparency from HR every step of the way,” says Jana Morrin, CEO & Co-Founder of Speakfully. “Our hope is that Speakfully will help create an environment of safety and trust for all of the state’s breweries while giving managers and owners the information they need to step in and take action before it’s too late. We are proud to bring our platform to the Mass Brewers Guild and applaud the association for their proactive approach to combat workplace harassment.”

The Mass Brewers Guild is able to offer this service to members in large part thanks to a generous donation from Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers. The brewery has gifted $5,000 to support the rollout and help to sponsor the first year of the program.  To date, there are 114 member breweries of the Mass Brewers Guild that will have access to Speakfully. 

“It was an easy decision for us to provide support to the association and our collective membership through this new platform,” says Sam Hendler, co-founder of Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers and president of the Mass Brewers Guild. “The more resources that we can help to bring to our industry through HR support will only benefit all of us. We look forward to implementing Speakfully here at our brewery and doubling down on our commitment to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the Jack’s Abby family.”

The Mass Brewers Guild will publish a complete list of breweries that have enrolled in the program or have adopted their own system in the coming weeks.  

For questions or more information about the Mass Brewers Guild visit, MassBrewersGuild.org. To learn more about Speakfully and its services visit, speakfully.com. 

Owning a Brewery: “Taxes, Bookkeeping and H.R., Oh My!”

By: Steve Treglia, CPA

The past few years have seen a renaissance in the beer industry, with numerous new local breweries opening throughout the state and region, offering spaces for people to gather, socialize and enjoy the breweries popping up around them. It has become a brand new industry for the area, as these businesses no doubt do more than their fair share to contribute to the local economy.

Brewing great beer, however, has to be considered the easy part when it comes to opening and operating a brewery, and it’s certainly the more enjoyable part. Because with it comes the accounting and bookkeeping, the tax laws, the human resources duties and other administrative work—this is work no one generally wants to do but, unfortunately, has to be done. And not only can it be time consuming and confusing, no matter the brewery’s size, it can also require additional manpower which, inevitably, means additional spending.

From a tax perspective, breweries need to consider:

·      There are certain tax credits available that many small businesses and breweries are unaware of and therefore go unutilized, including the tax benefits related to fixed assets and startup costs.

·      Many startup companies may be in a loss position for the first year or two due to initial startup costs—and with new tax provisions, these losses can be handled differently, depending on the size of the business. 

·      Given that many small business owners may own other companies or portions of other companies, those different ownerships under the new tax law can have varying implications and need to be considered from a personal tax standpoint. 

From a bookkeeping perspective, the most common issues and traps for breweries, as well as any small businesses, are as follows: 

·      These are time consuming burdens on owners that can take away from what’s most important

·      Hiring bookkeeping personnel, even part-time, may be costly if benefits and other pay is involved and may not be necessary when there are other cheaper third-party solutions

·      Hiring a quick fix bookkeeper that isn’t qualified for the future growth of the business 

·      Determining which software is best for the company, based on its size and its future plans

Finally there is the human resources perspective; many breweries struggle in this area and with the administrative side of things as they begin to grow and need the following:

·      Creating hiring and firing policies to protect the company from lawsuits

·      Creating employee handbooks / code of conduct and other business wide policies

·      Offering benefit plans or other incentives to employees and drafting these agreements

None of this, of course, should deter people from their dreams of owning and operating a brewery; it is a widely expanding field that has seen much success for those who do it the right way. Having the right team in place, both internally and externally, is imperative. It goes way beyond expertise in making and selling beer, and into the realm of tax policy, human resources functions, bookkeeping and auditing. It’s a business and should be treated like any other one; watching out for the above traps and utilizing a trusted advisor or third party at times will go a long way towards making it a successful one.

Steve Treglia, CPA, is a manager with BlumShapiro, the largest regional business advisory firm based in New England, with offices in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The firm, with a team of over 500, offers a diversity of services, which include auditing, accounting, tax and business advisory services such as HR and bookkeeping. Blum serves a wide range of privately held companies, government and non-profit organizations and provides non-audit services for publicly traded companies. To learn more visit us at blumshapiro.com.