New Program Aimed At Spurring Community Investment in Massachusetts Craft Breweries

MAINVEST AND MASSACHUSETTS BREWERS GUILD ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF “INVESTING IN MASSACHUSETTS CRAFT BREWERS” A LOCALIZED PROGRAM ALLOWING INDIVIDUALS TO INVEST AS LITTLE AS $100 DIRECTLY INTO OUR BURGEONING CRAFT BREWING SCENE.

The Mass Brewers Guild, the state’s trade association that exists to protect and promote the interests of Massachusetts craft breweries, has partnered with Mainvest, a Salem-based investment platform enabling small businesses to harness community investment to fuel their growth, to launch “Investing in Massachusetts Craft Brewers,” a program to enable individuals of any income level to become investors in the growing Massachusetts craft beer community.

“Owning, operating and growing a successful craft brewery takes capital -- funds that can be difficult to come by in today’s tight lending market,” says Katie Stinchon, executive director of the Mass Brewers Guild. “Mainvest has helped several of our state’s breweries get up and running so they can help revitalize downtown areas, employ locals and drive traffic and tourism to our state. We are excited about our new partners in this space and the support local investors can provide to aid these small business owners in fulfilling their dreams.” 

Over the past five years Mainvest has helped over 350 small businesses, and over 50 craft breweries, across America access capital to maintain and grow their small businesses, providing local communities with great food, good beer, local jobs, local wealth building opportunities and spaces that support and build community. Through Mainvest’s innovative platform, they allow anyone to become an investor in their community, investing with as little as $100 in local businesses and real estate offerings, strengthening the connection people have to their small businesses while providing capital on friendly terms to local entrepreneurs. 

“Massachusetts Craft Breweries have become a major force in local economic development, job creation and community building,” said Jonathan Berk, Mainvest’s VP of Growth and Partnerships. “We’re thrilled to be able to work with Massachusetts Brewers Guild to provide individuals across Massachusetts the opportunity to invest directly in their favorite local breweries while providing area breweries with this new opportunity to access the capital they need to sustain and grow their operations locally.”

Anyone interested in raising funds for their brewery or signing up to be alerted of new investment opportunities in Massachusetts breweries can sign up on the “Investing in Massachusetts Craft Brewers” landing page (mainvset.com/massbrew).

An explainer video from a recent webinar can be found below:

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.