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Owner - Harsha

Location - Arvada, CO, United States

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Business Description

We decided on the name "Wah Gwaan Brewing Company" for our business because in Jamaican Patois (English dialect spoken in Jamaica), "wah gwaan" is commonly used as a greeting and means "how are you/what's up." We liked this phrase because it reflects a friendly atmosphere and sense of community -- exactly what we want to embody.

Wah Gwaan Brewing Company is a Jamaican-inspired craft brewery specializing in incorporating traditional Jamaican cuisine through beer. We are committed to integrating sustainable practices throughout our brewery, as well as becoming a strong partner to our local community. I decided to start this brewery with my fiancé after years of dreaming of owning our own business together. I realized that I was not fulfilled in my previous jobs and wanted to have a larger impact. Wah Gwaan Brewing Company will be an approachable and diverse space where all are welcome to experience the Jamaican culture.

What is the purpose of this loan?

This loan will allow us to grow our business through the purchase of brewery equipment. With this loan, our brewery will be starting off creating the quality unique beers that we have been dreaming up.

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We decided on the name "Wah Gwaan Brewing Company" for our business because in Jamaican Patois (English dialect spoken in Jamaica), "wah gwaan" is commonly used as a greeting and means "how are you/what's up." We liked this phrase because it reflects a friendly atmosphere and sense of community -- exactly what we want to embody.

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Harsha

A loan of $15,000 helped Harsha a woman, minority & veteran owned brewery fund start-up costs.

United States

Food | Food Production/Sales

This loan has been funded.

I grew up as a Jamaican-American immersed in the melting pot that is New York City. About 4 years ago, I relocated to Colorado and found it difficult to find others from the Caribbean and connect with my culture, which is extremely important to me. In order to bridge the cultural gap that I was experiencing, my fiancé, Jesse, and I decided to use our appreciation for great beer as an opportunity for diversification -- both in the brewing industry and our local community. I want to create a space where Jamaican immigrants or Jamaican-Americans (like myself) could experience a little piece of home here in Colorado. Together, we have over 15 years of work and educational experience including work in the sustainability, energy, customer-service, retail, cybersecurity, software development and food-service industries. Our brewery will combine skills from these career experiences while merging our passion for beer, community and the Jamaican culture.

Learn more about Harsha's Loan >

Loans that change lives

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Harsha, a Jamaican-American, and her fiancé Jesse set up their company 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' for the purpose of bringing Jamaican beer and culture to the community of Colorado, where they currently live.

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Loan Terms

Length: 42 months

Repayment Schedule: Monthly

Disbursed Date: September 28, 2020

Funding Model: Fixed

Currency exchange loss: N/A

Endorsed by Trustee: Colorado Lending Source

Is borrower paying interest: No

Risk rating: Unrated

13% of the loan has been repaid

Date retrieved from KIVA website

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The Purpose of the loan for the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company,' is to be able to generate enough funds, in order to be able to purchase brewery equipment and produce their unique Jamaican beer.

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The 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' has the potential to meet the people category of the triple bottom line. They express a willingness to become a strong partner to their local community. More specifically targeting Jamaican immigrants and Jamaican-Americans, offering a place that feels a bit like home for them.

The 'Wah Gwaan Brewing company' has offered the chance for local businesses to come in decorate their brewery, by allowing artists to draw large canvases on their wall. This portray the facts that the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing company,' wants to help out in the community by offering local artists the chance for work. A lot of brewing companies, usually would do there own interior design, so this shows the willingness of the brewery to give job opportunities to the local community.

Furthermore, the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' has been engaged in promoting local businesses, especially food trucks, by holding events for them to come set up by their brewery. This is a great ay for local business to gain brand exposure. The 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' also offers events such as Canvas and Cocktail night, which offers a social event for the community to be able to come and socialise.

By the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' offering their unique Jamaican beer and cuisine, it brings that idea of diversity into the community, by offering a piece of Jamaican culture to the people of Colorado.

The 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' are showing a clear desire to give back to the community and create a strong connection within, while also adding that diversity element as well.

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The 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' is already showing a strong desire to give back to the community. A clear CSR initiative of the Brewing Company is to be a strong partner with the community. There are more potential ways, that they could achieve this.

A way in which the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' can build off supporting local businesses, such as giving local food trucks exposure, is by using products from local malt and hops growers. 'This will increase the viability of Colorado's agricultural industry' (Dingwall, 2021).

Another way in which the Brewing Company could go about this, is by expressing a specific cause that they support, through their website or social media page. On their website they show a desire to create social change within the industry. They could hold events like Renegade brewing company did, by hosting an event 'called "Maxfunds Mondays" where $1 of a specific beer goes to the Maxfund animal shelter' (Phipps, 2014), but create it around social change.

Moreover, The 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' conveys its desire to create that strong connection with the community, but yet they don't invest any money back into the community A good example of a way 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' can invest back into the community is by taking an approach like Great divide Brewery, whom 'donate all of their proceedings raised from any tasters purchased in their tap rooms to a rotating list of local nonprofits' (Phipps, 2014).

Finally, the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' needs to meet the needs of all their stakeholders. A stakeholder whom will be very important to them, will be their employees, so it is very important that they offer fair wages and have humane working conditions in their brewery.

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The 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' has the potential to meet the plant category of the triple bottom line. Both Harsha's and Jesse's 15 years experience in work and education in the fields of sustainability and energy, will play a big part in potential practices that will help minimise environmental impact. They have stressed that they want to integrate sustainable practices throughout there brewery.

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It is clear that the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' want to implement a sustainable approach among their brewery. However, from their website and page in KIVA, it seems that they have not implemented any sustainable approaches yet. Below are some ideas and approaches that the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' could take in order to meet the planet category of the triple bottom line.

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The 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' has the potential to meet the Profit category of the triple bottom line. All companies goals are to be as profitable as possible, but when it comes to the triple bottom line, being profitable has to have no detrimental effect on the people and the planet.

The brewing companies approach to being diverse, can have profitable outcomes through tourism. Offering a mix between Jamaican and Colorado style beer will attract different customers within the community and out of state. They will attract Jamaican-Americans, through there Jamaican beer and also Americans through offering Colorado styled beer. Tourism will be good for the local economy as it will also benefit other local businesses as well.

Furthermore, by the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' hosting various food trucks on different nights, is a good way for people and profit to play hand in hand. As explained hosting the food trucks allows for these food trucks to gain some exposure, but it also bring in new potential customers for the brewing company, due to the fact that beer and food go hand in hand. Customer from both parties will want to experience both products from each company, which should hopefully build larger customer bases for both companies, which should hopefully lead to more purchases of products. More revenue generated more money that will go back into the local economy through tax.

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There are more potential ways of the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' becoming profitable while taking into the requirements of people and the planet.

Breweries are a great social hub for the community. It is a great place to be able to go after work or even for a work event. By 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' advertising opportunities for companies to hold events at their facility, through their website or social media page, this should hopefully attract more customers through these local businesses. If the businesses needs are meet with there event, this should hopefully build brand loyalty and hopefully enhance the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' reputation. The more their companies name gets spread, the more potential customers that will be brought and purchase their products.

The 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' has shown a strong desire to link people and profit together, but not so much profit and planet. According to Forbes in 2018 a study found that the majority of U.S beer drinkers would pay more for a sustainably-produced beer. If the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' where able to implement some of the sustainable ideas mentioned in the people category, this could result in them being more appealing to customers and result in an increase in demand for their product, resulting in more revenue generated. A big factor in their sustainability approach, would be providing ranchers with the spoiled seeds, as this would cut costs for landfill waste and the transportation of the waste, as the ranchers would sort it out for them. The lower the costs, the higher chances of profitability.

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1. Buying product from local small-scale malt and hops growers

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1. Buying product from local small-scale malt and hops growers

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According to Forbes a brewing company that took the approach of buying product from a local small-scale malt and hops producer was Mountain Tap Brewery, in Colorado. This help contribute to the reduction of that companies carbon footprint due to the fact that the ingredients, did not have to be transported so far. This is an approach that the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' could take, as it reduces the carbon footprint and ties into helping support the community by buying produce from the local malt and hop producer.

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Another approach which Mountain tap Brewery have adopted, which 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' could adopt too, is Mountain tap Brewery 'give there spent grain to local ranchers who then feed the used grain to their pigs' (Dingwall, 2021). This helps keep the spent grain from being tossed into landfill sights. This could be a possible approach for 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' because if they are able to generate the funds needed for their brewing equipment, then it will be a perfect way to 'recycle' their spent grain. It is also a good way to interact will local ranchers within the community.

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The final sustainable approach that the 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' could take is to use renewable energy. According to Craft brewing business, there are a handful of breweries that are now operating on 100% renewable energy. Breweries such as 'Ninkasi brewery' have installed on-site solar rays, while breweries such as 'Odell Brewing' have installed roof top solar panels. The possible use of renewable energy for 'Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' could be a key approach when trying to conduct a sustainable method when it comes to brewing their Jamaican beer.

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These three factors would play a big part, in firstly allowing the "Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' to adopt a sustainable approach to brewing, but secondly to potentially meet the requirements for the planet section of the triple bottom line.

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These three factors would play a big part, in firstly allowing the "Wah Gwaan Brewing Company' to adopt a sustainable approach to brewing, but secondly to potentially meet the requirements for the planet section of the triple bottom line.

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Crowell, C. (2015, March 12). Eight ways breweries are helping the environment. Craft Brewing Business. https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/business-marketing/8-ways-breweries-helping-environment/

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Earlier today we reported that 24 American breweries have signed on to a national Climate Declaration, calling for strong climate and energy policies in Washington. In keeping with that spirit, here are eight ways some of these breweries are innovating to reduce their environmental impact.
Also be sure to check out this white paper on brewery watewater and spent grain management.
1. Using renewable energy.

Allagash Brewery, Brewery Vivant, Deschutes Brewery, Odell Brewing, Redhook and Widmer Brothers are all using 100 percent renewable energy to generate electricity. New Belgium Brewing and Ninkasi Brewing have installed on-site solar arrays, and Kona Brewing Co. gets 50 percent of its electricity with roof-top solar. Odell Brewing, for example, has installed rooftop solar panels that generate renewable energy for their brewing process.

2. Cutting energy use by recycling steam.

Fremont Brewing and Odell Brewing are using steam from the brewing process to heat the next brew and lower their carbon footprints.

3. Sourcing local, organic ingredients.

Many breweries are opting for local, organic ingredients when crafting their brews.

4. Installing efficient lighting.

Breweries like Widmer Brothers Brewing have installed high-efficient lighting systems with occupancy and daylight sensors to reduce their energy use. Widmer Brothers brewery has reduced its energy use by 12 percent in 2014, to just 9.2 kWs per barrel of beer produced.

5. Capturing methane.

New Belgium Brewing's wastewater treatment bubble captures methane, the potent greenhouse gas produced from the treatment process, which is then used to provide 15 percent of the brewery's electricity needs.

6. Saving water.

Beer's main ingredient is clean, fresh water. Breweries are increasing their water efficiency, especially in areas struggling with drought.

7. Cutting transportation emissions.

Many breweries are cutting their transportation footprints by reducing packaging and choosing cans, which lighten the load. Guinness has partnered with the U.S. EPA Smartways program that works with transportation carriers to reduce carbon emissions through better logistics.

8. Reusing spent grain.

Breweries like The Alchemist are partnering with local farmers to reuse the spent grain from the brewing process as compost or to feed livestock. And remember, spent grain should be OK now, in the eyes of the FDA.

For further sustainable brewing news, check out this story from a Michigan college that started an entire program for it.

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Eight ways breweries are helping the environment

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Earlier today we reported that 24 American breweries have signed on to a national Climate Declaration, calling for strong climate and energy policies in Washington. In keeping with that spirit, here are eight ways some of these breweries are innovating to reduce their environmental impact.

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Dingwall, K. (2021, March 25). How Craft Brewers Are Embracing Sustainability. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/katedingwall/2021/03/14/how-craft-brewers-are-embracing-sustainability/?sh=3672713339a8

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The solar-powered Cooper Island Beach Club uses wastewater for garden irrigation
Cooper Island Beach Club

Brewing as we know it is not a sustainable practice. According to the University of Vermont, it takes between three to seven barrels of water to make one single barrel of beer.

Then factor the energy used in the fermentation process, the gas burned to ship ingredients across the country and the refuse byproducts of canning. When the brewing is done, what's left behind is waste: undrinkable water and spent grains and hops.

New Belgium's Fat Tire made headlines last year when it became the first major brewery to achieve carbon-neutral certification. In the process, the brewery created an open-source blueprint for others to follow in their path in the process. But while the brewery, the fourth-largest craft brewer in the country, has funneled significant investments into meeting global sustainability standards through renewable energy and heat recovery initiatives, not every brewery has access to that kind of capital.

So craft brewers are getting creative, implementing unique ways to decrease their use of natural resources. Methods include upcycling used water, taking land stewardship initiatives and recovering carbon dioxide from the fermentation cycle. The planet reaps the benefits, but increasingly, the consumer does as well: A 2018 study found a majority of U.S. beer drinkers would pay more for sustainably-produced beer. On average, they would pay around $1.30 more per six-pack.

For Colorado's Mountain Tap Brewery, sustainability means buying product from local small-scale malt and hops growers. "Supporting small local growers increases the viability of Colorado's agricultural industry," says brewmaster Rich Tucciarone. "It also lessens our carbon footprint since the ingredients have far fewer miles to travel to reach us."

He finds building that local connection benefits the entire community. "Like many brewers, we provide our spent grain to a local rancher who feeds his pigs with it," Tucciarone says. "This keeps the grain out of the landfill and gives it a 'second life' as feed. A few times each year, we purchase pork from the rancher and feature it on our menu as Full Circle Pork: we brew the beer, we give the spent grain to the rancher, he feeds his pigs, we purchase the pork, and finally we serve it to our guests. We provide the grain to the rancher to offset his feed requirements. He does us a service by picking up the grain. We further support the local rancher by purchasing his pork. Then by featuring it in our restaurant, we encourage our guests to eat locally raised meats and educate them on the good things that can come from recycling what some might consider waste."

Alice Springs Brewing Co is located in the heart of the outback, surrounded by miles of orange-red ... [+]
Alice Springs Brewing Co

Sustainability has been top of mind for Mountain Tap since the brewery launched. "When planning the buildout of the brewpub, Mountain Tap had to start from scratch on all of our mechanical equipment. As such, we were able to take advantage of high-efficiency equipment including an energy recovery ventilation unit and a Rinnai tankless water heater that provides makeup water for brewing," says Tucciarone.

At Alice Springs Brewing Co in Australia, sustainable thinking is essential. The brewery is located in the heart of the outback, surrounded by miles of orange-red sand. Water is a precious commodity here, so reducing water consumption is crucial. "We employ several tactics to recapture wastewater from our brewing processes and are continually looking for methods to reduce our usage," describes instigator Kyle Pearson. "We currently reclaim all of our wastewater from our filtering process and use it to water our lawns and gardens." Wastewater from brew day processes is used to clean down equipment. "We also hold and store all of our wastewater from our brewery sinks and floor drains into holding tanks, where we undertake settling and chemical analysis to ensure we are minimizing the amount of solids and chemicals into our local wastewater system."

On the other end of the spectrum, Argentina's Antares is located on the banks of the South Atlantic. Water here is abundant. But saltwater is tough to brew with. Driven by the planet's water crisis, the brewery recently launched a new beer Atlántica -the first beer in Argentina to be made using seawater. Crazy Dingo Brewing in Florida uses groundwater from an aquifer below the brewery's farm; the water is purified via carbon filters made from coconut husks.

Water waste remains one of the largest hurdles for brewers to cross. Waste water treatments range from the small-the solar-powered Cooper Island Beach Club uses wastewater for garden irrigation-to the massive: Village Brewery in Calgary (in partnership with University of Calgary researchers) creates beer from municipal wastewater.

Partially-treated municipal wastewater runs through a purification system, including ultra-filtration, advanced oxidation, ultraviolet light, nano-filtration and reverse osmosis. Eventually, the city's liquid discards become crisp Golden Ales. Alberta Health Services check the reused water to ensure it hits drinking standards, but there are still mental hurdles. Head brewer Jeremy McLaughlin cited 'mental hurdles to climb of how inherently gross this is.' in an interview with the CBC.

Alternative water treatments and sourcing antidotes like these act as a glimmer of hope, as the planet's supplies of fresh waters continue to deplete.

Alice Springs Brewing Co's Pearson notes that initiatives like these are crucial when considering how our practices will impact future generations. "We have recently installed a 50kw solar panel system which will meet around 80% of our power needs and supply nearly all of the power we use to produce beer. All of our waste product from grain, yeast and hops is taken by local farmers and agriculturalists and used for stock feed or composting. Sometimes we even use spent grain in our kitchen to make food products for our restaurant-Stout Brownie anyone?!"

Shifting a brewery to sustainability may seem like a daunting (and pricey) feat, but there are small steps distilleries can take to lessen their environmental impact. Sustainable ingredients, either sourced locally or grown without pesticides; solar panels-Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) provides grants for small businesses looking to convert to renewable energy; and getting political, asking local and federal governments to offer more incentives for sustainable efforts.

Beerburg's Yarrow Berliner Weisse is part of their #wildcraft series. It's made without hops, ... [+]
instagram.com/beerburginstagram

BeerBurg in Texas Hill country uses the philosophy of land stewardship to drive the brewery. Their brewer Trevor underwent a nine-month herbalism program to help him understand plant identification, proper ethical harvesting and how to use native plants in the brewing partnership while fostering a positive relationship with the land the distillery is on. Also on site is an apiary surrounded by a rainwater collection tank and wildlife water station. The bees pollinate wildflower fields and permaculture gardens.

Avling Brewery in Toronto grows botanicals in their 4,000 square foot rooftop garden atop the brewery and uses their beers to shine a light on lesser-known local Canadian ingredients. Crops are chosen based on local ecological biodiversity with a focus on attractive native pollinators. They also host farmers market and hands on gardening workshops. 3 Daughters Brewing in St. Petersburg, Florida, asks all vendors they work with to meet the brewery's sustainability guidelines to ensure vendors measure and minimize the footprint of their operations & products by looking at transportation, packaging, waste, energy, toxicity, water, and GHG emissions. Alaskan Brewing Company has been using a CO2 recovery program to clean CO2 used in production for over 20 years.

Large measures or small, "The most important thing for us is that we undertake sustainability efforts and continue to strive to improve as we grow bigger and better in the future," says Pearson. "As brewers, business owners and also parents, it is important to us to ensure the ongoing viability of our planet for future generations."

... Read More

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How Craft Brewers Are Embracing Sustainability

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Brewing as we know it is not a sustainable practice. According to the University of Vermont, it takes between three to seven barrels of water to make one single barrel of beer. Then factor the energy used in the fermentation process, the gas burned to ship ingredients across the country and the refuse byproducts of canning.

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Crowell, C. (2015, March 12). Eight ways breweries are helping the environment. Craft Brewing Business. https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/business-marketing/8-ways-breweries-helping-environment/

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Remember when you first opened your brewery... how long it took to get everything in order, setup the equipment, finally get that first sale.

Remember when you were first asked to donate product for an event... wait, what? Giving away beer and gear was not in your initial vision. You had just made your dream come true and had just enough resources to keep your brewery going; why did you need to give resources away?

Interacting with the community began when your brewery began. Although it'd be easier to just ignore the requests, the community is a necessary dependent you need for your brewery to survive. You need customers and the community needs you.

How do you support the community when you need to support yourself?

Luckily, the craft beer industry has cultivated several different creative ways to give back to the community, including some that do not require any cash or product. In honor of tomorrow's Colorado Gives Day we wanted to provide a general overview of how craft breweries have been able to engage with their community

Donations

Overview: Breweries are constantly inundated with donation requests. These requests can often range from asking for beer to give away at events, beer to be given away at festivals, a portion of funds generated from special tap room nights and more. As a brewery its important to work closely with the organization requesting the donation to ensure that your donation is being appropriately recognized, because often promotion falls to the wayside on both ends. While its great to give just for the purpose of giving, its also important as a developing brewery to get your name out and establish you community involvement.

Focused Donations

Overview: Breweries that focus their giving have written clear guidelines on how much product they can give away and have chosen specific causes they support. In addition, they often have a community link on their website or list a specific contact for donation requests. Requests are directed to one staff member and the causes they support are mentioned on their website and social media. They donate only product, but satisfaction is greater because of the increased focus and tracking of impacts.

Example: Ska Brewing Company has easy-to-find guidelines on its website for its giving and defines the charities it will and will not support. Great Divide Brewery also donates all proceeds raised from any tasters purchased in their tap rooms to a rotating list of local nonprofits. Those rotating organizations are clearly listed in their tap room. Similarly, Copper Kettle has a Pints for a Purpose program every Tuesday where $1 of every pint goes toward a rotating charity. Two22 Brewing takes giving to an entirely new level. Two22 has a happy hour deal where a specific group (teachers, veterans, etc.) gets a discount, but even more powerful is the fact that they've made it their mission to donate 22% of their profits to local Colorado charities Translation, for every $10 they earn $2.22 back to the community.

Special Events

Overview: Some breweries start to take more action by holding events or drink specials. For an easy-to-set-up event, some breweries hold "Pint Nights" where they give a portion of sales to a charity. Breweries can also hold a beer festival and choose a charity as a beneficiary.

Examples: Renegade Brewing Company hosts "MaxFund Mondays" where $1 of a specific beer goes to the MaxFund Animal Shelter. Left Hand Brewing Company holds Hops and Handrails, a beer festival and ski/snowboard competition, where proceeds benefit SOS Outreach, a charity that uses skiing/snowboarding to build character in at-risk youth. Avery Brewing company hosts a number of larger beer festivals throughout the year, like Strong Ale Fest, IPA Fest, Sour Fest and their Anniversary party with a portion of funds raised towards local causes.

Creative Solutions

Overview: A few breweries tend to think differently by using their community interactions to bolster their brand identity. Some also use their internal operations to interact with the community, such as by hiring people with disabilities or creating a volunteer project for staff members to support a charity.

Examples: Dry Dock Brewing Company brewed and distributed a Colorado Freedom Memorial Blonde Ale last May in which all proceeds were donated to the Colorado Freedom Memorial Foundation. Jagged Mountain Brewery created Jagged Pack Project where they collect backpacks and other goods for people who are homeless.

Foundations

Overview: At the point where a brewery is donating thousands of dollars, some look into creating their own foundation. By creating a foundation, breweries can fund community projects or initiatives more efficiently as they no longer need to gain stockholders' approval.

Examples: Both Left Hand Brewing Company and Oskar Blues created their own foundations, Left Hand Foundation and Can'd Aid, respectively, after the floods in Longmont in 2013.

B-Corporations

Overview: At perhaps the highest level of community involvement, breweries that want to make more decisions based on the community's needs can look into becoming a B-Corporation. B-Corporations are given legal protection so that ownership can make decisions based on the needs of all stakeholders, not just stockholders.

Examples: New Belgium Brewery, a certified B-Corporation, is well known for its sustainability and community practices that drive what it does as an organization. Bison Organic Beer in Berkley, CA was the first B-Corp brewery.

Across the nation, breweries are using different techniques to get involved in their communities and be good corporate citizens. Even if you just opened, it is important to develop your relationship with the community. You do not have to give away money either; be creative!

Promote your interactions with the community so they can learn about what you are doing (this is also what more customers are becoming attracted to). Take a look at this interactive map that shows which breweries in Colorado promote their community interactions on their websites and why posting is important.

Brian Phipps is a great friend of the site and the founder of Confluence LLC:

If you are still unsure on what you can do to get your brewery more involved in your local community, need help writing a strategy, or looking for extra help on managing these projects and relationships, visit our website www.ConfluenceLLC.com. At Confluence, we aim to help businesses improve their corporate social responsibility programs to create win-win relationships with the community. With a quality CSR program, you can: (1) attract and create deeper relationships with customers, (2) reduce turnover and recruit passionate employees, (3) improve internal operations that can reduce costs, (4) and become a positive corporate citizen and reliable community member.

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What are Craft Breweries Doing for the Community?

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Remember when you first opened your brewery... how long it took to get everything in order, setup the equipment, finally get that first sale. Remember when you were first asked to donate product for an event... wait, what? Giving away beer and gear was not in your initial vision.

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Wah Gwaan Brewing Company is a Jamaican-inspired craft brewery in Colorado.

In Jamaican Patois (English dialect spoken in Jamaica), "wah gwaan" is commonly used as a greeting and means "how are you/what's up." We chose this phrase for our brewery because it reflects our friendly ambience and sense of community.

We embody traditional Jamaican culture through distinctive, vibrant beer flavors and a welcoming atmosphere. We are committed to incorporating sustainable practices throughout the brewery and the local community. We plan to share authentic Jamaican culture through education, taproom events, and community outreach-and ultimately become a leader in sustainable brewing business practices while increasing diversity in the industry.

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In Jamaican Patois (English dialect spoken in Jamaica), "wah gwaan" is commonly used as a greeting and means "how are you/what's up." We chose this phrase for our brewery because it reflects our friendly ambience and sense of community. We embody traditional Jamaican culture through distinctive, vibrant beer flavors and a welcoming atmosphere.