Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales moved into a bigger production facility a little more than a year ago, and that investments is starting to pay off for the Dexter-based craft brewery.
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales doubled its sales last year when production could catchup with demand. Its revenue and production are trending higher again this year, as the brewery continues to up its production. It produced about 4,000 barrels of its brews last year, and another 5,000 barrels of
North Peak Brewing Co's beers, to which Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales bought the distributions rights.
"This new facility is five times that size," says Ron Jeffries, founder of
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. "We have lots of room to expand."
That includes another five acres of land adjacent to the brewery. That is enough space for Jolly Pumpkin to triple its current production. That has also meant more jobs. The craft brewery has hired five people at its production facility, which now has a staff of 15 people, over the last year.
"We're constantly adding people," Jeffries says. "We just added two people over the last two weeks."
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales is also at full employment at its two restaurants in downtown Ann Arbor and Traverse City. That means 200 people working between the two locations. Jeffries adds that his company is looking at adding a third restaurant in the near future. It’s also looking to bump up its production to 10,000 barrels of beer next year and 15,000 barrels of booze by 2015.
Source: Ron Jeffries, founder of Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Writer: Jon Zemke
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