When Larry Bell announced at the company's 25th anniversary celebration in 2010 that Bell's Brewery, Inc. would be expanding he predicted the growth could mean the addition of 50 employees.
The expansion that brought the brewery to just over 100,000 square feet, for its 200-barrel brewhouse, was completed on schedule and in the past year 62 people have been hired. But the hiring is not done there.
Bell's Marketing Director Laura Bell says they already have hired more employees than they originally anticipated they would need. The company also will be adding 14 to 16 new employees over the next two months.
The new hires reflect the company's commitment to getting the best out of the new equipment, Bell says. Sales also have been strong and support the ongoing addition of staff.
Two of the new positions
that are open are:
• Safety Manager -- Responsible for building employee commitment to a culture of safety in the workplace and ensuring that the organization complies with the applicable state, federal worker safety regulations and environmental standards; and
• Sustainability Specialist -- To further develop and support a company-wide sustainability strategy.
Bell's Brewery Inc. now employs close to 200 people and is one of the area's fastest growing employers. Although current regional numbers are difficult pin down, it appears the brewery has with its most recent round of hiring become one of the top 50 employers in the county.
The hiring won't stop there, either. Bell says there will be more jobs opening in early in 2013. And one of the steps to help assimilate this number of new workers will be a new employee in the packaging area who will be part of the company's training efforts, she says.
"When you put this many people to work -- and these are good middle class manufacturing jobs -- the whole thing is going to have a positive effect on the local economy," Bell says. "We're really excited to be able to be able to bring in this number of people. In an economy that hasn't been so positive we feel great about doing our part to help the local economy grow."
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: Laura Bell, Bells Brewery, Inc.
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