Locating a new Round Barn brewery in downtown Baroda makes emotional and practical sense to co-owner Chris Moersch.
In practical terms, the proximity to Round Barn's original location on the outskirts of Baroda smooths the way for the bookkeeping and support staff, which remain at the original location. And otherwise?
"Having lived in Baroda since 1979 and had the existing business for 20 years here, we felt if we were going to support a community, it should be our own community," Moersch says. "They've been wonderful to work with and hopefully this will be a win-win for everybody."
The new 10,000-square-foot brewery joins a tasting location in Union Pier as well as the main estate in Baroda, which currently houses all the beer, wine and spirit production as well as vineyards, outdoor seating, the actual Round Barn, tasting rooms, gift shops, a bar area and a summer weekend cafer.
Initially, the new location will employ four people, of which two positions are brand new. Round Barn received its license to produce Monday, Moersch says, and plans to start moving equipment over the next four to five weeks in order to be up and running in about six weeks.
The brewery hopes to open a pub at the new location in early summer 2013, at which time Moersch anticipates hiring another two or three full-time and six to eight part-time employees.
The two new employees bring Round Barn's total to 14 full-time employees year-round, which increases to about 65 seasonally, Moersch says.
Once up and running, the downtown Baroda location will house the bulk of the company's beer production.
"We needed more production space," Moersch says. "Everything is growing, so we needed one (product) to go to free up some space. We originally looked at adding on to the existing space (in Baroda), but frankly it's more cost effective to buy than it is to build. Beer made the most sense to move because it uses a lot of water, and we're not on city services out in the country here. The access to city water and sewer was appealing."
Moersch says he believes Round Barn continues to grow because of its emphasis on customer service and selling a quality product at a fair price.
"We really work hard to provide a good experience for people that come to visit us," Moersch says. "Any money we've ever made in this business has gone right back into the business to expand it."
Writer: Fran Wilcox, Second Wave Media
Source: Chris Moersch, co-owner, Round Barn Brewery
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