LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which  distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming.  (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

State's Transportation Plan Gets Federal OK
28 Mar 2024 15:06

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    Federal officials on Wednesday approved most of Alaska’s four-y [ ... ]

New Funding Plan Ahead for Visit Sitka?
28 Mar 2024 15:02

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    At an hour-long work session with the Assembly Tuesda [ ... ]

Sitka 'Frankenstein' Puts Classic Tale in New Ligh...
28 Mar 2024 15:01

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    The story behind a classic, though often misunderstoo [ ... ]

State May Los Millions Over Ed Dept. Missteps
28 Mar 2024 14:59

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    The state government risks losing millions of dollars in feder [ ... ]

Gov Signs Bill On Internet In State Schools
28 Mar 2024 14:57

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday signed a bill that promise [ ... ]

Capitol Christmas Tree to Come from Tongass
28 Mar 2024 14:56

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, known for its steep mountains [ ... ]

City League Games Thursday
28 Mar 2024 14:52

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing Wednesday in competitive division City League volleyball matches, Ca [ ... ]

March 28, 2024, Police Blotter
28 Mar 2024 14:50

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 27
At 2:36 p.m. a dead  [ ... ]

March 28, 2024, Community Happenings
28 Mar 2024 14:48

This Week in Girls on the Run By Sitkans Against Family Violence
and The Pathways Coalition
During th [ ... ]

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Baranof Brewers Tap into Crowdfunding

By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER

Sentinel Staff Writer

Sitka’s Baranof Island Brewing Company has big plans for distributing its award-winning beers in the Lower 48.

The company recently made its second move into progressively larger spaces, this time from Smith Street into the old Baranof Motors building at 1209 Sawmill Creek Road, to increase  its brewing capacity and distribution. 

Baranof Island Brewing Company owner Rick Armstrong, foreground, and Sam Bakker and Kurt Gerth on scissor lift set up equipment in their new building Wednesday.  This is the second time the brewery has moved to larger quarters. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

“I would love to be in the whole Pacific Northwest,” owner Rick Armstrong said. 

But to fund its enterprise the brewery needs help. That’s why Armstrong decided to tap into the new crowd investing program set up under state law.

Under the “Innovating Alaska Act,” sponsored by Sen. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage and passed in 2016, a for-profit business can sell shares of its company to Alaska residents and raise up to $1 million in a year.

“We knew we needed to raise funds to expand and keep up with distribution,” Armstrong said. “We thought it was a perfect fit to bring in local Alaskans to get there.”

Now Alaskans from Barrow to Prince of Wales Island can say they’re  partial owners of the brewery, BIBCO tap room manager Susan Suarez said. 

The company put its shares on the market in mid-March, and sales are going better than expected, she said.

So far, some 1,000 shares of 10,000 available have been sold. The other 15,000 shares remain with Armstrong and his wife, Suzan Hess, as majority owners.

Each share costs $100, and under the state law purchases are limited to $10,000 by any single person within a 12-month period unless the buyer is an accredited investor. The share sale will end when all are sold or by Dec. 1, whichever comes first, Armstrong said. 

“People have bought them as presents,” he said. “It’s been really good so far.”

Although technically the new shareholders own portions of the business, none has become too bossy, he said. 

“I was worried about that at first,” Armstrong said with his characteristic chuckle. “But people haven’t been that way. They’ve given us suggestions.”

As with stocks, the idea is that eventually the shares will earn dividends from the brewery’s profits, Armstrong explained. The amount will be decided by the company’s three-member board.

The brewery is the state’s first – and so far only – business to use the program, said Penny Gage, business development officer at the State of Alaska Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development.

“The idea is for communities to invest in themselves,” Gage said. “You don’t need to be an accredited investor to invest in a company.”

The state crowdinvesting program is different from online fund raising platforms like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo because shareholders will actually own a portion of the company and be eligible for payouts, she said.

Similar crowdfunding programs are now legal in more than 30 states, Gage said. 

“Breweries are actually one of the most popular businesses to engage in crowdfunding in the U.S.,” she said. 

Started in 2009, Baranof Brewing Co. is a “garage hobby gone crazy,” Armstrong says.

He started small, brewing only 10 gallons of beer at a time, which was quickly slurped down by waiting customers. The brewery moved to a bigger tap room in 2012 and increased production to 210 gallons per day.

A loan from the City’s share of the Southeast Alaska Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund was instrumental in helping the business get off the ground, Armstrong said. 

The new space is three times the size of the previous quarters, and will increase brewing capacity to 432 gallons per day. 

BIBCO closed its brewery and tap room on Smith Street earlier this year and is looking forward to reopening in its new location in mid-June. 

“We’ll be way more efficient with the bigger location,” he said. “Hopefully, we won’t have the move again.”

The money from the sale of crowd- funding shares will go toward buying an automatic canning machine to increase the amount of beer BIBCO is able to can for distribution, Armstrong said. 

“We’ve never been able in the summertime to keep up with demand,” he said. 

The brewery’s distributor, Odom Corp., says big stores in Washington want to carry the Sitka brew, but they need guarantees. 

“We need to be able to promise Safeway and Albertson’s they can have it full time, year-round,” Armstrong  said. 

The new tap room has more seating, as well as windows that give a view into the expanded brewing operation. 

Armstrong bought the Baranof Motors building in partnership with Hector Barragan, who operates Pizza Express in the Sawmill Plaza mall. Barragan  plans to put in a restaurant with a different fare in the brewery building. It will have a walk-up window so customers can order food while drinking beer in the tap room, Armstrong said. 

“Food is one of the things customers are always asking for,” Suarez said. 

They’re also hoping the new location near Sitka National Historical Park will get more foot traffic from tourists and locals. 

“We want to make it a destination for (tourists) to come to,” she said. 

The future is looking bubbly for the growing brewery, which has just won “Best in Show” and “Best Dark Ale” honors for its Medvejie Stout in competition with 50 other breweries at the Leavenworth Ale-Fest in Washington.

The owners are also looking forward to a repeat of last year’s Alaska Day Brewfest in cooperation with the Sitka Historical Society.

 

For that occasion, Armstrong said,  they’re working on a special brew in honor of the Alaska Purchase Sesquicentennial: a Russian Imperial Stout called “Alexander’s Folly.”

You have no rights to post comments

Login Form

 

20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.

50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.

Calendar

Local Events

Instagram

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Instagram!

Facebook

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Facebook!