Brewbound Insiders received a first read of the following People Moves news items, which appeared in the Insider version of the Brewbound newsletter earlier this week.
Former Stone Distributing VP of sales Anthony Trento has joined JuneShine (San Diego, CA) in the same role. He announced the move on LinkedIn earlier this week after wrapping up a decade at Stone Distributing, which was acquired by Hand Family Company subsidiary Sunset Distributing, and merged with Classic Beverage.
Speaking of Sunset Distributing, former Stone Distributing GM Brian Fried is leading operations at the California craft distributor as region VP, he announced on LinkedIn.
Fried is joined on Sunset’s management team by:
- Michael Blumfeld, senior director of sales and marketing (ex-Classic Beverage president);
- Elise Horwitz, director of brands and marketing (ex-Stone);
- John Miklas, director of chains (ex-Stone);
- Matt Lukich, general sales manager, LA (ex-Classic);
- And Heather Collins, general sales manager, San Diego (ex-Stone).
Sunset also filled out its territory sales manager, key account manager and brand manager roles.
Pilot Project Appoints Kyle Hodges as First Director of Business Development
Pilot Project (Chicago) has hired Kyle Hodges as director of business development, a newly created role at the beverage incubator.
Hodges previously spent more than a decade as director of new business development and partnerships at Dark Matter Coffee, managing collaborations, brand partnerships and projects with organizations such as the Chicago Bulls, Honda and Netflix, according to a press release.
Pilot Project co-founder and CEO Dan Abel said: “Pilot Project is at a turning point in our growth. In some ways, it’s really just the beginning for us.
“We created this role with nationwide expansion and the need to mature our incubator and accelerator model in mind. Kyle’s expertise will help us build upon our mission of scaling and supporting talented brewers and beverage makers.”
BJ’s Appoints New CEO
BJ’s Restaurants and Brewhouse has promoted Lyle D. Tick to the role of president and CEO, effective June 5.
Tick has previously served as president and chief concept officer. Before joining BJ’s, he led On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina as president and CEO from December 2023 to August 2024. From 2018 to 2023, he was brand president of Buffalo Wild Wings.
BJ’s ranked as the 44th largest Brewers Association-defined regional craft brewery in 2024. The brewery produced an estimated 47,344 barrels of beer (+1% YoY).
Interim CEO C. Bradford Richmond will shift to a special advisor to the CEO role during the transition and will continue to serve on BJ’s board.