Intro & Welcome Remarks

Panel 1: Navigating the Beer Business During a National Crisis

• Sam Calagione

  , Co-founder, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

  

  Sam Calagione

  Co-founder, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

  Sam Calagione is the founder and CEO of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware and Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. He also owns the Dogfish Inn in Lewes, Delaware. Sam is a 2016 James Beard Award recipient was named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business. The Wall Street Journal has called Sam "a Pioneer of bizarre brews."

• Julie Verratti

  , Denizens Brewing Company, Co-Founder
• John Lane

  , Co-Owner, Winking Lizard Tavern
• Matt Bardill

  , Director of Beer, Total Wine & More

  

  Matt Bardill

  Director of Beer, Total Wine & More

  Matt Bardill is the Director of Beer at Total Wine & More. Matt joined the Total Wine & More team in 2010 as a member of the Import Wine team. While on the wine business, he held various roles and drove double digit growth for the import wine category. In 2014, Matt was selected to lead the beer team and has grown the business to over $500M in annual sales. Prior to Total Wine & More, he held various roles in the retail industry including merchandising/buying roles for department stores and marketing for a retail association. Matt received his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Maryland – College Park and undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

• Justin Kendall

  , Editor, Brewbound

  

  Justin Kendall

  Editor, Brewbound

  Justin Kendall provides daily coverage of the beer industry on Brewbound.com, conducts live-streamed interviews during Brewbound's events and co-produces the Brewbound podcast. Kendall is a 17-year career journalist who led alt-weekly newspapers in Kansas City, Missouri, and Des Moines, Iowa.

• Sam Calagione, Co-founder, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
• Julie Verratti, Denizens Brewing Company, Co-Founder
• John Lane, Co-Owner, Winking Lizard Tavern
• Matt Bardill, Director of Beer, Total Wine & More
• Justin Kendall, Editor, Brewbound

Program Intermission

Panel 2: Leaders of Beer Industry Trade Groups Share Legislative Efforts and How the Industry Rebounds from COVID-19

• Bob Pease

  , President & CEO, Brewers Association
• Craig Purser

  , President & CEO, National Beer Wholesalers Association

  

  Craig Purser

  President & CEO, National Beer Wholesalers Association

  Craig Purser serves as the leading advocate for America’s more than 3,000 licensed, independent beer distributors. In this role, Purser is responsible for the strategic development and tactical execution of the association’s mission in the areas of government, public, industry and political affairs. He has led the charge to strengthen the three-tier system of beer distribution and state-based alcohol regulation. During his tenure at NBWA, Purser has been a consensus builder among industry partners, control advocates, public health activists and elected leaders. Under Purser’s leadership, NBWA worked with a wide variety of stakeholders to help Congress pass the Sober Truth on Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act. This meaningful legislation emphasizes the primary responsibility of the states to regulate alcohol as afforded them by the 21st Amendment, addresses health and safety issues related to underage drinking and authorizes grants to support innovative efforts. A veteran of Capitol Hill and numerous political campaigns, Purser served on the staff of former U.S. Senator and Assistant Majority Leader Don Nickles (OK) and managed the successful election of U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (OK). In 2009 and 2011, Purser was recognized by the leading association publication CEO Update as a Top Association CEO. A native of Oklahoma, Purser is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He and his wife, Gretchen, reside in Alexandria, Virginia, with their three children.

• Jim McGreevy

  , President & CEO, Beer Institute

  

  Jim McGreevy

  President & CEO, Beer Institute

  A 20-year veteran of policy and political work, Jim McGreevy serves as president and chief executive officer of the Beer Institute, the national trade association that represents America’s brewers, beer importers and supply-chain partners – a $350 billion industry that supports more than 2.2 million American jobs. As the national voice for the industry, Jim advocates on policy matters involving Congress, state legislatures, courts and regulatory agencies. He also serves as the official spokesman to the media and elsewhere on matters affecting the beer industry. Before joining the Beer Institute, Jim served as senior vice president for government affairs at the American Beverage Association (ABA). Jim joined ABA in November 2005 as its vice president for state and local affairs. Prior to ABA, Jim was a senior associate at the Larkin Hoffman Law Firm in Bloomington, Minnesota, where he represented client interests before the Minnesota Legislature and administrative agencies. Jim was honored by CEO Update as a 2014 Top Association Lobbyist. Jim received a B.A. from Seton Hall University and a J.D. from the University of Bridgeport School of Law, and he currently serves as a member of the Board of Overseers for the Seton Hall University School of Diplomacy and International Relations. He was also a Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs from 2003-2004. Jim lives in the District of Columbia with his wife, Rachel, and daughter, Lizzy.

• Justin Kendall

  , Editor, Brewbound

  

  Justin Kendall

  Editor, Brewbound

  Justin Kendall provides daily coverage of the beer industry on Brewbound.com, conducts live-streamed interviews during Brewbound's events and co-produces the Brewbound podcast. Kendall is a 17-year career journalist who led alt-weekly newspapers in Kansas City, Missouri, and Des Moines, Iowa.

• Bob Pease, President & CEO, Brewers Association
• Craig Purser, President & CEO, National Beer Wholesalers Association
• Jim McGreevy, President & CEO, Beer Institute
• Justin Kendall, Editor, Brewbound

Closing Remarks