Longtime lead lobbyist Katie Marisic has exited the Brewers Association (BA), where she was senior director of federal affairs.
Marisic represented craft brewers’ voices and the BA in Washington, D.C. for a decade.
“From passage of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act to helping the industry weather COVID-19, it has been an absolute honor to represent the more than 9,500 small and independent breweries located across the United States,” Marisic wrote in a farewell email on Friday.
As of yesterday – St. Patrick’s Day – Marisic is the director of trade, tax and federal government relations at global bev-alc giant Diageo, whose portfolio includes Guinness, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Johnnie Walker and Crown Royal, among other spirits brands.
Marisic’s tenure at the BA overlapped with a time of profound change for the craft beer industry. She was hired at the trade organization as federal affairs manager in February 2015. At the time, there were 4,803 craft breweries operating nationwide, a number that has more than doubled to 9,736 as of 2024, according to the BA.
During her time leading federal affairs, Marisic was instrumental in achieving federal excise tax reform for craft brewers via the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA). Marisic, as well as advocates from other bev-alc trade groups, helped push the bill into permanence in late 2020.
The permanently lowered rates dictate that breweries producing fewer than 2 million barrels annually pay $3.50 per barrel on the first 60,000 barrels and $16 per barrel after that. For all other brewers and beer importers, the federal excise tax rate remained $16 per barrel on the first 6 million barrels, and remained at $18 for brewers producing more than 6 million barrels.
At the time, the change in tax rate had the potential to save the country’s then-8,300 small and independent craft brewers, brewpubs and taprooms a collective $80 million annually.
Marisic has been named to The Hill’s list of top lobbyists every year since 2019, along with former BA president and CEO Bob Pease. In 2020, the pair were named Brewbound’s Persons of the Year, along with their counterparts at the Beer Institute, for their work to achieve federal excise tax reform.
Until a successor is hired, VP of government affairs Marc Sorini will cover Marisic’s responsibilities for the BA.
The BA has posted a job opening for a new federal affairs manager, seeking a candidate with at least five years of experience in “small business issues, tax policy and a heavily regulated business environment.”
Responsibilities include:
- “Advocate for the Brewers Association members’ interests;
- Manage the BA’s legislative, grassroots and political advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C.;
- Work with senior staff and Government Affairs Committee to strategize, implement, and execute the BA’s federal legislative and political priorities;
- Identify, track, and promptly report on key federal legislation and executive branch activities that could impact the industry;
- Develop and maintain relationships with members of Congress and their staff, members of the executive branch, and some regulatory agencies;
- Provide written testimony for the association’s senior staff and brewery members to represent the industry at congressional hearings;
- Host events to educate legislators and their staff about the industry and assist in recruitment of new members for the Senate Bipartisan Small Brewers Caucus and the House Small Brewers Caucus;
- Represent and advocate for the BA on industry coalitions and with key stakeholder organizations.”