BRYSON CITY, N.C. – Nantahala Brewing is excited to announce the addition of Jeff Anderson to its leadership team. Anderson will assume the role of both Chief Operations Officer and Chief Marketing Officer from founder Joe Rowland. Anderson will step into a role that will allow Nantahala to restructure it’s management team and free up Rowland to focus on the future of the business.
“Our business has expanded and branched out over the last three years with the addition of our Brewpub, Asheville Outpost & Sylva Outpost. As we look towards the future and the addition of more Outposts, strategic partnerships and distribution opportunities, it’s important that I continue to invest my time working on our growth. With a strong background in culinary, business development and marketing, Jeff is the perfect fit to take over day-to-day operations as well as providing support and oversight of our marketing & business development goals,” Rowland said.
An Asheville native, Anderson has seen a lot of changes in Western North Carolina, but insists that “craft” has always been alive here. He moved away from WNC to the coast in his early twenties to pursue his education and continue earning a living in the culinary industry. In 2007, Jeff returned to the Blue Ridge mountains to attend Virginia Tech and earn his degree in Marketing and Public Relations. Those years and relationships made in Virginia established the foundation that led him to South West China, where he pursued a variety of opportunities, including the acting liaison to Sister Cities International and translations work. During that period of his life, Anderson began traveling throughout South East Asia, working as a Dive Master and later becoming a SCUBA Dive Instructor, while consulting with international businesses operating or looking to do so in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Five years later, Anderson decided to make a move back to WNC, the place he still considers home, where most of his family continues to reside. He reunited with an acquaintance from high school and began building Urban Orchard Cider Company in 2013, a successful Asheville craft cider brand, which has continued to grow substantially to this day.
“Jeff’s diverse background and experience building brands from the ground up is an important skillset and one of his greatest assets. Nantahala is currently developing new craft beverage brands as well as strategic partnerships with brands that are closely aligned with the craft beverage industry. His ability to spearhead these projects is an important component to our growth strategy,” Rowland said.
Anderson will join a diverse leadership team that is rooted in the craft beverage & culinary business including Kate Dickey, Nantahala’s Marketing Director. “I’m excited to have Jeff on our team. Having another artist as well as someone with a marketing & PR degree like myself, just makes the team stronger and frees up Joe and his partners to stay focused on the bigger picture of long term sustainability and growth,” Dickey said.
Anderson’s accrued talents of culinary, business and strategy, lent itself well to the thriving craft beverage industry. “I am extremely thrilled to take the Chief Operations Officer & Chief Marketing Officer positions with Joe Rowland and the entire Nantahala Brewing team. This organization has a strong grasp on where they are headed and how to get there. I am honored to be on a team with such highly respected and knowledgable craft beverage professionals and am enthusiastic for what the future holds for Nantahala Brewing,” Anderson said.
In addition to his involvement in the craft beverage industry, Anderson is an active board member at the Asheville Brewers Alliance, where he first met Rowland, who has served on the organizations Board for more than eight years including two stints as president.
About Nantahala Brewing Co.
Founded in 2009, Nantahala Brewing Company creates award-winning beers in the shadow of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A proud supporter of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Friends of the Smokies and Great Smoky Mountain Association, the brewery’s beer, culture and vision are defined by the park’s wild spaces and its untouched, natural water that flows from one of the purest, protected watersheds on the planet. Nantahala Brewing is known for such adventure-inspired flagships as Dirty Girl Blonde Ale, Hazy Mountain IPA, Noon Day IPA, App Trail Extra Pale Ale, and Bryson City Brown Ale. In addition, the brewery seasonally releases Little Tennessee Logger, 4-Foot Drop Pale Ale, Devil’s Courthouse Belgian Golden Strong, 8-Foot Drop Double IPA, Hellbender Hefeweizen, Rivers End Oktoberfest, Pattons Run Porter, Chocolate Covered Cherry Stout and Sticky Dog Stout and is known for their specialty Trail Magic series. These beers can be found in six packs, four packs and on draft in grocery stores and restaurants across North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. For more information about the brewery, visit www.nantahalabrewing.com