Massachusetts state senators voted last week to continue outdoor dining and cocktails to-go allowances through April 1, 2023. The move was celebrated by the Mass Brewers Guild (MBG), as one of the first victories for the trade association of 2022.
Earlier this year, Katie Stinchon, MBG executive director, and Sam Hendler, MBG president and co-founder of Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers in Framingham, met with Brewbound to discuss MBG’s goals for 2022. At the time, temporary regulations for outdoor dining were set to expire April 1.
The latest legislation, which now must be signed by Gov. Charlie Baker, was included in a $1.6 billion spending bill by the Senate Ways & Means Committee. Last June, Baker signed legislation extending the original emergency regulations made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the decision to allow outdoor dining, once extended by the state, is up to individual municipalities.
“There is a toolkit of stuff that was done that did help [with COVID-19],” Hendler said prior to the latest legislation. “It didn’t cure every problem, but it helped, and it theoretically expires April 1. We need to just stay on and make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Hendler said outdoor dining capabilities have been the most helpful move in combating financial setbacks of the pandemic incurred by breweries and restaurants, but it is also the most complicated to make permanent. It requires not only state regulation changes, but municipal regulation changes. The state has 351 municipalities – 292 towns and 59 cities – according to Stinchon.
“In Massachusetts, a lot of smaller towns still have a town meeting structure where you can only pass a law like that once a year unless you call an emergency session,” Hendler said. “If these towns aren’t paying attention, they could miss this and end up in a situation where they either need to wrangle together an emergency meeting, which can be very challenging to get a quorum to show up, or you could see a town go a year without those outdoor seating regs loosened.”
Each town and city can also choose their own requirements that must be met by bars and restaurants to implement outdoor dining. For example, in Boston, businesses can apply for a temporary seasonal license for outdoor dining, however Mayor Michelle Wu announced in February that businesses in the city’s restaurant-dense North End must pay $1,500 a month (a total of $7,500 over the five months outdoor dining is allowed) to participate, NBC10 Boston reported. After some restaurants threatened to sue the city, Wu clarified Tuesday that hardship waivers would be given to some businesses to reduce the fee.
Hendler noted that making legislation permanent is particularly important as he believes no further federal aid will be given to businesses.
“You have to assume that the significant cash infusions are over,” he said. “There’s not going to be another PPP round, I don’t think the Restaurant Revitalization Fund gets refilled, so you’re either gonna sink or swim.”
Some members of Congress are pushing for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) Replenishment Act (House Bill 3807 and Senate Bill 2091), which would add $60 billion in additional funding to the RRF. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who is co-sponsoring the legislation, hosted a virtual listening session last week to discuss the need for additional funding. During the call, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, told businesses that she and her colleagues “can’t make any commitments” to passing RRF-related legislation, and that COVID-19 relief supplemental bills are facing significant roadblocks in the Senate.
Additional legislative measures the MBG is advocating for in 2022 include the ability for pub brewers to self-distribute, and for the allowance of beer sales at farmers markets.
Massachusetts breweries are still in need of financial relief following a challenging January, Hendler said.
“Pretty universally, January 2022, the omicron wave annihilated taprooms all over again,” he said. “And even if customers were willing to come, people had entire portions of their staff that had [COVID-19] that needed to quarantine for X number of days.”
To add to the “comedy of factors” that affected breweries to start 2022, the surge in COVID-19 cases was followed by a blizzard that tied Boston’s record for the biggest single-day snowfall with 23.6 inches, according to Boston.com.
“January was a nasty reminder for breweries that felt like a lot of COVID was in the rearview mirror. All of a sudden [they had] an empty taproom for four weeks,” Hendler continued.
Breweries are also feeling the effects of supply chain delays and price increases.
“We’re seeing price increases on some of our materials in the 20-30% range,” Hendler said of Jack’s Abby. “You expect to see your 3%s and you complain when you see your 7%, and you might really hem and haw when you see a 9% or 10% one year, but we’ve never seen anything like what’s happening now.”
Despite these challenges, Stinchon said there have not been significant brewery closures in the state.
“Everyone asks me about closures in 2020; it was 12 closures compared to 27 openings,” she said. “That’s not the hard part, it’s going to be the next two years.”
MBG is also continuing its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts this year, including implementing Speakfully – an anonymous workplace harassment reporting platform – at member breweries. Nine member breweries started the program in the first month of its launch with MBG, according to Stinchon.
“I was actually surprised at the number of breweries that already have programs in place, which was awesome,” she said. “I just want to know that you have a program in place and if I can be of any help.”
Stinchon noted that the program was helpful for breweries wanting to participate in Brave Noise – a global beer collaboration advocating for safe spaces and inclusive beer environments. The campaign requires participant breweries to post a code of conduct, and create action plans for committing to long-term work to address discrimination in beer. Brave Noise was created in 2021 after numerous stories of sexual harassment, assault and discrimination from industry members were shared by Salem-based Notch Brewing’s former production manager Brienne Allan on Instagram (@ratmagnet).