IL Craft Brewers Guild Executive Director Danielle D’Alessandro to Depart for Gopuff
After five years at the helm of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild (ICBG), executive director Danielle D’Alessandro will depart at the end of September.
“I have been incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to represent such a great group of breweries and board members and just the community that is craft beer in Illinois,” D’Alessandro told Brewbound.
D’Alessandro will take on the role of government affairs principal at e-commerce convenience retailer GopPuff, for which she’ll cover a 12-state footprint from Arizona to Virginia. She will soon relocate from Chicago to Washington, D.C.
“I’m going to miss the people,” D’Alessandro said. “The beer is great, but that doesn’t drive me by any means. It’s the people and it’s the passion that they bring to this work.”
The ICBG board of directors is seeking D’Alessandro’s replacement, who she said she hopes will bring fresh eyes to the 300-plus-member organization.
“At some point, particularly when you’re talking about an executive director or really the person in leadership, sometimes I think it’s good to make a change and to bring in somebody new that has a different perspective, or maybe thinks about things differently, and can really help bring an organization into the next chapter,” she said. “I am really proud of what we did and what I’ve been able to accomplish with the guild and what we’ve done together, but I’m also really excited for where the guild will be in another five years under new leadership, and what opportunities exist for that new executive director.”
During her time with the Illinois guild, D’Alessandro forged cross-tier relationships within the industry to collaborate on legislative victories, supported the guild’s 220 member breweries during the COVID-19 pandemic and kept them informed of ever-changing regulations, and helped build the ICBG’s not-yet-announced diversity scholarship program in collaboration with Siebel Institute of Technology.
Last year, she advocated for members to gain home delivery privileges to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission (ILCC) and Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office.
“Originally, breweries were excluded from the list of restaurants and bars that were allowed to do home delivery last March when indoor closures happened,” D’Alessandro said. “We went to the ILCC, our liquor control commission, they said no, so we went to the governor’s office, and we said we need brewers to be able to home-deliver just like bars and restaurants. And they acted quickly and did reverse those policies and included breweries and wineries and distilleries, which was a lifeline for a lot of our brewers.”
In 2019, the Brewers Association (BA) awarded D’Alessandro its F.X. Matt Defense of the Craft Brewing Industry Award, which the organization presents annually “to an individual or company for their contributions and efforts in championing the small brewing industry.”
Charlotte Independent Brewers Alliance Names First Executive Director
Nils Weldy has been named the first executive director of the Charlotte Independent Brewers Alliance (CIBA), a nonprofit organization that advocates for breweries and cideries in and around Charlotte, North Carolina.
Weldy is the owner of Nils Weldy and Associates, LLC (NWA), where he started the annual Queen City Brewers Festival highlighting local craft breweries and cideries in 2012. He also helped organize a city-wide collaborative beer initiative over the summer titled “Court Shoes Only,” which helped raise nearly $22,000 for the Los Angeles-based non-profit ACEing Autism, which Weldy has been a part of since 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile.
In his new role, Weldy will work directly with the CIBA board of directors — Rick Benfield (GoodRoad CiderWorks), Russell Derby (Legion Brewing), Neil Gimon (The DreamChaser’s Brewery), Steve Steinbacher (Cabarrus Brewing Company) and Charles Willett (NoDa Brewing Company) — to see out “[CIBA’s] mission and vision” and provide “programming, guidance, group materials, purchasing programs and access to business service providers” to the alliance’s 31 brewery members, according to a CIBA’s blog post.
“Having worked closely with this group of local brewery professionals, some for over a decade, through their involvement with QCBF, I’ve seen firsthand what this industry is capable of when it comes together, and how important local beer and cider is to Charlotte’s business climate as well as the quality of life here,” Weldy said in the post.
CIBA’s events committee — co-chaired by Triple C Brewing’s Brandon Stirewalt and Seaboard Brewing’s Adam Glover — is also working on a new iteration of Charlotte Beer Week (renamed CLT Brewed Week) with North Carolina-based Untappd, which is scheduled for May 2022.
Nicole Nugent Departs Cascadia Capital for Ashland Hard Seltzer Parent Company
Nicole Nugent, former managing director of Cascadia Capital, joined Ashland Hard Seltzer-maker Wings & Arrow LLC as chief financial officer earlier this month.
Nugent has specialized in mergers and acquisitions and equity funding in the food and beverage space since 2004, with stints at Imperial Capital and First Beverage Group before joining Cascadia Capital in March 2018.
Prior to her pivot to food, beverage and hospitality, Nugent held roles at various global financial institutions, including Bank of America, Bear Stearns, and Salomon Smith Barney. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California — Los Angeles (UCLA), a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
San Diego-headquartered Wings & Arrow’s portfolio includes Villager Spirits, a yet-to-be released line of ready-to-drink canned cocktails. The company was founded by Josh Landan, who co-founded and sold San Diego’s Saint Archer to Molson Coors in 2015.
Rick Laxague Appointed VP of Business Development at Brew Pipeline
Rick Laxague has been appointed VP of business development at Brew Pipeline Inc, according to Laxague’s LinkedIn profile.
Brew Pipeline is a “direct-access platform” that connects craft brewers and distributors across the U.S., according to the company’s website. In his new position, Laxague will manage chain accounts and be a “key member of the innovation team,” working on “special projects and brand development,” according to his LinkedIn.
Laxague previously held the position of national sales director for Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. in Decorah, Iowa, since April 2021. According to his LinkedIn, Laxague left the brewery in August. Before Toppling, Laxague worked as a managing partner for Craft Beverage Consultants in Columbia, Missouri. He also worked as the regional sales manager at Springfield, Missouri’s Paul Mueller Company, and as the director of national accounts at Green Flash Brewing Co. in San Diego.
Former Heineken CSO Joins First Key Capital Advisors
Chris Barrow, former chief strategy officer of Heineken and of Pabst Brewing Company, has joined the Vancouver-based brewery consulting firm First Key Capital Advisors as its new managing partner.
Barrow held various leadership roles at Heineken since joining the company in 2004, including serving as managing director of Heineken’s Latin America business unit, as president of Grupa Zywiec Heineken’s Polish brewery, according to a press release. Most recently he worked as chief strategy officer for Heinken, before taking the same role at Pabst in 2015.
“At First Key Capital Advisors our mission is simple – to lean on our brewing industry expertise and experience to create added value for our clients far beyond their expectations.” Barrow said in the release. “With our deep industry experience, we have a proprietary source of good deal flow, with a unique ability to assess opportunities and then drive value creation once invested.”
TTB Appoints Christina McMahon Acting Deputy Chief Counsel
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has appointed Christina McMahon as acting deputy chief counsel for the next six months.
McMahon previously worked at TTB as a presidential management fellow in the regulations and rulings divisions, and later as an attorney-advisor in the tax and trade division in the office of the chief counsel, according to a TTB newsletter. Most recently, McMahon held the position of legal counsel for the office of intelligence and analysis (OIA), which operates within the Treasury’s office of general counsel (enforcement and intelligence).
The office of chief counsel “provides legal advice to the administrator, deputy administrator, and other officials within TTB,” according to the TTB website. The office is led by chief counsel Anthony Gledhill, who has held the position since July 2013.