Rhinegeist Brewery has added former New Belgium Brewing CEO Steve Fechheimer as an advisor to its board of directors.
The Cincinnati craft brewery’s board is made up of founders Bryant Goulding and Bob Bonder. CEO Adam Bankovich reports to the board.
Bankovich told Brewbound that Fechheimer was tapped for the role in October; the company made the news public today.
“The goal here is to help us continue to level-up and grow,” Bankovich said. “We obviously are thrilled with the growth that we had last year.
“We are not a brand that is complacent and happy to just rest, so we’re really bringing Steve on to help us double down on this commitment to focus and strategy and prioritization, and also start having exciting conversations about what’s next for Rhinegeist.”
This includes looking beyond the next calendar year to 2026, 2027 and 2028, Bankovich said. Although Fechheimer’s role is not full-time, he is available to Rhinegeist’s executive leadership team and will be routinely visiting the Cincinnati brewery.
Bankovich, who took over as Rhinegeist CEO in April 2023, stressed that Rhinegeist isn’t looking to be a nationally distributed brewery “and emulate what he [Fechheimer] did at New Belgium or any of his other past careers.”
“He’s here as a resource, both for me and for our board, and honestly, for our executive team, to ask questions, to learn, to grow and really help us enhance our strategy and broaden what we can do in the future” Bankovich explained.
Fechheimer told Brewbound: “I’m privileged to join Bob, Bryant, Adam and the whole team at Rhinegeist in a board advisory capacity. They are the leading craft brewery in Ohio and one of the biggest craft brewers in the Midwest. Their continued growth in 2024 shows the strength of their team, brands, and business model, and I’m excited to help them continue on their journey.”
Fechheimer exited New Belgium in August 2023 after six years of guiding the Fort Collins, Colorado-headquartered brewery to unprecedented growth, including the sale of the brewery to Japanese brewing giant Kirin; a new record volume growth in excess of 1.2 million barrels, driven by the Voodoo Ranger portfolio of IPAs; and the biggest Year One craft beer launch of all time with Voodoo Ranger Juice Force hazy IPA.
Since departing New Belgium, Fechheimer has picked up other advisory (Open Beer, Boston Consulting Group) and board roles (Jiant hard tea and kombucha and Spring44 Distilling).
Prior to joining New Belgium, he worked for nearly eight years at Beam Suntory, last serving as SVP and chief strategy officer.