HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s craft beverage industry has seen unprecedented growth in recent years. A grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission is aimed at working to extend that growth even further.
“We’re looking at everything from teas and obviously beer to spirits and wine,” said Bill Woodrum Director of Entrepreneurship at the Robert C. Byrd Institute at Marshall University. “What we’re doing is trying to see what is out there. Who is up and off the ground and what we need to build up this industry more in West Virginia.”
Brilliant Stream, a website focused on the state’s craft brewers, reports the industry is the fastest growing manufacturing sector in the state. There are at least 48 beer and spirits operations in West Virginia. This is more than double the number in 2014. According to Brewers Association, a national trade group, in 2017 the craft brewing industry had an economic impact in West Virginia of more than $309 million.
“We see the whole craft beverage industry continuing to diversify our gastro-tourism and our agro-tourism,” Woodrum explained. “We want to see our farmers connect to these brewers.”
The grant is for just under $80,000 and will focus on Cabell, Jackson, Kanawha, Putnam and Roane Counties. Specifically, Woodrum said the idea is to create a craft beverage trail in those counties.
“We see it as another opportunity to attract people and retain them here for more days,” he explained.
The study is expected to take about six months to complete. Woodrum hoped the data would reveal what parts of the industry are ripe for growth and what else the industry needed to accelerate growing from within.