Colorado Breweries' Employment grew 22% in 2011

In late December, Colorado State University released a study showing Northern Colorado Brewers added employees almost 16% faster than the rest of the economy.

The report said employment growth at the breweries outpaced the rest of Larimer County's employers from 2000 to 2010 -- at a rate of 22 percent, compared with 6.3 percent for all other industries.

And each job at a brewery, which is considered a manufacturer, supports 1.7 more jobs in the county, the researchers said, which represents an additional $141.9 million on local companies' payrolls.

The people working at breweries make up 0.7 percent of total Larimer County employment, the study says, but breweries contribute 2.3 percent of local companies' output.

The economists looked at giant Anheuser-Busch; New Belgium, which is the third-largest craft brewer in the country with plans to expand to the East Coast; Equinox Brewing; Fort Collins Brewery; Funkwerks; and Odell Brewing.   

The study did not include brewpubs.

Ed Sealover, author of Mountain Brew: A Guide to Colorado's Breweries, said Colorado has 110 unique breweries and makes more beer than any other state in the country, mostly thanks to benevolent state laws about selling and distribution. Another factor is that people come to Colorado looking for adventure, not only in the mountains but in their beer. Also Colorado consumers prefer to buy local beers.

What Colorado doesn't have is the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas, who are against job growth and increased tax revenue.