2025 Holiday Meeting

Location: Diebolt Brewing 

A holly and jolly holiday meeting at Diebolt Brewing! We enjoyed plenty of time to mingle and socialize while sipping quality beers and digging into fantastic pizza from Hops & Pie.

Shaye Holdaway kicked off the meeting with several announcements, including her transition from District President into the newly created Librarian role. More details on how the Library will function will be coming soon. Shaye also welcomed Frances Tietje-Wang into the President position and Eric May into the VP role for the district. Huge thanks and congratulations to them both!

Evan Beggs, who is continuing on as District Treasurer, shared a brief overview of the district's financials. (The state of the district is STRONG!)

We finished the meeting with a great presentation from Karla Baise on how breweries can create community. Presentation slides are available in the Community Archives, and the full live stream can be viewed on the RMD MBAA YouTube channel.

Presentation Recap:

Crafting Community - Karla Baise: Odell Brewing 

Recap: BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH PURPOSEFUL GIVING
Focused on the evolution of community engagement and charitable giving within a brewery, highlighting how intentional use of space, time, talent, and financial resources can create meaningful and measurable impact.

The presentation covered:

Origins of Community Giving:
The presentation begins with early, grassroots efforts such as taster tray sales and in-kind donations, which allowed for direct funding and strong customer engagement. These early successes helped establish community involvement as a core value.

Growth Through Challenge:
Following a 2009 expansion, cultural and organizational challenges reinforced the importance of community-building, both internally and externally. Long-term partnerships, particularly with United Way, demonstrated that volunteerism could scale with strong fan and employee participation.

Volunteerism as a Pillar:
The brewery formalized its commitment by offering coworkers 16 paid volunteer hours annually, resulting in thousands of accumulated volunteer hours and deeper community ties.

Standardized Charitable Giving Model:
A structured charitable budget was introduced, tying giving to production at $2 per barrel brewed. This model enabled clearer goal-setting, transparency, and the creation of deeper, higher-impact partnerships.

Deeper Partnerships & Engagement Programs:
Initiatives such as Seasonal Partners, Kindling, and Community Handles were developed to increase touchpoints, encourage conversation, and foster sustained engagement within local communities.

Collaborative Community Approach:
The presentation emphasizes that collaboration amplifies impact, adopting a "rising tides lift all boats" philosophy through shared events and industry partnerships.

Environmental & Water Stewardship Focus:
Key collaborations, including BreWater and Protect Our Rivers, highlight efforts to educate, protect, and preserve local watersheds, address fire recovery, and involve stakeholders in water quality initiatives.

Measuring Impact:
The presentation outlines key metrics for success, focusing on revenue, reputation, recruitment, retention, and relationships as indicators of effective community investment.

Bottom Line:
 Intentional, structured, and collaborative community engagement strengthens both the brewery and its surrounding community, creating long-term value through meaningful partnerships and shared stewardship goals.

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Adam Gurtshaw
Technical Sales/Service
Root Shoot Malting
Denver CO
(301) 873-7488
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