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Dover, Del. —
U.S. Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) visited Fordham Brewing Co. in Dover to sample the ware and to see just how the local brewery makes beer and root beer.
Fordham Brew Master Walter Trifari debriefed Carper and Coons on the hand crafted brewing process that combines water, malt barley, yeast and hops together. The senior and junior senator, respectively, also shook hands with workers like Charles Benzin and Lee Taylor as they worked the assembly line.
But it wasn’t all handshaking. Carper, Coons and Fordham Brewing President Jim Lutz got down to some brass tax. Namely, Lutz lobbied Carper and Coons to support a reduction in the federal excise tax levied on local breweries across the nation.
The Delaware Brewer’s Guild, which includes all the Delaware breweries, supports the measure, he said.
Currently, brewers pay a $7 excise tax for the first 60,000 barrels they brew per year. The Delaware Brewer’s Guild has joined a national effort to reduce that tax by 50 percent, Fordham Brewing Marketing Coordinator Lauren Bigalow said.
“What that will do for the economy is it will help to create 4,400 jobs within 18 months and 300 every year thereafter with the revenue the breweries will be able to retain,” she said.
Lutz hosted the senior and junior senators from Delaware on the first anniversary of his return to Fordham Brewing, which he left in 2005 for Flying Dog.
Fordham Brewing and the other members of the Delaware Brewers Guild want Congress to update the excise tax after more than 30 years, Lutz said.
“In our case, it would free up about $85,000 to spend on either improving the facility or equipment here or adding additional manpower to sell more beer,” he said. “We increased our labor force by about 20 percent last year and we’re looking to increase by about another 20 percent this year.”
The hires in 2011 included three people during the Christmas holiday season, he said. Fordham currently employs 28 people.
“That’s what we want to hear,” Coons said.
Fordham merged with Ashburn, Va.-based, 25-barrel Old Dominion in 2007 and moved all operations to Fordham’s 50-barrel Dover plant in 2009, Lutz and Trifari said. The Dover plant has more room to grow on its 42 acres.
Upon his arrival, Lutz worked with Trifari and Office Manager LuAnne Holjes to create the sampling bar and the Saturday brewery tours to better market Fordham’s visibility at a cost of $5. Plus, Lutz does not mind that Fordham has drawn people who were on their to way to highly visible Dogfish Head 20 miles away in Milton, Del.
U.S. Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) visited Fordham Brewing Co. in Dover to sample the ware and to see just how the local brewery makes beer and root beer.
Fordham Brew Master Walter Trifari debriefed Carper and Coons on the hand crafted brewing process that combines water, malt barley, yeast and hops together. The senior and junior senator, respectively, also shook hands with workers like Charles Benzin and Lee Taylor as they worked the assembly line.
But it wasn’t all handshaking. Carper, Coons and Fordham Brewing President Jim Lutz got down to some brass tax. Namely, Lutz lobbied Carper and Coons to support a reduction in the federal excise tax levied on local breweries across the nation.
The Delaware Brewer’s Guild, which includes all the Delaware breweries, supports the measure, he said.
Currently, brewers pay a $7 excise tax for the first 60,000 barrels they brew per year. The Delaware Brewer’s Guild has joined a national effort to reduce that tax by 50 percent, Fordham Brewing Marketing Coordinator Lauren Bigalow said.
“What that will do for the economy is it will help to create 4,400 jobs within 18 months and 300 every year thereafter with the revenue the breweries will be able to retain,” she said.
Lutz hosted the senior and junior senators from Delaware on the first anniversary of his return to Fordham Brewing, which he left in 2005 for Flying Dog.
Fordham Brewing and the other members of the Delaware Brewers Guild want Congress to update the excise tax after more than 30 years, Lutz said.
“In our case, it would free up about $85,000 to spend on either improving the facility or equipment here or adding additional manpower to sell more beer,” he said. “We increased our labor force by about 20 percent last year and we’re looking to increase by about another 20 percent this year.”
The hires in 2011 included three people during the Christmas holiday season, he said. Fordham currently employs 28 people.
“That’s what we want to hear,” Coons said.
Fordham merged with Ashburn, Va.-based, 25-barrel Old Dominion in 2007 and moved all operations to Fordham’s 50-barrel Dover plant in 2009, Lutz and Trifari said. The Dover plant has more room to grow on its 42 acres.
Upon his arrival, Lutz worked with Trifari and Office Manager LuAnne Holjes to create the sampling bar and the Saturday brewery tours to better market Fordham’s visibility at a cost of $5. Plus, Lutz does not mind that Fordham has drawn people who were on their to way to highly visible Dogfish Head 20 miles away in Milton, Del.
“People say, ‘We were on our way to Dogfish Head and we noticed you’re here to,'” he said. “I think it’s a good relationship that we’ve got going with competitors. I think most of the breweries in the country are making good beer.”
Carper said that he, Coons, U.S. Rep. John Carney (D-Del.) and Gov. Jack Markell have pushed for job creation and job preservation.
“We certainly want to grow the manufacturing part of our economy,” Carper said. “We want to grow the tourism part of our economy. And it turns out this is a two-for – a winner not only on the manufacturing side but on the tourism side as well.”
Coons and Carper are among a number of senators co-sponsoring the Brewer’s Employment and Excise Relief Act. U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) introduced legislation in March 2011.
“Senator Carper came today to visit in part to see what is a rapidly growing manufacturing operation here in Dover that I think is underappreciated – that produces great product and has great potential long term,” Coons said. “We have spoken with folks in the Senate about the possibilities that manufacturing employment provides for our country.
“We need to not just invent things in this country but make them again,” he said. “I was pleased to hear today that there is small brewers guild in Delaware of the six craft breweries. I’m really optimistic that if we passed the legislation, we could help grow craft breweries in Delaware as an opportunity for tourism, for employment and for long-term stable growth.”
