Kim: New Belgium is the fourth-largest craft brewery in the Unites States.
We started New Belgium in the basement of our house, my then-husband Jeff Lebesch and I.
It was that classic American entrepreneurial story of taking a second mortgage out on our home,
and working lots of crazy hours while also growing our family.
Bryan: From the very beginning, our founders wanted to create a business that was basically all about
creating world-class beers, doing so in an environmentally friendly fashion,
and having fun while doing it.
Kim: We make beer. Having fun is really important.
As we were realizing that we really had the opportunity to sell beer to a lot more people,
we started developing our sense of making sure that we had a group of co-workers that we felt really loyal about.
So I started thinking about open book management and employee ownership.
And then we later decided to sell our shares to the ESOP, which took us to 100%.
Joe: 100% ESOP allows employees to act like owners and we're all part of the success of this.
Danielle: JPMorgan Chase has been a partner of ours since we completed our second stage ESOP transaction.
Kim: One of the parts of our decision in choosing JPMorgan Chase was
their strength in their ESOP practice.
Regina: I think the ESOP really just continued to deliver
what was already embedded in the culture of this company.
Um, they truly value their
employees.
Kim: People here care deeply about one another's success and their good work.
Steve: Since becoming involved with New Belgium Brewing we knew their plans were expansion,
and so, all along, the plan was to help them finance
a second brewery.
Danielle: We settled in Asheville, North Carolina, where we have a second brewery that is
500,000 barrel capacity, which has allowed us to be a national craft brewer.
JPMorgan Chase has helped us finance our future.
Kim: The people at JPMorgan Chase are thinking about things that haven't occurred to us,
and that relationship has just gotten stronger and stronger over all the years that we've been together.
It spurs us on to be better at what we do.
