Jobs bill is brewing

A jobs bill is brewing. HF703, sponsored by Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie), would allow microbreweries in Minnesota to open on-site taprooms where they could hold tasting events and sell their own beer.

Loon admits she isn’t much of a beer drinker, but is eager to help entrepreneurs like Omar Ansari, founder and president of Brooklyn Center-based Surly Brewing Company, grow their businesses and create jobs.

Ansari told the House Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee April 13 that he has plans to build a new facility to accommodate his expanding business, which has grown from 1,600 kegs sold in 2006, its first year of operation, to 24,000 last year. He would like to open a taproom where he could sell varieties of Surly and hold events. The bill could help him and other specialty breweries promote their product, create brand awareness, generate cash flow and even capital for expansion.

The committee laid the bill over for possible inclusion in an omnibus liquor bill. Sen. Linda Scheid (DFL-Brooklyn Park) sponsors a companion, SF416, which awaits action by the full Senate.

The bill could help microbreweries increase local demand and even become tourist destinations in a booming segment of the hospitality industry, said supporters, including Ryan Petz, founder of Fulton Brewing Company in Minneapolis. He said states such as Oregon, Colorado, Washington and California, with laws allowing similar business activity, have experienced significant industry growth.

Scott Pampuch, owner of Corner Table, a Minneapolis restaurant, said what is being proposed makes him “technically” the microbreweries’ competitor, but that as an entrepreneur himself, he fully supports the bill.

“In our business environment right now we want to do everything we can to encourage business. … We want to encourage the possibility of people succeeding and lifting themselves up and running their own business,” he said.