There may be more breweries in + around Asheville than you can shake a stick at, but the brewing industry’s economic impact is easily quantifiable at a whopping $935 million .
That’s according to the results of the 2021 Asheville Metro Area Breweries Contribution Analysis , which was presented Sept. 29 at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s quarterly Policy on Tap event. The study — which was previously published in 2016 — was conducted by Riverbird Research, a division of the Chamber. The numbers stop at the end of 2019, making all data pre-pandemic for the 4-county Asheville Metro Area of Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson + Madison.
Key findings
- The local beer industry is the second-largest manufacturing employer in the Asheville Metro Area.
- It supports 3,471 jobs.
- The industry generated $33.4 million in local tax revenues.
- Brewers have generated $115 million for local, state, and federal governments.
- Among manufacturing industries, brewing saw a 357% growth from 2014-2019.
- It also added 1,134 jobs — the most among manufacturing industries.
- For every direct job in the industry, approximately 1 additional role was created or supported in the local economy.
Want even more? Raise a glass to our local brewers and dig into the full report here
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