Owen Simpson
Entrepreneurship
Interview
Highland Brewing-Oscar Wong
If you mention beer in the mountains of western North Carolina, you’ll be likely hear one name – Oscar Wong. He is known as the “Godfather” of the modern beer movement here, after opening the first craft brewery back in 1994. (Fox News)
Oscar Wong as described on the Highland Brewing website
Founder, Owner, President, Chief Peddler, Schmoozing and Cleanup Guy
Highland founder, Oscar Wong, was born in Jamaica in 1940. At 18, he left the island to attend the University of Notre Dame, where he completed his masters in Civil/Structural Engineering. After retiring early from a successful engineering career that took him all over the country, Oscar landed in Asheville in 1994 and started Highland Brewing “as a hobby” in the 3,500 square foot basement of Barley’s Taproom in downtown Asheville.
He is an active member of the Rotary Club and other community-minded volunteer endeavors. He was awarded Small Business of the Year in 2007/2008 and the William A. V. Cecil Award for Leadership in Hospitality in 2011, both by the Asheville Chamber of Commerce. (Highlandbrewing.com, 11/2013)
How did you become involved in brewing?
Brewed barely drinkable beer in college, then started Highland after a 30 year hiatus in engineering. Have concluded that without beer, civilization would not have flourished. (Highlandbrewing.com, 11/2013)
Highland Links to the Community
The Highland staff has been led by the example of our founder, Oscar Wong. A career-long Rotarian and volunteer/officer in a number of charitable organizations, he has always believed in giving back. As a company, we also give back. We are proud to partner with the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Adopt-a-Stream, and Manna Food Bank, and we offer support to countless other organizations in our tasting room and outside the brewery with donations. (Highlandbrewing.com, 11/2013)
“In 1994, Wong opened Asheville’s first craft brewery, Highland Brewing Co. It is currently the state’s biggest craft brewery, selling its ale and lagers around the Southeast.” (Citizen Times)
Oscar’s mantra: Honesty, integrity and respect. (Highland Brewing)
Below is my interview with Oscar Wong:
1. Tell me a little bit about how you started Highland brewing, sort of an overview, (Why Asheville?)I retired from engineering; I came to Asheville to retire. Brewing beer started out as a hobby in the basement of Barley’s Taproom.
2. Could you give me some examples to illustrate the challenge you faced in starting Highland Brewing?There were regulatory requirements since there had been no brewing since prohibition. There were capital requirements and the initial acceptance of craft beers.
3. When problems arise, how does your management team (or how do you) resolve them?We use a collaborative approach as opposed to a top down approach.
4. How have the experiences that you have had during your entire career influenced the way you now run your own company?I run the company based more on my personality that I have had all of my life, I have always welcomed others opinions and points-of view.
5. When someone joins your company, how do you orient them as a member of your team?We send the new person to all of the departments to get a feel for the challenges that each department faces. We do this for one week before the individual starts on their individual job.
6. How do you motivate and reward people?We have a team environment to keep people motivated. There is a great deal of internal recognition to reward people.
7. How do you select people to join your company?We have a hiring process with a series of reviews. We look for certain personality traits, intangibles, in individuals. I really look for people with honesty, integrity, and respect.
8. How are things going in your company in general, right now: are you hiring, downsizing, or “staying as you are” in terms of your company’s workforce; are sales up, down, or flat?We continue to grow.
9. How do you keep up with best practices in the beer industry?We attend lots of conferences and a part of several brewers’ associations.
10. Could you describe a typical day?We do a lot of brewing and packaging. We load trucks for the distributor or common carrier. On Mondays we do staff meetings for a broad base view of business for the previous week, and then we have more specific sales meetings.
11. Why did you leave the engineering field?I was ready to retire.
12. How has Asheville becoming “Beer City” affected Highland Brewing?It has been good for us and good for the community. It shows that we have tapped into community acceptance.
13. What do you think of all of the small breweries?With 12 breweries in a town of 80000, I think that each brewery has established a difference, established their own niche.
14. What do you think of New Belgium and Sierra Nevada coming to the area?I think that it could put a big strain on our distributors. I also really like Sierra Nevada, they are very community and sustainability oriented, and we try to model ourselves after them. I am not that familiar with all of the things that New Belgium does.
15. Do you have any plans to expand?No, we do not have any plans to expand.
Some of the awards for Highland brewing and Oscar Wong
Great American Beer Festival
Silver Medal – Black Mocha Stout
World Beer Cup
Silver Medal – Black Mocha Stout
From the Asheville Chamber of Commerce:
2007-2008 Small Business Owner of the Year – Oscar Wong
2008 Sky High Growth Award
2011 William A.V. Cecil Award for Leadership in Hospitality – Oscar Wong
Draft Magazine’s list of
“12 Breweries to Watch in 2011” Nov/Dec 2010
Savannah Craft Brew Fest –
Craft Brewing Pioneer in the Southeast 2010 – Oscar Wong
Asheville Greenworks
Environmental Excellence Award Feb 3, 2010
Small Business Administration
SBA North Carolina Person of the Year, – Oscar Wong, February 2012
Cheers! Asheville brew pioneer Oscar Wong gets N.C. Small Business Person of the Year Award in April of 2012.
Some facts from Craft Brewing
“Craft Brewing Facts
• Craft brewers currently provide an estimated 108,440 jobs in the U.S., including serving staff in brewpubs.
• Growth of the craft brewing industry in 2012 was 15% by volume and 17% by dollars compared to growth in 2011 of 13% by volume and 15% by dollars.
• Craft brewers sold an estimated 13,235,917 barrels* of beer in 2012, up from 11,467,337 in 2011.
• The craft brewing sales share in 2012 was 6.5% by volume and 10.2% by dollars.
• Craft brewer retail dollar value in 2012 was an estimated $10.2 billion, up from $8.7 billion in 2011.
• As of March 18, 2013, the Brewers Association is aware of 409 brewery openings in 2012 (310 microbreweries and 99 brewpubs) and 43 brewery closings (18 microbreweries and 25 brewpubs).
• 2,347 craft breweries operated for some or all of 2012, comprised of 1,132 brewpubs, 1,118 microbreweries and 97 regional craft breweries.
Other U.S. Brewing Industry Facts
• Overall U.S. beer sales were up an estimated 0.9% by volume in 2012.
• Imported beer sales were up 1% in 2012 and up 1% in 2011.
• Overall U.S. beer sales were approximately 200,028,520 barrels and imported beer sales were 27,712,665 barrels in 2012.
• 2,403 total breweries operated for some or all of 2012, the highest total since the 1880s.”
* 1 barrel = 31 US gallons
(Brewers Association, 11/2013)
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20120407/BREWVILLE/304070020/
http://www.highlandbrewing.com/
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/02/28/welcome-to-beer-city-usa/
http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/business-tools/craft-brewing-statistics/facts
