The National Black Brewers Association (NB2A) has named two additional board members, in addition to board president Jon Renthrope. Funkytown Brewery co-founder and CEO Rich Bloomfield and Vine Street Brewing co-owner and business development manager Annie McGinnis were named to the board as treasurer and secretary, respectively.
Chicago-based Funkytown Brewery’s mission is to bring more people into craft beer. Now it’s creating a physical space to be the homestead of that mission. Funkytown has made a deal to acquire a building near the United Center that the Black-owned craft brewery plans to transform into a taproom and beer garden.
Chicago-based Funkytown Brewery is already seeing the benefits from winning the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream Brewing & Business Experienceship this summer.
This week, the Brewbound team reunited with Rich Bloomfield, Greg Williams and Zach Day, co-founders of Chicago-based Funkytown Brewery and winners of Brewbound Live 2021’s Pitch Slam. The Funkytown Team discussed what they’ve been up to since the Pitch Slam win, what they’ve learned about the brewing industry since launching last year, and the roadblocks they’ve faced trying to bring craft beer to underserved communities in Chicago.