Anderson, Noblesville bid for potential Stone brewery

Anderson and Noblesville are among Indiana communities that have offered incentives packages to entice California-based Stone Brewing Co. to build a $20 million mass production brewery in the state.

Stone Brewing Co., the 10th-largest craft brewery by sales volume, has released a Request for Proposal to build a brewery east of the Mississippi River this year with about 150 employees to produce and distribute 120,000 barrels of beer a year, eventually growing to 500,000 barrels.

Greg Winkler, Anderson’s economic development director, said city officials flew in October to California to speak with Stone company leaders. He declined to disclose the details of the city’s incentive package, but called it aggressive.

He said Anderson submitted two possible locations for the brewery, but declined to name them. They are, he said, close to I-69 and Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. Stone is looking, he said, for approximately 130,000 square feet of space for the brewery, with room for a restaurant, retail store and a beer garden.

“This would be great for not only Anderson,” he said, “but for the entire north side of Indianapolis.”

Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear said his staff also submitted a bid for the project through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

The facility, he said, would be a good fit for I-69 Exit 210 near the Hamilton Town Center mall. Noblesville announced last week that outdoors retailer Cabela’s would build an 80,000-square-foot facility there.

“We’re in the fight,” he said of Stone. “We’d love to have them here.”

Katelyn Hancock, the IEDC’s spokeswoman, said she can’t release information about conversations with prospective companies the state may be trying to lure. She declined to confirm the state has had any talks with Stone.

Stone is based in Escondido, Calif., and already distributes beer in bottles and kegs to Indiana. Stone has yet to make a decision on where to locate the new brewery, and multiple communities in the eastern half of the country reportedly have shown interest.

Sabrina LoPiccolo, a spokeswoman for Stone, declined to release a timeline for Stone’s decision or a list of other potential suitors.

Founded in 1996, Stone brewed 213,000 barrels of beer and exceeded $135 million in revenue in 2013, according to the Request for Proposal. Stone employs about 900 people.

Call Star reporter Chris Sikich at (317) 444-6036. Follow him @ChrisSikich.