Economic and Cultural Growth Plus City Incentives Make Anderson, Indiana the Next Ideal Brewery Destination

By Mathew Muncy

It’s been nearly 100 years since the last time the city of Anderson had an operating brewery. Even though craft beer has grown immensely over the past decade, the city has been unlucky in finding a brewer willing to brew in Anderson. Now, with the help of Anderson on Tap, town officials hope that drought comes to an end.

Norton Brewery was the last brewery to operate within the city of Anderson. It opened in 1866 under Thomas M. Norton and Patrick Sullivan. The brewery operated, legally, until Prohibition began in 1920. However, according to the brewery’s website, they were running bootleg beer until Federal officials caught them in 1923 and seized the property.

During Prohibition, the larger breweries pivoted and began selling other goods, like ice cream and soft drinks. However, the smaller breweries were left with little recourse and closed their doors for good. In 1933, the year Prohibition was repealed, the number of breweries in the United States began increasing, peaking in 1941 at 857. The beer giants – Budweiser, Bud, and Coors – started buying up their competition, or putting them out of business, and the number of breweries hit a low of 89 in 1978.

For any business to be successful, you need customers, and a brewery would need a steady flow of customers to stay afloat. With a low population during the mini beer revival in the early 1940s (41,572 citizens in 1940), there wasn’t much incentive for a brewery to lay their roots in Anderson. The city had a population surge in the late 1960s, early 1970s – thanks to the jobs brought by General Motors – but that paralleled the decline in U.S. breweries.

Today, the population of Anderson has leveled out to around 55,000. However, while the city’s population has fallen by 15,000 since 1970, the beer industry has boomed from the 89 breweries open nationwide during that year to the 4,269 now open in 2015. Somehow, not one of those 4,269 breweries opened their doors in Anderson. Worse yet, the closest breweries are 20 miles away, either in Noblesville or Muncie.

Bringing a brewery to Anderson has become a mission for the city’s economic development department. Downtown Specialist Levi Rinker told me the city has a lot to offer, including incentive packages.

“Economically and culturally, the City of Anderson is experiencing ‘a new phase of growth of a remarkable resource’ (U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar).   Our Economic Development Department and Redevelopment Commission has created incentive packages with Tax Increment Financing, Tax Abatement, and Revolving Loan Funds to help anything from Site and Plant Acquisition to Construction and Equipment Purchase.  We have even developed a Riverfront District to make liquor licensing downtown painless and cheap.”

On top of that, Rinker said the city is going through a “creative revolution.”

“Our Walking Man Project has put public art out on the streets and has inspired all types of new initiatives,” said Rinker. “We have since started Anderson City Market, Food Truckin’ Thursdays, Traffic Box Art, and we’ve been bringing back Parades and all kinds of new Festivals celebrating our multicultural demographics.  We have even added bike lanes on streets and are improving the parks and trail system for all to enjoy.”

Anderson’s population may not look big, but a number of outsiders they bring in plays a big part into their pitch to Brewers. When the city lost General Motors in the mid-2000’s, they decided to diversify their manufacturing industry when rebuilding. This includes companies like Nesquick, Praire Farms, and Keihin North America. The Anderson Horse Park and Casino also draws plenty of people from surrounding cities, including Indianapolis.

“We are building back our manufacturing core, but this time with an array of diversity,” Rinker told me. “Getting a brewery is the next step.  It may seem small, but I believe it changes the perception of how we (the beer drinking community) see ourselves and how visitors see us as well.”

Rinker mentioned their attempts to become part of Triton Brewing Co. and Stone Brewing Co.’s expansions plans. Stone Brewing chose another East Coast location, and Triton may still be in the mix, but the city is ready and wants a brewery now.

“Ask any hotel owner in town. Everyone wants to know ‘What’s going on tonight?’ and ‘Where are the breweries?'”