How UNC Charlotte is Turning Craft Beer into a Career
By: Laura Barrett
In the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina, there lies an architectural building that looks as if four glass boxes were stacked unevenly on top of each other. This 143,000 sq. feet building is known as UNC Charlotte Center City where the Continuing Education department is located. The Continuing Education department has just released a new program that will help local beer lovers turn their passion into a career.
North Carolina currently has more craft breweries and brewpubs than any other state in the South, (North Carolina Beer Facts). Charlotte being one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S., the beer scene is increasing as well, and there are no signs of it slowing down. With more breweries popping up around the city, comes more competition amongst brewing companies. This is why the Continuing Education department created the Craft Beer Business Essentials Certificate program.
This program is an accelerated curriculum designed to help individuals jump-start their career in either owning a brewery or a related business. The target audience was initially home brewers, craft beer enthusiasts, or individuals who wanted to own a brewery. But it has expanded to all individuals over the age of 21 who have an interest in beer.
This seven-week program consists of four courses that will provide individuals with a foundation of business knowledge, professional skills, and networking opportunities. Each course will cover “unique and essential topics on the craft beer industry.” (Richards, 2018)
“We did about a year of research and decided on just focusing on the business side,” said Karri Hahn, the program director.
Hahan is a fellow craft beer enthusiast herself. She enjoys sours, floral IPAs, saisons and any beer that is brewed with habaneros or jalapenos. She has been working with UNC Charlotte since 2002. This is the first time she is apart of a program that she takes personal interest in.
This is a brand new program that is being offered in Charlotte. There are similar programs like this being offered around the country, which is why Hahn wanted this program to focus on the business aspect rather than the brewing and fermentation process of craft beer.
The Courses
Registration is currently open and the first course will begin on Saturday, April 8. The schedule along with a detailed course description for all four course is available on the Continued Education website. Because this is a non-credit certificate program, there is no application process or prerequisite to register.
The courses include: Creating and Financing your Business Plan, Identity Development and Marketing Strategies, Brewery Management Fundamentals, and Legal Boot camp for Craft Beer Business. All four courses are offered individually for those who are interested in only certain areas of the program. But in order to receive the certificate, all four courses must be completed.
“We hire lead instructors for each course and they not only teach the course but they kind of design the curriculum.” Said Hahn.
These lead instructors will work together with the Craft Beer Advisory board to help guide the online work and face-to-face meetings. The advisory board is made up of a mixture of brewery owners, beer bloggers, and UNC Charlotte faculty.
The course content will be presented in an online format and will be made up of readings, videos, and graded assignments. Each course has a total of six hours of online content and a six-hour, face-to-face meeting that will take place on a Saturday.
“We do have a list of brewery owners in the area that are volunteering as guest speakers for this program, as mentors to the students, and as offering up their sight space for our course meetings.” Said Daniel Hartis, a member of the advisory board and editor of All About Beer Magazine.
Hartis is a North Carolina native who has been writing about beer since he was in college. He had the opportunity of writing about Ashville’s breweries, which inspired him to continue writing about beer. He will be part of the team guiding this program.
The Saturday meetings per course will be held either at the Center City location or at a local brewery. These meetings are intended to serve as networking opportunities that will allow participants to meet with local brewery owners and other successful professionals in the state to gain insight on their strategies and tactics.
Pricing for Package and Individual Courses
For those who want to complete all four courses to receive the certificate, they can purchase the package at a discounted rate of $1,683. For those who want to complete each course individually, the price for each course is $495 with a $200 deposit fee.
There are discounts offered such as a 50 percent off discount for UNC Charlotte faculty and staff, an early bird discount of 5 percent off for those who register two weeks or more prior to the course start date, and there is a 10 percent discount for UNC Charlotte alumni.
An Option With no Commitment
This program does offer a course that is recommended, but not required, called Beer Basics: Crash Course in Craft. This course is completed over a Saturday at The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery and its main purpose is to be an interactive and fun learning experience.
Some topics that will be discussed during this course are serving basics, regional and local craft beer history facts, ingredients and intro to brewing, beer types and styles, evaluating craft beer flavor, and food pairing and cooking with beer. This course is costs $190 and has a $79 registration fee.
Future Plans For this Program
According the Hahn, the plan is to stick with four online courses with one face-to-face meeting per course. The advisory board is unsure of whether or not they will continue to offer the beer basics crash course for the following years.
“As of right now our goal is that at least 15 people will register for all four courses.” Said Craig Depken, a professor of the Belk College of Education and member of the Craft Beer Advisory.
The members of the advisory board are excited to share their knowledge and passion with the future participants of this certificate program. They believe that this program will create paths for those who wish to pursue a career in the craft beer industry.
Hahn, along with the members of the advisory board, hopes that this first year is a success and that the number of registered individuals will increase. This year will set the tone for the years to follow and allow for the department to make any corrections or adjustments to better the program.
Mock Tweet: “UNCC has just added the coolest program through the Continuing Education department! Click the link to read my story about it. Hint** If you like beer then you are going to want to click the link.
