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V O L . X X V I I I N O. V I I I A P R I L 1 8 , 2 0 2 2 6 Liquor laws eased Outdoor stadiums in Maine may be able to more easily sell liquor, in addition to beer and wine, under a late bill passed by the state Legislature. e bill, LD 2031, from House Majority Leader Michelle Dunphy, D-Old Town, amends the liquor licensing laws governing out- door stadiums to allow the venues to serve spirits at all times. Under current law, stadiums need to seek new permits for each event if they want to sell spirits. Streamlining the process will make it easier for stadiums with more than 3,000 seats to sell liquor. e change would apply to Hadlock Field in Portland, the Maine Savings Amphitheater, the city-owned concert venue in Bangor, and the Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford. Separately, lawmakers approved a bill allowing restaurants to sell to-go alcoholic beverages until 2025. e measure, which had been started in the pandemic as a way to help restaurants survive, was slated to end in September. Mass transit the latest focus of federal funding About $47.6 million in federal transit funding has been allocated to Maine to improve bus, rail and ferry service. e funding, from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was announced by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine. Maine's public transit system includes 21 providers operating over 420 vehicles, according to the Maine Department of Transportation. ere are also marine transit provid- ers such as the Maine State Ferry Service and Casco Bay Lines, and the Amtrak Downeaster passenger train service that runs from Boston to Brunswick. e funding will be distributed by the Federal Transit Administration. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E UScellular announced that it donated $150,000 to open five new Girls Who Code clubs in the U.S., including ones in Auburn and Portland. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King said that Maine will re- ceive a total of $31 million to help low-income Maine families make energy-efficient improvements and lower their heating and electric bills. The funding was authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and provided through the Weatherization Assistance Program – the Department of Energy's largest residential energy retrofit program. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced that the state of Maine received an award of $1 million under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 for election security. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection awarded a total of $4.2 million to 34 stream- crossing projects that will result in new or improved fish passage to nearly 130 miles of streams statewide and result in less flooding and transporta- tion resilience. B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E B R I E F How Maine's craft breweries stack up nationally B y W i l l i a m H a l l Craft beer makers were hopping last year — turning out 8% more suds nationally than in 2020 and growing the workforce by double digits — and two Maine brewers were among the busiest. Allagash Brewing Co. and Shipyard Brewing Co., both based in Portland, have made the 2022 Brewers Association's ranking of the 50 largest craft beer producers in the U.S. Allagash came in at No. 23, up from No. 29 last year and No. 28 in 2020. Shipyard was No. 46 this year, like last year, but ranked No. 42 in 2020. The Brewers Association, a national trade group rep- resenting nearly 6,000 small and independent breweries, compiles the rankings annually based on the volume of beer produced the previous year by each brewery, but doesn't disclose those individual numbers. D.G. Yuengling and Son Inc. of Pennsylvania topped the ranking, while Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM) was No. 2. Another Boston brewer, Harpoon Brewer y, was No. 21. Others ranked in New England were: Athletic Brewing Co., Stratford, Conn., No. 27; Narragansett Brewing Co., Pawtucket, R.I., No. 32; Long Trail Brewing Co., Bridgewater, Vt., No. 36; and Fiddlehead Brewing, Shelburne, Vt., No. 49. Overall, the beer market increased just 1% by volume in 2021, according to the Brewers Association. But craft beer makers produced 24.8 million gallons in 2021, up 8% from 2020, and expanded the craft share of the overall market from 12.2% to 13.1%. As brewpubs and taprooms reopened their doors to onsite customers, craft beer employment also soared 25% to 173,000 direct jobs. "Craft brewer sales rebounded in 2021, lifted by the return of draught and at-the-brewery traffic," said Bart Watson, chief economist of the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association. "However, the mixed performance across business mod- els and geographies as well as production levels that still lag 2019 suggest that many breweries remain in recovery mode. Add in continuing supply chain and pricing challenges, and 2022 will be a critical year for many brewers." The number of craft brew- eries continued to climb in 2021, reaching an all-time high of 9,118, including 1,886 microbreweries, 3,307 brew- pubs, 3,702 taproom brew- eries, and 223 regional craft breweries. There are 136 craft brewer- ies in Maine, ranking the state second only to Vermont in the number per capita, according to the Brewers Association. In 2020, the state produced a total of 312,410 barrels of beer, ranking Maine 20th nationally but fifth among states per adult population. F I L E P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY M A P / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E B R E W E R S A S S O C I AT I O N Allagash Brewing Co. of Portland ranked No. 23 among the largest craft beer makers in the U.S. Pictured here in a 2020 file photo are Allagash founder Rob Tod, right, and facilities manager Luke Truman. No. 23, Allagash, and No. 46, Shipyard, are both in Portland.

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