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12 n e w h a v e n B I Z | A u g u s t 2 0 2 2 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m that the world has adopted what we're doing and nonalcoholic beer – the health and wellness trends – is really just kind of positive," Walker said. "I think what we're going to do is change the dialogue for decades to come." Athletic's recent expansion to a 150,000-square-foot building in an industrial park at 75 Cascade Blvd., in Milford, reflects both the brand's recent growth and future ambitions, Walker said. "It's slightly overwhelming but also really incredible," said Walker, who founded the company with Bill Shufelt in Stratford in 2017. "I didn't know that we would have such adoption so fast. It's been really fun, really exciting, By Liese Klein L ooking around the cavernous new Athletic Brewing Company facility in Milford, co-founder John Walk- er sees more than the culmination of a successful business plan. e company's surging sales and expanding line of nonalcoholic beers represent nothing less than a funda- mental shi in the culture, Walker said. Social life and human connection don't need alcohol, he said, and Athlet- ic wants to help drive the evolution to a healthier lifestyle. "I think more than anything the fact really challenging also, but led us to hire an incredible team." Beer started flowing at the Milford facility on June 17, marked by a rib- bon-cutting that drew a host of city and state officials, including Gov. Ned Lamont. Con- necticut Innovations (CI) made key early investments in the company and state and city officials worked with the team to help growth happen, Shufelt said at the event. "As all of our early investors know, the state of Connecticut made big exceptions to help us get into the Connecticut Innovations angel investor program early on," Shufelt said. e startup funding was aimed at technology innovators, but CI "saw an opportunity in our products to help change how Connecticut drinks, and they saw it as a huge overall positive growth opportunity." Among those present at the rib- bon-cutting were representatives from West Haven's Star Distributors, which took a chance on Athletic's beers in the company's first years, and Whole Foods, which has the brand in all of its 500 U.S. stores. "We're considering a foundation of the future," co-founder Shufelt said of the Milford expansion. "We are going to be doing bigger and bigger things. We're changing how the world drinks and we're just getting going on this journey." Booming sales More than 215 people now work at Athletic, with many set to migrate over to the new building in coming months as construction is completed. e privately-held company does not disclose its revenues, but it does donate 2% of all sales to trail and park cleanups. Last year that donation totaled more than $1 million and will be significantly more this year, Walker said, putting annual revenues in excess of $50 million. Inside the new building, cans are stacked up in pallets and lined up on conveyor belts ready for filling. e 40-foot ceilings stretch high overhead to accommodate mammoth 40-barrel brewing tanks and the catwalks sus- pended overhead to maintain them. A stretch of empty concrete in the middle of the brewing area will soon be rein- forced to hold more tanks. Booming sales led Athletic to seek a new place to brew aer it started out- growing its home base in Stratford soon aer it opened in 2017: Athletic went from making just 12,000 cases in 2018 to more than 1.4 million cases by 2021. First on the docket was setting up a brewery to supply strong West Coast demand – that facility opened in San Diego in 2020 with a capacity of 150,000 barrels. (One U.S. barrel of beer holds 3,968 fluid ounces, or about Athletic Brewery Athletic Brewing expands to Milford as nonalcoholic beer trend takes off Healthy Growth A t A G l a n c e Company: Athletic Brewing Company Industry: Nonalcoholic beer Top Executives: Bill Shufelt & John Walker, co-founders Locations: Stratford, Milford, San Diego Website: https://athleticbrewing.com Contact: 843-507-4783 Athletic Brewing co-founder John Walker stands in his company's new 150,000-square- foot building in an industrial park at 75 Cascade Blvd., in Milford. PHOTO | GARY LEWIS

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