Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | February 6, 2023 | wbjournal.com BY KEVIN KOCZWARA WBJ Staff Writer K imberly Golinski needed convincing. She had a job she loved at Tree House Brewing Co. She was busy, productive, and could see the company continu- ing to grow, expanding from Monson to Charlton to Sandwich to Deerfield, Woodstock, and more. Since Golinski started at Tree House in 2013, she'd had her hand in every project, making sure the work was completed. At the same time, there was nowhere else to go. As Tree House's domination of the cra beer world continued, Golinski had reached as high as she could climb, and Dean Rohan and others at the com- pany knew that. "At that point, she had nowhere else to go but to either be a partner or part of ownership," said Rohan, one of the Tree House co-founders and co-owners. Golinski did everything for Tree House and continued to do more, Rohan said. She was in charge of the brewery's endless expansions, spending days at each location during the week and mak- ing sure the projects were up to speed. She'd started as a bookkeeper and did nearly every job the company needed her to do as it grew. She was happy. But then there were the calls from Da- vid Fields at Wormtown Brewery. He'd been trying to hire Golinski for years. He had offered her jobs before she had turned down. But now was different. Wormtown needed a new general manager and a new direction. In late May 2021, the company came under fire amidst allegations of sexual misconduct, sexism, and racism. Brienne Allan, who was then the brewer at Notch Brewing in Salem and now is co-founder and head brewer at Sacred Profane Brewing in Maine, shared stories of sexism and harassment in the brewing industry via her Instagram account. e posts labeled Wormtown as a "boys' club" and detailed damning allegations against its leaders and culture. Members of the leadership team were forced to step away or resign while Wormtown worked to profession- alize its practices. Fields took over as CEO, but for real change to happen, the company needed an outside voice. e company's General Manager Scott Metzger was moving to Hawaii to take over Maui Brewing Co., and Fields want- ed Golinski to step into the role. In fact, she'd been hand picked by Metzger as the person Wormtown needed. Golinski took the phone calls. Eventually, she ac- cepted the lunch invites and then talked to the Wormtown team via Zoom. e company offered her the job of president and general manager. Aer hemming and hawing, Golinski accepted. Fixing a larger-than-life problem Golinski's relationship to Worm- town goes back years. In the early days, Wormtown's flagship IPA Be Hoppy could be hard to come by, and once in a while she'd get a text from Ben Roesch, Wormtown's co-founder and brewmas- ter, telling her to stop by for a four pack. Golinski would head to the back door and knock, and a paper bag with a four pack would appear. She'd get in her car and text her friends about the exciting e president of Wormtown PHOTOS | EDD COTE F O C U S W O M E N I N L E A D E R S H I P In the wake of a scandal, Worcester's largest brewer needed someone to show it how to be a great com- pany. Kimberly Golinski answered the call. After helping Tree House Brewing Co. expand throughout New England, Kimberly Golinksi took over as president and general manager of Wormtown Brewery in August 2021.

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