Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | December 9, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 9 Community Partners Program: Give your employees access to 60+ wildlife sanctuaries while protecting the nature of Massachusetts. Perfect for local businesses and nonprofits looking to make a positive impact. Corporate Volunteer Days: Bring your corporate, school, alumni, scout, or community group to Mass Audubon for fun, meaningful, and team-building experiences. Volunteer opportunities foster teamwork and community spirit. Corporate Sponsorship Opportunities: Sponsor events, camp scholarships, property maintenance projects, and educational programming. Your sponsorship funds vital work in conservation and education. Connecting Businesses with Mass Audubon massaudubon.org Dedicated to the non-profit mission of serving the affordable housing needs of older adults in the Worcester area COLONY RETIREMENT HOMES Colony Retirement Homes 101 Chadwick St Worcester, MA 01605 (508) 755-0444 www.colonyretirementhomes.org U.S. taproom closures Redemption Rock Brewing is considered a taproom brewer by the national Brewers Association, due to its size and how it sells its beer. These smaller types of brewers make up the largest percentage of brewer- ies nationally, and they are prone to a high number of opening and closings. Taproom Taproom Year openings closures 2019 520 73 2020 455 128 2021 388 81 2022 311 147 2023 288 168 Source: Brewers Association earlier in the day to mark the occasion. "Before we ever opened, our vision was to be a canvas for the community," the Nov. 30 post regarding the closure said. "And for nearly six years, we were exactly that, in so many wonderful ways. is place was a special, joyful, and welcoming space, and that's entirely a reflection of the people who spent their time here." e post says the business will continue its normal hours and offerings for as long as it can until its Dec. 29 closure. Babineau, who was listed among WBJ's 2024 Power 100, was raising alarm over the difficulties facing small businesses in Worcester as far back as November 2023, when the brewery hosted a meet-up for other small business owners to discuss their struggles with higher costs and stingier customers. "It feels like everyone is just heads down, trying to survive," Babineau said at the meeting, "ere are a lot of people I know that are in really bad shape." Redemption Rock is known for its donations to area nonprofits and collaborations with other local businesses, efforts which led to the business winning a WBJ Manufacturing Excellence Award in 2021. In the past year, the business had become the brewer of the house beer for e Fix restaurants, hosted Beyond Wrestling matches, and launched brews in partnership with local businesses and organizations, including the Hanover eatre Repertory and the Worcester Bravehearts baseball team. e brewery is one of five certified benefit corporations in Central Massachusetts and was the first cra brewery in Massachusetts to do so. With its closure, there will no longer be any certified B-Corps operating in Worcester, according to the website for the B Lab, the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit which certifies benefit corporations. Redemption Rock brewed 790 barrels (24,490 gallons) of beer in 2023, according to data provided to the WBJ Research Department, making it the 13th largest cra brewery in Central Massachusetts. With its closure, Redemption Rock will join a number of Central Massachusetts breweries to permanently shut their doors since 2019, including Milk Room Brewing in Rutland, River Styx Brewing in Fitchburg, Battle Road Brewing in Maynard, and 3Cross in Worcester. Once a space of rapid growth, the cra beer industry has seen moves and mergers as breweries deal with changing consumer trends, with Exhibit 'A' Brewing closing its Framingham taproom and brewery and moving to Western Massachusetts and Worcester- based Wormtown being acquired by the parent company of Framingham-based Jack's Abby. W PHOTO | MATT WRIGHT

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