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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 37 O C T O B E R 3 , 2 0 1 6 Learning through failures Like many entrepreneurs, Sullivan learned from earlier failures. An art history major with an Italian minor at Bowdoin College, he went to Australia during a break his last year of college. ere, the avid surfer studied environ- mental issues and wrote a thesis on why the surf industry should transition to boards with less environmental impact, as surfboards contain petrochemicals. Australia's largest surf website published the thesis, and soon the 22-year-old college senior became a sought-after speaker at industry con- ferences. e Surfrider Foundation launched a competition, backed by $500,000 from the surf-apparel com- pany Reef, to come up with an envi- ronmentally friendly surfboard. But the competition's timing was off . It was 2008, and the global recession was in full swing, so the funding was pulled and the competition halted. Sullivan says he learned a lot from the experience. "Surfrider made me change my life," he says. "If you're generally passionate about something and have quantifi able data, you can fi nd people worldwide who will follow you." He leveraged the experience lobby- ing for diff erent surfboard materials to work at L.L.Bean in various capaci- ties, but says he was missing the "you could do anything feeling." So he worked at a series of diff erent jobs, including startups that failed, and at Bowdoin. en he got involved with Portland Greendrinks, a social event in Portland for people interested in envi- ronmental sustainability, and took it over in February 2011 while still work- ing a day job, because the nonprofi t work was voluntary. "But I learned how to create and grow a nonprofi t, deal with a board of directors and create a strategic mission," he says of the experience. He stepped down as head of Portland Greendrinks in 2014. Keeping craft beer on top Fast-forward to September 2013, when he became executive director of the Maine Brewers' Guild after meeting a lot of brewers while arranging the Portland Greendrinks events. Sullivan says we're in the golden age of beer now, but the rate of growth of new breweries isn't sustainable. e Maine Brewers' Guild's 83 members include all but two of the state's brew- eries, plus 30 allied members. Membership dues, along with the New England Brew Summit in April that brought in 500 attendees and the ompson's Point 2016 Summer Beer Festival in July that drew 2,000 attendees, plus other smaller events, contribute to the Maine Brewers' Guild's revenues. e summit and festival this year bumped revenues to an estimated $250,000 for calendar 2016, up from $145,000 in 2015, Sullivan says. Since brewery memberships are based on production, higher dues also have contributed more as brewers up their output, he adds. e New England Brew Summit was a key part of highlighting Maine's expertise in craft brewing, Sullivan says. "My goal is to make Maine craft beer synonymous with quality," he says. "We want to be a Top 3 destination in the United States for beer. We put on the technical conference that shows our home-grown expertise." About 200 of the 500 attendees were from out-of-state. Part of that expertise was tours during the conference of the University of Southern Maine's new Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Research Laboratory, started with a $488,000 seed grant from the Maine Economic Improvement Fund. e guild is help- ing guide the lab, which will test beer from breweries and let USM students get experience by helping. A pilot USM class is underway now with fi ve breweries running diff erent tests on beer. e lab uses a fee-for- service model so it can run on its own. Sullivan says the guild also is working to establish a future beer export market to handle the expected overproduction from the increasingly crowded fi eld of brewers. " e growth of craft beer isn't hap- pening in other countries like it is here," he says. "We'll have excess capacity built up, and can use the Maine craft beer reputation." He's also working with members of Maine's craft brewing industry, elected offi cials like U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and related associations to fi nd ways to boost the state's $400 million craft brewing industry. One meeting already occurred in early July. Says Sullivan, "We're focusing on broadening the economic impact craft beer can have on the state." L o r i Va l i G r a , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t lVa l i G r a @ m a i n e b i Z . b i Z a n d @ L Va l i G r a www.NonprofitMaine.org We help nonprofits help Maine. is employed by a Maine nonprofit Maine workers 7 1 in That's over 84,000 jobs in Maine Learn more @jamaine.org Maine Brewers' Guild P.O. Box 2817, South Portland Executive director: Sean Sullivan Founded: 1994 Employees: 2 Revenue (est. 2016): $250,000 Contact: info@mainebrewersguild.org mainebrewersguild.org

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