Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | May 29, 2017 | Worcester Business Journal 33 Berkshire, you should have picked Worcester The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Brad Kane, editor, at bkane@wbjournal.com. A ntiquated franchise regulations are holding the craft beer industry in Massachusetts captive. Quick history lesson: In the 1970s, when Massachusetts franchise laws were enacted, there were about 60 mom-and-pop wholesal- ers who were completely dependent on just a handful of major national brewers. If a major brand decided to end the relationship, the wholesaler was out of business. Today, the system has completely flipped. Now less than a dozen whole- salers operate in Massachusetts, and each of them carries hundreds of brands of both domestic and imported beers. The loss of any one brand will not significantly impact their business operations. By contrast, brewers are locked into their rela- tionships with wholesalers, with virtually no way out. If the wholesaler can't or won't get a brewery's beer into stores, this will hamper the brewery's sales, growth and job creation. Modernizing the rules for craft brewing during this year's Massachusetts legislative session will create new opportunity and continued innovation. Craft brewers and wholesalers should be working togeth- er to grow their businesses, which rely upon each other. The legislation proposed by the Massachusetts Brewers Guild is designed to create more fairness for brewers, not by hurting the wholesalers, but by amending the process. We propose a change that leaves the current three-tiered system in place and would leave most of the current regula- tions intact. It would create a 90-day binding arbitration clause to settle disputes between craft brewers and whole- salers, ensuring legal battles don't drag on for years, even as the parties are forced to continue working together. The bill would define which craft brewer/wholesaler relation- ships would be eligible for the binding arbitration process, and ensures that wholesalers are still compensated whenev- er a craft brewer moves. It all comes down to fairness. The current system creates an atmosphere whereby brewers are expected to enter a relationship they cannot modify at all, at any time. All brewers ultimately want is the ability to choose a business partner they can work with to grow their business. If the relationship works, then keep it. If it doesn't, then change it. Simple as that. As the president of the guild, as well as a co-founder of Night Shift Brewing, I have experienced these pressures first hand and can tell you that these laws are the single largest inhibitor to distribution growth. Our members from across the state are afraid to enter relationships with dis- tributors for fear of losing control of their brands and ulti- mately, their businesses. They know their needs can change over time and the current system doesn't allow for this basic business principle. The craft beer industry is growing despite these challeng- es. Can you imagine how much more growth, job creation and great beer would be created by updating the system? Rob Burns is president of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild and co-founder of Night Shift Brewing in Everett. New beer laws needed this saison A lright, Berkshire Bank, we get it. You wanted to be in Boston. It's got sky- scrapers, luxury apartments, a history of a strong workforce, GE, the Celtics and the booming Seaport District. Really, though, you are missing out on a better opportunity by not moving your headquarters to Worcester. New England's second biggest city may not be New England's biggest city, but for a com- pany from Western Massachusetts attempting to assert itself a dominant regional player in the Northeast and recruit the right mix of talent for the next generation of innovations in banking, Worcester is where you want to be. When your parent company Berkshire Hills Bancorp announced May 22 the planned pur- chased Worcester's Commerce Bank – with its 16 branches and $2.2 billion in assets – for $209 mil- lion in stock, you saw it as an opportunity to accel- erate your plans to move your headquarters from Pittsfield to Boston. While the Commerce acquisi- tion seemingly gives you the financial heft to go toe-to-toe with the major players in Boston, the purchase of a community bank with significant Central Massachusetts ties and strong local owner- ship should cause you to think about Worcester, not Boston. By keeping the Commerce name at its five Worcester branches, you understand the standout role Commerce plays in the community – a role you could have filled if your headquarters became 386 Main St., Worcester, MA 01615. Rather than latching onto a city whose rapid rise has already happened and is resulting in signifi- cant sprawl into MetroWest, you can in Worcester get on near the ground floor of a city and a region whose property values, rental rates, office occu- pancy, commercial square footage, employment and wages are all on the rise. Now, let's talk sticker shock. Do you know how much a 10,000-square-foot headquarters will cost you in Boston, particularly the Seaport District? Think multiples of what you are paying in Pittsfield. The executives you will move from Western Massachusetts will have to find places to live in one of the most expensive real estate mar- kets in the country. The workforce you recruit must deal with the city's high cost of living. With the exception the highest-paid or the ones who really want the city life, the bulk of your workforce will choose MetroWest and the North and South Shores to live and raise their families, forcing them to suffer through the Boston commute. Imagine instead, that workforce in and around Worcester. You could afford to pay them less in salary since they won't have Boston-level expenses. Even if you pay them the same amount in order to recruit the best, their money will go a lot farther in Worcester, improving their quality of life and appreciation for your company. They could still choose to live in MetroWest, but they could have a much less congested route into Worcester, making them more productive employees. Listen, Berkshire, you made a big move by tak- ing over Commerce. Now it is time to make the smart move and have your headquarters right where Commerce did. V I E W P O I N T E D I T O R I A L BY ROB BURNS Special to the Worcester Business Journal Rob Burns W WO R D F R O M T H E W E B Comments of the issue "Local papers are already being swallowed up. Content (not necessarily real news) is becoming less relevant to the locals. Small websites might work. It's not a matter of how people want the news. It's about how/what media companies can deliver based on advertising to cover the cost." - Anonymous commenter, May 16, on a poll question about what lies ahead for small, local newspapers WBJ Tweets of the week "Worcester is filled with amazing #WomeninBusiness ! Hard to narrow this down!" - MrsK (@mrs_kinnard), May 18, responding to a call for Outstanding Women in Business nominations W Facebook feedback "How did Kevin get a license to open these restaurants?" - Paula Leva Lea, May 15, on a story about The Usual on Shrewsbury Street closing after its owner, a repeat offender, was indicted on drug charges "I practically lived at this property for a long while when I worked in Worcester. The fireplace was so awesome. Hope they still have them in the rooms." - Beth Boyett, May 12, on a story about Sonoma Restaurant in Princeton moving into the Ceres space at the Beechwood Hotel this fall

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