The Revivalist is a blog about all things Appalachia, written by Mark Lynn, a Roanoke-born man living in D.C. Lynn recently interviewed Erika Bruhn, Sierra Nevada’s Marketing Manager, about the big brewery’s choice to move to Asheville. According to Lynn, Roanoke was also on the short list. In his interview Lynn asks Bruhn, essentially, what is it that Asheville’s got that other towns — Roanoke included — do not.
After an exhaustive three year search that spanned more than 200 locations, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company recently announced that its east coast headquarters will be built on Asheville’s south side in a borough called Mills River …
What made Asheville shine brighter than Roanoke and 200-and-some other spots east of the Mississippi?
TR: Erika, thanks for talking with me. You’ve said that “the Asheville area offers Sierra Nevada Brewing the perfect confluence of community, recreation and craft beer culture.” I can see that, and it would be great to hear more. What kind of community were you seeking?
EB: For the past several years, in our search for a second brewery, we reviewed over 200 different sites with painstaking detail and an exhaustive list of qualitative and quantitative considerations. In North Carolina, we were humbled by the community, its values and the outstanding craft-beer culture in the area. While we were making this decision, it was important for us to choose a location similar to our home in Chico, California. Mills River and the Asheville area feel like a great fit for us; a close-knit community with outstanding quality of life, shared values and access to the outdoors.”
Click the link to read the rest of the interview.
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