Jeff Schrag begins his morning around 7 a.m. with oatmeal and a heaping helping of news in his sunroom overlooking Phelps Grove Park.
Most recently known as Springfield’s beer baron, Schrag got his business start in the newspaper industry and makes a point to read the Springfield News-Leader, the Wall Street Journal and his own legal publication, The Daily Events, each morning.
By 8:30 a.m., Schrag is pulling into the Mother’s Brewing Co. parking lot, located at the corner of Grand and College streets. With an armful of coffee mugs and a water glass, Schrag keys into the brewery office and is greeted by a round of, “good mornings,” and a “here comes trouble,” from Mother’s staff.
A quick hug and a kiss from Lindsey Wheeler – Mother’s administrative assistant, who also moonlights as a reporter for The Daily Events – and Schrag quickly finds his desk and gets to work, sort of.
The former machine shop of Interstate Brands, a Butternut Bread bakery, the brewery office is a vast expanse Schrag and crew have filled with leftover bakery desks, various plants and Mother’s signage.
Out past midnight at Patton Alley Pub with the band Dick & The Dales the night before, by 8:45 a.m., Schrag is checking emails that have piled up. As he goes about his morning signing a stack of payroll checks, he happily lives up to his unofficial title as carouser-in-chief.
Plans are underway for the third annual Mother’s Day Festival and Schrag stops for a quick update from Sales and Marketing Coordinator Holly Mills before heading off to the 9 a.m. Thursday staff meeting in the tasting room.
On the menu today are three glasses of Towhead, each at a different stage in the brewing process.
“I’m suspicious of any beverage that you spit out to taste,” Schrag says with a chuckle, referencing the difference between beer and wine tasting. “I’m really good at drinking beer whether I like it or not, so for me, beer tasting has been something I’ve really had to work at. I can’t just say, ‘I like it,’ and move on. Of course I like it, now we need to know why.”
At 11:30 a.m., Schrag is off to an early lunch with friends at Russo’s St. Michael’s Sports Bar & Grill.
Fast forward to 1 p.m. and Schrag walks through the door of his original moneymaker, The Daily Events, housed in the old Springfield Seed and Floral building on Walnut Street, another of the 10 buildings Schrag has helped rehab downtown. The oldest newspaper in the county with a direct mail circulation of 400, the paper is the reason Schrag came to the Queen City.
The publisher takes a seat at what he calls his “primary desk,” for his weekly meeting with property manager Lisa Combs. Today, she’s there with another stack of checks to sign. A member of five real estate partnerships across the city, Schrag owns multiple residential and retail properties. This afternoon, he’s fielding numerous emails regarding resurfacing a parking lot.
The Daily Events building on Walnut is also home to another Schrag business venture – Pioneer Formal Accessories, a wholesale formalwear jewelry distributor. Schrag walks through the aisles of categorized bins of more than 2.8 million studs and 1.9 million cuff links in the basement as staff prep orders to ship nationwide.
“I looked into all sorts of businesses and it was this or foot cream,” Schrag says of his decision to diversify.
Schrag has just enough time to check the snail mail and review his Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce board meeting packet before a 3 p.m. appointment.
Waving and greeting people by name, Schrag makes his way down Walnut Street toward The Body Smith, his home for Pilates for almost six years. Working with trainer Shauna Smith Yates, Schrag has solved his back problems and lost 35 pounds in the process.
“What sort of pretzel moves are we going to be doing today?” he jokes with Yates.
It’s now quitting time, 5 p.m., but the day is far from over for Schrag. He’s promised to introduce new chamber member, Yates, around during the chamber’s Business After Hours event at downtown’s Parlor 88. Filled to capacity, the two make their way to the bar to order the first round of the night.
“It’s never too early for beer,” he says.
It’s only 5:40 p.m., but Schrag leaves the mixer for a quick walk back to the brewery’s tasting room. The city of Springfield is hosting an emergency management team from Nassau County, New York, and they’ve asked Schrag for a private brewery tour.
The tasting room is already full and Schrag grabs glasses of Thing 1 and Thing 2 and pulls a chair up next to the group.
“What we do here is make beautiful food for yeast,” he says with his trademark chuckle.
After the tour, Schrag says dinner downtown is on tonight’s menu – just about every night’s menu – followed by a round of bar hopping at Mother’s distributors.
“When you are a guy who likes beer and likes to laugh, it’s a pretty good life,” he says.
Click here for the full 2013 Day in the Life.
