Springfield Brewing company selectes local management firm

Paul Mueller Company is giving its Springfield Brewing Company management operations a local flavor with the help of General Manager Kevin Mackey.

Mackey's firm, Mackey Restaurant Consulting LLC, will take on the management contract of Springfield Brewing Company beginning Jan 1.

Since opening five years ago, the facility has been managed by K.C. Hopps Ltd., a restaurant/pub management company out of Kansas City. That contract expires Dec. 31.

Mackey said he will be able to better focus on the local market, something that wasn't always easily done with a larger management group from outside the area. K.C. Hopps manages about a dozen brew pubs and restaurants in the Midwest.

Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed, but Paul Mueller Company Chief Financial Officer Don Golick said it is performance-based. Mackey is signed on for five years. He has been general manager there the last three years.

"In that time I think I've proven to Paul Mueller Company that I had a little bit more to offer than K.C. Hopps," Mackey said. "Especially knowing the local community and how to market a facility in Springfield compared to Kansas City it's a whole different world."

Of the new management, Golick said, "It was an opportunity to deal with a local firm. Kevin has a lot of experience with our operation and he knows the local market very well."

Among Mackey's changes is a stronger emphasis on distribution of Mueller's bottled beer. "We are going to look to distribute that fairly extensively next year," he said. "Part of the contract will be to take that over and really push our product in the local market and, hopefully, regionally."

Another Mackey ingredient will come in mid-January in conjunction with the brewery's 5-year anniversary when the restaurant's menu changes.

Marketing is another area for change.

"We've always tried to focus on community-based marketing, and it was kind of tough for us to do that with K.C. Hopps involved," Mackey said.

Because K.C. Hopps manages several restaurants, he said, it often signed the Springfield Brewing Company to group deals "that would lock us into things that probably weren't the best for the facility. That will be eliminated. We will be able to determine what we are going to spend our marketing dollars on."

Mackey said the brew pub will continue to do promotions and sponsorships with Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield Spirit and the downtown performing arts community. The new venues coming online in Jordan Valley Park pose future marketing opportunities, he said.

"We want to get the people that are near this area," Mackey added. "There is this revitalization of downtown ... we want to continue to be involved with that."

Golick said K.C. Hopps was selected to manage the brew pub from the start because of its proven track record.

"At that time, they seemed to offer the best experience in managing brew pubs," he said.

Now that Springfield Brewing Company has built its reputation, he added, it will also focus on selling its lagers and ales in local stores as outlined in the new contract.

"We just think it's good to get our product out in the local market," Golick said. "We make a lot of brewery equipment for other firms around the country, so we feel it was a way to gain some more brand awareness in the market here and help our restaurant operations. We think they are tied together."

Springfield Brewing Company uses Paul Mueller Company-made brewery equipment to produce Mueller beer products. They are currently available in Brown Derby stores. Mackey hopes to offer the product in Springfield grocery stores next year.

Paul Mueller Company has made brewing equipment for such clients as Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors, Golick said. "Our beer distribution is secondary activity, but now is the time we have the brewery well-established and we can spend some time on distribution."