With help from the Athens-Clarke County Economic Development and Planning Departments, the Southern Brewing Company was able to break ground on August 1 on their property at 231 Collins Industrial Boulevard off US Highway 29 near Athens Tech in the Athena Industrial Park. The brewery is expected to be operational in May 2015 and eventually employ approximately 30 people. Plans call for brewery tours and tastings, a music venue, a farmer's market, an artist market, bike trails, a yeast lab, art camp, and more.

Southern Brewing Company is owned by Brian Roth and Rick Goddard, who have extensive backgrounds in brewing, legislation, and management. According to Roth, he has visited over 450 breweries all over the world since the 1990s when he started his pilot breweryGratis Brewery after an internship with local beer distributor Leon Farmer & Company. Goddard served as chief lobbyist for the Beer Institute from 2004-2011 and met Roth at a conference during this time. Originally, the two had plans to locate Southern Brewing Company in a neighboring community.

"After a meeting with the Athens-Clarke County Economic Development Department, we were convinced that Athens was the right place to be," says Roth. "The coordination with the Planning Department demonstrated to us that the local community was supportive of our plans to grow. Athens is a very beer-friendly town and that has helped a lot. This is a town that hopes to attract more breweries."

"We are excited to see Southern Brewing Company creating jobs and investing in Athens-Clarke County," says Economic Development Department Director Ryan Moore. "It further evidences the success of our burgeoning brewing industry and sets us apart as the desired destination for brewing operations in the Southeast. We look forward to many years of success from our newest corporate citizen."

Roth and Goddard also used the Small Business Development Center(SBDC), a program through the University of Georgia that provides low cost training and free consulting services for small businesses. The SBDC helped them create a business plan and helped them through the early stages of funding and financial planning.

The Economic Development and Planning Departments were both able to further help the Southern Brewing Company by expediting their plans review process. "We completed permitting two weeks before we closed our Small Business Administration loan and that was awesome," says Roth. "Athens-Clarke County was very helpful with the entire process."

For more information on the Athens-Clarke County Economic Development Department, visit www.athensbusiness.org or call 706-613-3233. For more information on the Southern Brewing Company, visit www.sobrewco.com/home/.