Hand of Fate Brewing took over a closed Dollar General in downtown Petersburg, Illinois and became an anchor for the city.
Rather than dying off like any other fad, as many predicted, small craft breweries are becoming vital parts of communities. "After just a year, the small brewery [Hand of Fate Brewing] has brought good fortune to the town. After taking over an old Dollar General discount store in the sparsely occupied town square, the brewery-and-taproom has become a community hub and a catalyst keeping businesses open later," Patrick Sisson writes in Curbed.
Small businesses employ a disproportionate number of Americans, and "[l]ocal governments are increasingly working to attract breweries and the craft-brew industry in the name of economic development and growth," writes Sisson. Beyond bringing employment, breweries can act as anchors for communities. Places where space is cheap make a good fit for the large footprints needed by breweries.
Sisson also reports that brew pubs are associated with lower levels of crime than traditional bars.
FULL STORY: Craft beer's big impact on small towns and forgotten neighborhoods
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research