Brewers Guild hires first executive director – Nashville Post

The Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild has tapped Sharon Michie to serve as its first executive director and first staffer.

Michie (pictured) will focus on growing and engaging guild membership, fundraising and planning special events, according to a release. She will develop administrative operations, and plans to expand the guild’s recognition as an advocate for the state’s craft beer industry.

Michie moved to Nashville in 2014 and then served for five years as assistant director for the Rotary Club of Nashville. Originally from Florida, she has also has lived in China, India, London and North Carolina.

Michie holds a master’s degree in library science and serves on the board of directors for Book’em, a Nashville nonprofit dedicated to children’s literacy.

Tennessee is home to more than 100 craft breweries and multiple businesses that support the industry. Davidson County alone boasts approximately 30 breweries, brew pubs, craft beer bars and beer companies that contract with other breweries for brewing services.

Anthony Davis, Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild president and East Nashville Beer Works owner, secured a national grant earlier this summer from the Brewers Association to fill the role.

“We have found the perfect person to fill this void and take our guild to the next level,” Davis said in the release. “Sharon has nonprofit fundraising and organizational experience, she has a passion for craft beer and she is ready to get us moving in the right direction. Before now, we have been one of only a handful of states without a guild staffer. That all changes now, and we must push the agenda of craft breweries forward in our state.”

The Boulder, Colorado-based Brewers Association is a national trade group with about 7,200 members. Davis told the Post in June the grant’s dollar figure would not be disclosed. Davis said at the time the BA grant covers half of a salary for year one, with the state guild having the option to apply for a second year as well.