There’s a new king in the Queen City — of beer, that is. The Charlotte Ledger business newsletter reports Sycamore Brewing has surpassed Olde Mecklenburg Brewery to become Charlotte’s top beer producer.
“Last year, according to new figures from the Brewers Association, which is a trade group, (Sycamore) brewed about 28,000 barrels of beer,” Mecia said. “That was more than OMB, which was closer to 21,000. Olde Mecklenburg Brewery had been the biggest for a number of years, but Sycamore is really growing very quickly. It's put a lot of effort into its distribution channels. It now distributes in eight different states.”
But with all of the breweries in Charlotte, is there a danger of a beer bubble bursting?
“I talked with the head of the North Carolina Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association, and he was telling me he thinks there's still room to grow — that as long as you're opening a brewery in a neighborhood that doesn't have one, then there's still an opportunity for you. And I think we're starting to see a lot of that, he said, in surrounding counties.”
In other news, there’s a challenge to Charlotte’s status as the banking capital of the South — and it’s coming from Richmond, Virginia.
“Last month, the city of Richmond laid out an economic development strategy document in which it proposed a bunch of things that Richmond could do to attract more business,” Mecia said. “Among those, it said, was to bulk up its banking sector, and it said it would like to, 'set a goal for Richmond to rival Charlotte within a five- to 10-year time horizon to once again vie for the title of banking capital of the South.' You might know that Charlotte is the No. 2 banking center in the country behind New York.”
You can listen to the whole BizWorthy conversation above. Here’s a quick look at what else Mecia and Terry covered this week:
- Charlotte city planners have made some changes to the proposed unified development ordinance, such as tweaks to rules surrounding tree removal for homeowners and developers, building height transitions and parking requirements.
- Charlotte City Council is looking to spend about $215 million on upgradesto the Spectrum Center.
Support for BizWorthy comes from UNC Charlotte’s Belk College of Business and Sharonview Federal Credit Union.
