Dockside Brewery Co-Owner Testifies At State Capitol

From Dockside Brewery: Today, Dockside Brewery co-owner Bob Chicoine submitted testimony to the Connecticut General Assembly’s General Law Committee on legislation that impacts craft breweries statewide .Click here to view Chicoine's written testimony online.Here's the full-text of Chicoine's testimony:Co-Chairs Senator Fonfara and Representative D’Agostino, Ranking Members Senator Witkos and Representative Cheeseman, and Vice Chairs Senator Leone and Representative Gibson,Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony to your committee in support of and to provide suggestions for proposed Senate Bill 647, House Bill 7184, and House Bill 7183.

To begin, my name is Bob Chicoine, and I’m the co-owner of Dockside Brewery, a picturesque 4,200 square foot waterfront biergarten and brewpub on the Housatonic River in Milford that is currently being constructed.I’m also the Chief Financial Officer for the award-winning Engine 15 Brewing Company, based in Jacksonville, Florida, that is expanding its footprint to locally brew at Dockside Brewery when it opens hopefully later this year. As State Representative Kim Rose and State Senator James Maroney graciously stated in a recent CT News Junkie article, Engine 15’s expansion to Dockside Brewery in Milford is “a rare occurrence where a Florida based company wants to expand and grow jobs in Connecticut, instead of the other way around.”We couldn’t be happier to be creating jobs in the Nutmeg State. Once Dockside is open and operational, we plan to create at least 10 jobs, and hopefully more.When it comes to Connecticut’s craft beer laws, they’ve helped pave the way for tremendous industry growth.

There are now 85 operational craft breweries statewide, employing more than 4,600 people, producing more than 166,000 barrels of local craft beer annually, and contributing to an overall economic impact of more than $745 million yearly.But to help the industry continue growing, Connecticut’s laws need to adapt and modernize in order to help the craft beer industry compete with that of our neighboring states. One way to do this is by cutting the current excise tax rate for breweries, which is a measure included in Governor Lamont’s budget proposal. I want to thank the governor and hope this measure remains is welcomed by all parties involved in the budget process. It will help breweries create even more jobs.Another way to do this is by Increasing direct-to-consumer sales limits. This pro-consumer measure will not only help the craft beer industry continue to serve as a bright spot in our state’s economy but also will allow breweries to revitalize even more run-down properties statewide. That’s a win-win for Connecticut taxpayers and consumers.

In addition, allowing retailers with big grocery sections like Target to sell beer in Connecticut -- as they can in nearly every other state across the country -- will serve as a boon to both craft breweries and distributors. In Jacksonville, Florida, Engine 15 Brewing Company is carried and sold in Targets and other similar retailers. It’s helped the brewery grow and hire additional people. The tax revenue it brings in is also good for the state. To pass a similar pro-consumer, pro-business measure in Connecticut is a win-win.I want to close by thanking each and every one of you on the committee for your craft beer industry support. One of the main reasons Engine 15 decided to expand into Connecticut is because of its pro-consumer, pro-brewery laws. And, by continuing to modernize state laws to help craft breweries grow while protecting the three-tier system, hopefully, the trend of craft breweries like ours creating new good-paying jobs in Connecticut continues.