Beer is Big Business in Westchester County, New Report Says

Written by BETH DALBEY (Patch Staff) and BRIAN MCCREADY (Patch Staff)

Beer is big business in the United State and of course New York.

That’s according to the Beer Serves America report recently released at a congressional hearing by the Beer Institute and National Beer Wholesalers Association.

The study showed the beer industry had a $15.3 billion dollar impact on New York in 2014, provided more than 85,792 direct and indirect jobs paying $5 billion in wages, and generated more than $432.9 million in federal, state and local tax revenue.

The jobs are across several sectors, including agriculture, mining, construction, real estate, manufacturing, retail, transportation, travel and entertainment, and wholesale.

In New York, the top beer-related jobs are in business and personal services, finance insurance and real estate and, manufacturing general.

For example, the 17th Congressional District, which includes all of Rockland County and part of central and northwestern Westchester, the report estimates that beer supports 2,017 direct jobs, paying $97 million in wages with an output of $377,297,200.

In the adjacent 16th Congressional District (southern Westchester and the Bronx), supports 1,093 direct jobs, paying $41.2 million in wages with an output of $107,022,900.

Nationally, the beer industry represented 1.5 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product in 2014, and had a $253 billion economic impact. More than 1.75 million Americans are employed directly or indirectly by the beer industry.

Also nationally, local state and federal taxes amounted to more than $48.5 billion in 2014, including taxes on sales, gross receipts and revenue collected from state and federal excise taxes on beer.

To find information specific to any congressional district, click here.

Photo: Beer is a pretty big deal in New York, where more than 48,139 jobs are a direct result of the beer industry, according to a new report from the Beer Institute and National Beer Wholesalers Association. Photo credit: Joel Olives via Flickr