Janie Gullickson on Oregon Live Regarding Taproom Closure

This is an excerpt from an article titled “Oregon breweries step up for nonprofits stranded by sudden Lagunitas venue closure” originally published on Oregon Live by Andre Meunier on 10/25/2019. See the full story here.

Oregon breweries are offering to open their doors to nonprofits burned when Lagunitas Brewing Co. of California earlier this week abruptly closed its Portland Community Room, leaving many community groups without a venue for long-planned events.

Tony Roberts, the co-executive director of the Oregon Brewers Guild, said dozens of breweries across the state have responded to a guild inquiry seeking options for the nonprofits. He said the guild is now actively working with three nonprofits to schedule their events at breweries, but the challenge is finding and connecting with all of the affected groups.

“Finding support from our breweries was the easy part,” Roberts said in an email. “Finding the nonprofits that were left in a lurch has been more difficult.”

Roberts said that some nonprofits have reached out to the guild or breweries themselves but that dozens more may be looking for places to relocate their events. “We're hoping more reach out to us so we can try to connect them with a brewery that's willing to help,” he said.

Lagunitas informed groups Monday that it would close the community space, which it opened more than three years ago as a free option for nonprofits’ events. The brewery, based in Petaluma, California, gave no notice of the closure, leaving nearly 40 planned events through 2019 with no venue, according to the New School, a beer-industry news site.

Max Wertheimer, a Lagunitas spokesperson, said the brewery decided to close the space so it could shift resources to community efforts in other parts of the country. He said the company works with nonprofits throughout the U.S. and has community rooms in its Chicago, Seattle and Petaluma.

“This is not a decision we took lightly, as Portland has been a part of the Lagunitas story since day one,” Wertheimer said. Lagunitas beer is distributed throughout the state, but it does not have a brewery here and is not a member of the Oregon Brewers Guild.

Wertheimer said Lagunitas has provided the stranded organizations with contacts and resources to try and help them find alternate venues.

Janie Gullickson is the executive director of the Mental Health & Addiction Association of Oregon. The nonprofit, which offers resources for those dealing with mental health issues or addiction recovery, was to hold its first-ever fundraiser this Sunday.

“I was so bummed,” Gullickson said. “I emailed (Lagunitas) and asked if there’s anything we can do. It’s just a room, like, can we reassure you we will clean up or do whatever we need to do? We’ve been planning this for over a year. But they said, ‘Nope, we’re sorry.’

“Everything was donated,” said Gullickson, who listed numerous local businesses that had gifted food, supplies or sponsorships for the group’s “Mad Hatter Tea Party” fundraiser. “It promised to be a happy, fun event.”

Andy Nelson, the executive director of Impact NW, said his organization was among the many that frequently used the community room.

“I’m really disappointed to see them go,” said Nelson, whose organization works to prevent homelessness. “They were a unique and special place for nonprofits in our community.”

Nelson said the room was an ideal spot for Impact NW’s efforts, such as an event called Impact Kits, in which volunteers gathered to assemble then distributed aid kits for people living outside.

“It’s ironic -- they came in with this great gift, and now it’s gone,” Nelson said. “When I first heard about it, it seemed too good to be true, but it wasn’t. Too bad it had to end without any notice for people.”

Wertheimer said Lagunitas recognizes the closure was sudden and wishes it could have provided more notice, but for a “wide variety of factors” it wasn’t “feasible,” nor was keeping the venue open until scheduled events were held.

Gullickson said she is trying to see the silver lining for her event, which her group was forced to postpone until January.

“When I ran down the menu again, I realized, we don’t have any green food,” she said. “So it gives us a chance to get some salad on there.”