WeldWerks Brewing Co. Announces Diversity Scholarship with the University of Northern Colorado

From WeldWerks:

The WeldWerks Diversity Scholarship seeks to create

a more diverse workforce in beer

GREELEY, CO—WeldWerks Brewing Co. is proud to announce the launch of the WeldWerks Diversity Scholarship, a yearly scholarship for current and prospective University of Northern Colorado (UNC) students of color, with an additional preference towards those who have an interest in Brewing Science. WeldWerks has donated $25,000 to seed the endowment with an additional $4,000 to fund the fall 2021/2022 scholarship. The brewery pledges to increase the endowment to $100,000 by the end of 2022, which will make the $4,000 scholarship live on in perpetuity. An endowed scholarship is a permanent fund in which the capital is preserved so that generations of students can benefit.

As a brewery that welcomes people from all walks of life to share a pint in their taproom, George Floyd’s murder and the country’s social unrest gave WeldWerks pause to rexamine its complacency and speak up. The brewery donated $5,000 to Black Lives Matter 5280, $5,000 to Campaign Zero, and participated in Weathered Souls’ Black is Beautiful collaboration beer initiative. Actively seeking more ways to help move the needle, WeldWerks consulted with community stakeholders, including the organizer for Greeley’s Black Lives Matter march and Dr. George Junne, Associate Professor of Africana Studies at UNC. From there the scholarship was born.

“WeldWerks is using their philanthropy to demonstrate their values and put action behind their desire to increase diversity in their own industry. This scholarship will provide support to students for years to come and will help ensure that cost does not become a barrier to a college degree,” says Allie Steg Haskett, Vice President for University Advancement at UNC. “Philanthropy is more than just an investment in a scholarship, gifts such as this are also an investment in each individual student who receives the award and a vote of confidence in the next generation of Bears”

According to a 2018 Brewers Association Brewery Operations Benchmarking survey, brewery employees are disproportionately white, ranging from 72.6% white for production staff (non-managers) to 89% (brewers). The WeldWerks Diversity Scholarship aims to help create a more diverse workforce in brewing.

“There was great momentum last summer but we didn’t want these gestures to be performative,” says WeldWerks Chief Marketing Officer Jake Goodman. “Now, the important thing to do is keep the work going, steadily for the long haul. It’s easy to get behind the push for something when it’s the main topic of the moment, but the harder part is sustaining that effort, with authenticity and intentionality, and making these changes a more substantial part of our culture, both on the micro and macro levels. Our hope is that this endowment will be a small part of making Greeley and Weld County a more diverse and welcoming place for years to come.”

Effective immediately, students may apply online for the WeldWerks Diversity Scholarship through the UNC Scholarship Application. The scholarship of $4,000 will be selected in the spring semester of 2021 to be awarded during the 2021-2022 academic year.

“UNC is incredibly grateful to be partnering with WeldWerks on this scholarship.  Having community minded businesses like WeldWerks is part of what makes Greeley such a special place.  WeldWerks shares UNC’s commitment to diversity and recognizes that greater diversity, equity, and inclusion make our communities and institutions better,” says UNC President, Andy Feinstein.

For more information about the WeldWerks Diversity Scholarship, contact Chea Franz at [email protected].

ABOUT WELDWERKS BREWING CO.

Established in 2015, WeldWerks Brewing Co. is an award-winning craft brewery located in Greeley, Colorado recognized for brewing an array of beer styles including Juicy Bits, one of the most highly regarded IPAs in the country. Comprised of a passionate group of individuals dedicated to bringing innovative and quality craft beer to the community it serves, WeldWerks Brewing has garnered numerous medals and acclaim on the way, including being named the best new brewery in the country by USA Today in 2016 and multiple medals at both the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup. The brewery’s charitable arm, the WeldWerks Community Foundation, is a 501c3 nonprofit that supports local nonprofits through events like The WeldWerks Invitational. At WeldWerks, being “dialed-in" is a way of life, helping to ensure outstanding excellence in craft beer, service and beyond. For more information about WeldWerks Brewing Co, visit www.weldwerksbrewing.com.

ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO

Founded in 1889 as a teacher’s college and located in Greeley, Colorado, the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is now a public doctoral research university committed to the success of its roughly 11,000 students. UNC offers more than 100 undergraduate programs and 120 graduate programs ranging from education to business and from performing arts to nursing. The university’s just-right size, expert faculty, and tradition of research and hands-on learning gives students exceptional opportunities and a personalized education. Our students are diverse and hard-working, and there’s no one label that defines them. More than one-third of UNC undergraduates are the first in their family to go to college and more than one-quarter are eligible for federal need-based financial aid. Of all UNC students, more than one-quarter identify as students of color. Seventy-two percent of incoming first-year students are awarded grants and/or scholarships. Last year alone, more than $30.8 million in scholarships and institutional aid was awarded to UNC students. 

UNC faculty are experts in their fields; they are scholars who engage their students in research and teachers who bring new knowledge to the classroom. Our alumni often say the connections they made with faculty made a huge difference not only when they were at UNC, but long after, as they traveled their career and life paths. That partnership and community is something we take great pride in – a university culture that is welcoming, collaborative, supportive and committed to student success, service and education.