Back Forty Beer Company wins “Alabama Small Manufacturer of the Year” Award

Founded in 2009, Back Forty is Alabama’s oldest bottling brewery and the largest manufacturer of alcohol in the state. It is the first state brewery to win the “Manufacturer of the Year” award. While the craft beer industry is a relatively young industry in Alabama, it is responsible for 2,450 jobs and a $235 million economic impact.

“Back Forty is a family of passionate entrepreneurs, and we work hard to produce top-quality craft beers for our customers,” said Jason Wilson, president and CEO of Back Forty. “It is a tremendous honor to be recognized by our peers in the manufacturing industry for all of our hard work.”

Back Forty is currently distributed throughout Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida and plans to expand into Tennessee in 2014. Back Forty plans to extend its current operations in Gadsden and will invest more than $500,000 in the upcoming year. This expansion will double the production capacity of the brewery and will include the installation of a state of the art canning line to accompany the existing bottling and kegging operations.

The Alabama Manufacturer of the Year Awards program recognizes the state’s manufacturing enterprises that exhibit excellence in leadership, performance, profitability and workforce relations. Winners are selected by an independent panel of judges who look for demonstrations of superior performance in the areas of customer focus, employee commitment, operational excellence, continuous improvement, profitable growth and investment in training and retraining.

“We hope this accomplishment not only reflects positively on our operation, but also serves as a bold endorsement of the entire craft beer industry throughout Alabama,” said Wilson. “I can assure everyone that Back Forty will not be the last brewery to be awarded this distinction. Cheers!”
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