Migration Brewing hires Columbia Distributing’s Ken Hartill as Director of Growth
Story by:
MyBeer Buzz
From Migration:
Portland, OR — When Migration Brewing began operations in 2010 the brewery produced 217 barrels of beer in its first year. This year Migration’s goal is to hit 10,000 barrels. Now employing 70 people throughout Portland, the company operates three pubs including a production facility in Gresham.
Today, Migration announces plans to invest in the company’s growth by hiring Ken Hartill as Director of Growth.
Hartill is a proven leader in the beverage industry with 37 years of experience at Columbia Distributing, which is one of the top five distributors in the nation and Migration Brewing’s distributor in Oregon and Washington. Having started on the ground floor as a delivery driver, Mr. Hartill learned the whole
industry from every aspect of the operations and sales side, building brands throughout Oregon. Hartill recently retired from his position as the General Manager of the distributor’s largest region, bringing in $400 million in revenue and 20 million in case sales annually.
“The team at Migration is like family to me,” said Hartill, who had a fermentation tank named after him when the brewery opened its production facility in 2018. “Not only did I hire Eric Banzer-Lausberg in sales before he co-founded the brewery, I had the pleasure of working closely with him after the
brewery began distributing their award-winning beers through Columbia. This feels like home, Migration has tremendous potential, and I couldn’t be more excited to help grow the brand.”
“When we started Migration, we were just four friends that wanted to start a brewpub together. It’s funny to think that our entire original brewery could fit into the walk-in cooler that now stores our hops!” said McKean Banzer-Lausberg, Migration co-founder. “We sell 90% of our beer in the beautiful city of Portland. Our fans have embraced us and showed us we can keep expanding. Ken will bring the experience and skills we need to grow our market share in all of Colubmia’s footprint in addition to opening and uncovering new markets.”
Migration’s production numbers are beginning to nudge up against the brewery’s current capacity of 12,000 barrels. With Hartill on board, the goal is to sell 20,000 barrels of beer per year by 2025.
Migration also continues to gain notoriety for its achievements in brewing excellence. Since 2019, its Mo-Haze-Ic beer has won nine awards including gold medals at the Australian International Beer Awards, North American Beer Association Beer Awards, and European Beer Star Awards, a silver medal
at the Oregon Beer Awards, and a bronze at the GreatAmerican Beer Festival. Migration has also picked
23 awards in the last three years for other beers including two gold medals and a silver at the Oregon Beer Awards.
About Migration Brewing
Migration Brewing started in 2010 when four friends came together over a passion for craft beer and a
dream of opening a brewpub. With a lot of bootstrapping and a little luck, they have since opened three
pub locations within Portland. As an award-winning brewery, the Migration team takes great pride in
producing world-class beers that embrace innovation while respecting classic styles.
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