Welcome to the Brewing Social Capital Resource Hub. This site includes an introduction to the theory of social capital, the role breweries can play in increasing this key resource, as well as ways breweries across the country have already incorporated these methods. This hub seeks to make it easier for breweries to be intentional in their plans to foster resilience.
Building a more resilient community not only makes your city stronger — it makes your institution stronger!
Social capital is a topic of increasing interest to researchers exploring how communities respond to shocks — whether from natural hazards to economic recessions to terrorist attacks. Social capital is defined as networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate co-operation within or among groups. Communities with higher rates of social capital have been found to recover quicker and more holistically than other communities, which underscores how valuable this resource is.
BONDING SOCIAL CAPITAL
Bonding social capital describes connections and networks of people who share similar characteristics — whether that be language, political views, ethnic background.
BONDING SOCIAL CAPITAL
BRIDGING SOCIAL CAPITAL
Bridging social capital connects dissimilar people though a weaker bond — such as a social club, a sports team, or mutual friends.
Linking social capital describes vertical connections between residents and those in “power” — typically political or governmental positions.
LINKING SOCIAL CAPITAL
Fostering social capital is not a simple task. This is not something which governments can simply fund to easily foster. There are three key types of social capital which are broken down below. Hover over each one for more details:
Fostering social capital makes your community more resilient to shocks like the COVID-19 economic recession.
This hub will focus on these six pillars of social capital: scroll over the pillars to learn more about each one!
This refers to a sense of connectedness to places and people, as well as levels of involvement in the community.
SENSE OF
BELONGING
This refers to feeling empowered to join and meaningfully contribute.
PARTICIPATION
This refers to morals and common practices which are of importance.
VALUES &
NORMS
Social capital can take many forms. As you can imagine, these are not simple, clear-cut categories. To help you understand these concepts better, they have been separated into six pillars below. Take notice though — these pillars overlap and intersect. Social capital is an intensely collaborative resource, so this makes sense. Focusing attention on these pillars will improve your communities social capital, and thus make your community more resilient.
This refers to feeling safe in your space, as well as feeling valued and trusted by your peers.
TRUST &
SECURITY
This refers to cooperation toward a shared goal and outcome, with universal contributions to ensure universal benefits.
RECIPROCITY
This refers to feeling heard and in control over the future of your community.
CITIZEN
POWER
This hub seeks to make it easier for breweries to be intentional in their plans to foster resilience.
So why does any of this matter to you? Drawing on my own experience working at a bar, I saw firsthand how breweries and brewpubs already embody many of the principles which promote social capital. This hub seeks to make it easier for breweries to be intentional in their plans to foster resilience. This will make your business more sustainable in many definitions of the term — not just financially and environmentally, but through building lasting networks that make your communities more able and ready to respond to shocks.
Specifically, higher social capital benefits communities experiencing hardships by:
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Preventing exit and promoting rebuilding;
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Promoting collective action among community members
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Providing informal insurance through mutual aid
By fostering these six pillars above, you can enhance your bonding, bridging, and linking connections, to build a more resilient community.
SURVEY RESULTS
As part of this process, nearly 150 breweries across 33 states were surveyed. The following is an overview of the findings which informed these recommendations.
The outreach phase of this study reached 146 breweries in 33 different states. Responses by state can be seen in the figure to the left.
One particular reason breweries became an area of interest was their success over the last two decades, against odds amidst the 2008 recession caused by the collapse of the housing market. During this period, the number of breweries doubled, as well as the number of employees. This was reflected in the number of responses as well — with nearly 2/3 having first opened their doors since 2010. (Click here to see a map I created of all the breweries, taprooms, and more in the American Brewers Assocation directory)
The number of breweries and brewery employees has more than doubled since 2008 — and more than 67% of respondents opened since 2010.
Less than half of microbreweries
strongly believe their institution fosters aid and assistance.
The survey was threefold, collecting data on:
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Perception of themselves
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Personal practices
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Perception of their community.
Responses were collected from employees at various levels within the organizations — from owners to bartenders. These findings informed the recommendations in the next section, but greater details are available in the slider below.
Here are some of the key takeaways:
Many breweries are already promoting social capital — but the majority don't realize the role they play in creating an informal insurance in their community.
Scroll over these to see why they matter.
While a vast majority of breweries strongly believe their institution fosters community (77%), trust (66%), and friendliness (78%), less than half (47%) strongly believe their institution fosters aid and assistance.
Creating employment opportunities with transferable skills and invests in people boosts trust and security in the long-term.
The strong emphasis on sustainability across most breweries is indicative of strong values and reciprocity to the community the breweries operate within.
The lack of formal support increases the need for investing in social capital — this will promote regrowth and retain community members after the pandemic and recession.
Partnering with local community groups is a great way to foster several pillars of social capital — from citizen power to participation to sense of belonging.
This is particularly helpful for transition economies — another cause of economic duress, spurred by automation for instance — to make it easier for employees to find work
RECOMMENDATIONS
So where exactly do breweries fit into this process?
In many cases, breweries are already doing many things which promotes social capital. This Hub serves as a reference guide for breweries to incorporate best practices to help themselves, and their communities, down the line. The goal of these recommendations was to craft and collect new approaches for breweries to consider.
The findings and some examples have been summarized in a two-page version, available for download to the right. As a reminder — these pillars more like a venn diagram than separate pillars. They intersect and overlap — so developing new plans will likely touch on many of these at the same time
Below, you will also find specific suggestions across each of the six pillars — hover over each one to see further details.
two page abbreviated summary
of recommendations
This is perhaps the most "natural" of the six categories for breweries: by offering a community space for people to gather, people feel at home and connected. However, this can go beyond patrons of the bar through:
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Pride in city/location through design & branding
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Partnerships with local organizations in special-benefit beers
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Partnering with local elected officials to host forums on public issues
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Distribution networks boost tourism and visibility for your community
SENSE OF BELONGING
This sentiment is naturally facilitated given the hyper-local nature of brewery ownership.
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Workforce training to employees to foster transferable skills
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Commercial partnerships with other businesses, including food trucks and other vendors who you can host for pop-up events
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Respond to current events in your community
TRUST AND SECURITY
A huge part of empowering your community members to "join in" is to invite them and ask — so craft new ways and systems which might attract different crowds to foster wider audiences and participation.
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Hosting virtual concerts during COVID to offer "virtual" third spaces for communities to gather
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Using social media to engage with community members
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Partnering with local artists for paid public art projects, including murals
PARTICIPATION
The brewing industry is very connected with local non-profits, and there is a huge potential for deeper, more meaningful collaboration with these kinds of groups.
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Develop a clear mission statement, with intentional dedication to serving your community as more than just a brewery
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Recycling and sustainability initiatives: including finding local farmers to take spent grain, instituting a re-usable growler/deposit system
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Creative collaboration with local non-profits that go beyond fundraising
VALUES AND NORMS
Community members and businesses have a mutual interest in the future of your town/city. Opening up with your vision, and listening to what other groups advocate for, will help you establish your institution as both empowering others and a key voice in the future of your community.
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Hosting civic engagement events, including voter registration initiatives
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Offering spaces to local community groups
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Collaborating with local tourism offices to offer space to traveling journalists
CITIZEN POWER
This principle is based around the fact that your business is dependent on the community — so your return/investment in them is a sign of trust and appreciation.
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Hosting artisan or farmers markets in your outdoor space
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Repurposing old spaces or industrial buildings through renovation or arts projects
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Engagement with local commerce boards and governments, opening space up for events and announcements
RECIPROCITY
If you have any suggestions or best practices from your brewery that you'd like to share, let me know!
CASE STUDIES
Below are some of the best practices breweries
are already implementing along each of the six pillars for
your reference and inspiration
PILLAR
PARTNER
BEST PRACTICE
East Brother Beer Co. has numerous initiatives which embody the Sense of Belonging pillar. They curate a bi-monthly blog which features local community members and artisans. Throughout COVID-19 and civil unrest this last summer, they invited local officials (including the mayor) as well as activists for conversations about issues which directly impact their town. Additionally, their "Pride and Purpose" mantra instills a pride in their location of Richmond, California.
Warped Wing Brewing Company, based in Dayton, Ohio, saw their community undergo many hardships in the summer of 2019. From devastating tornados to a mass-casualty shooting, they jumped into action to support their community. From offering food to first responders to developing a special benefit beer to organizing and hosting blood drives to raising tens of thousands of dollars, they recognized a need to stand up in their community and helped channel energy to those in need. This kind of visibility not only helps the community immediately recover, but also builds trust in the brewery and community.
Riverlands Brewing Company recognized the many artists who were struggling during COVID, and used their digital presence to host virtual concerts. These kinds of initiatives helped maintain (and strengthen) relationships with parters who would have otherwise performed at their club, and helped create a virtual "third space" for the community to gather in during social distancing.
Fargo Brewing Company isn't afraid to get creative in their partnerships with community organizations and initiatives, which has led to them becoming a prominent institution within the city of Fargo. Their initiative with an animal shelter to put dogs available for adoption on the outside of their cans sparked a trend across the country to promote adoption. Their latest initiative to encourage donations toward breast cancer research rewards donors with a specialty pink beer — delivered by the brewer in a pink suit. These kinds of creative initiatives go beyond just hosting a one-night event for a charity. They create lasting partnerships that also bring community members together.
Green Bench Brewing Company in St. Petersburg, Florida regularly partners with local organizations to use their space for free. The local Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter uses their venue for monthly orientations with new volunteers. This summer, they also raised funds for the local African American History Museum as well.
Ancient City Brewing in St. Augustine, Florida recognized that local vendors and stores were struggling amid the COVID-19 shutdowns. To help, they opened their outdoor space free of charge to vendors for an open-air, COVID-compliant market to allow local businesses to sell their goods. This fosters good-will in your community and also signals your organization as a leader among commercial groups.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
This study was conducted as part of a Capstone Project in the Masters of Security & Resilience Studies Program at Northeastern University in Boston.