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Boulder, CO • January 10, 2017 — Best-selling author and leadership guru Alison Levine and brewing icon Dick Cantwell have been tapped to deliver the keynote speeches for the 2017 Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America® (CBC). Presented annually by the Brewers Association, CBC is the industry’s largest gathering, bringing together thousands of brewing professionals and will be held in Washington, D.C. from April 10-13. The dual presenters will speak during the two general sessions offered at CBC.

“CBC attendees enjoy hearing from voices within the brewing community and outside of it as well,” said Paul Gatza, director, Brewers Association. “The combination of Dick, a prolific and venerable brewer, and Alison, a trailblazer and experienced risk taker, will offer attendees valuable insight as they navigate opportunities and challenges in both brewing and business.”

Levine is a former Wall Street executive and avid explorer and mountaineer. She has climbed the world’s highest peaks, skied across the Arctic Circle and in 2008 made history as the first American to complete a 600-mile traverse from west Antarctica to the South Pole. For three years, Levine served as an adjunct professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point in the Behavioral Sciences and Leadership Department and in 2005, founded the Climb High Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of unemployed women in Africa. Levine’s authentic messages of survival and success in some of the most extreme circumstances translate and remain applicable on the mountains and in fast-paced business environments alike. She is the author of New York Times’ Bestseller On the Edge and is the subject of the PBS documentary Living Courageously (2007).

As one of the industry’s well-respected and experienced craft brewers, Cantwell co-founded Elysian Brewing Company in 1996, where he served as head brewer until its sale to Anheuser-Busch in 2015. During his tenure, Elysian was named Large Brewpub of the Year three times at the Great American Beer Festival® (1999, 2003 and 2004), and in 2004, he received the BA’s Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing. Additionally, Cantwell has written for various beer magazines, including The New Brewer, Beer Advocate and American Brewer. His book publishing credits include Barley Wine (with Fal Allen), The Brewers Association’s Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery, Second Edition and Wood & Beer: A Brewer’s Guide (with New Belgium’s Peter Bouckaert). He most recently served as Quality Ambassador for the Brewers Association, supporting and advocating to uphold quality in craft beer.

Contact: Abby Berman Cohen, on behalf of the Brewers Association, (646) 695-7044

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About the Brewers Association

The Brewers Association is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The Brewers Association (BA) represents more than 70 percent of the brewing industry, and its members make more than 99 percent of the beer brewed in the U.S. The BA organizes events including the World Beer CupSM, Great American Beer Festival®, Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America®, SAVOR℠: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, Homebrew Con, National Homebrew Competition and American Craft Beer Week® The BA publishes The New Brewer® magazine and its Brewers Publications division is the largest publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for today’s craft brewers and homebrewers.

Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com and about homebrewing via the BA’s American Homebrewers Association and the free Brew Guru™ mobile app. Follow us on Twitter.

Press Credentials

Media wishing to attend and cover the Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America must apply for press credentials.

The Brewers Association is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital/familial status. The BA complies with provisions of Executive Order 11246 and the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor.