Craft brewer Deschutes eyeing Asheville area for brewery

Another major craft brewery is looking at locating a large operation in the Asheville area, which is among several sites in contention.

Representatives from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, the sixth-largest craft brewer in the country, visited Asheville in December and plan a second trip in late May, according to company president Michael LaLonde, who spoke highly of the mountain region.

"The quality of life is great out there," LaLonde said. "We loved all the breweries that are in and around Asheville. We went on a number of tours and met some great people. The restaurant scene is pretty incredible, as well. Very attractive to us."

Deschutes distributes in 28 states, but it's looking for a brewery and distribution center that would allow it to expand to the Southeast and East Coast.

Among the sites company officials visited was the 137-acre parcel Buncombe County recently bought from Henderson County for $6.8 million to entice an undisclosed economic development prospect.

"We're looking at a number of locations in a number of states," LaLonde said. "We're looking in North Carolina, we've looked in Virginia, we've looked in Tennessee, as well as South Carolina."

The brewery also looked at sites in the Greenville and Charleston, South Carolina, areas, LaLonde said. The company was impressed with Greenville.

"Unfortunately, we weren't there for a real long time," LaLonde said. "What they've done to the downtown area, where they've put in the amphitheater and the art down there, I thought it was a really nice city as well. It's pretty amazing what they've done with that (Falls Park on the Reedy) creek area."

Founded in 1988 as a brew pub in Bend, Deschutes is still family and employee-owned.

The company plans to open an East Coast operation by 2019, LaLonde said, "so we have a little time, but not much." He said the search and securing land would likely take about a year, with construction taking another year.

Plans call for a brewery that could produce about 200,000 barrels of beer annually, with the capability for growth. That would require about 100 employees for the brewery and packaging operation, and another 100 or so if it adds a brewpub on site.

Bend is an outdoorsy community with great natural beauty, and LaLonde said the brewery is looking for something similar in the Southeast.

"We're looking for great culture, a lot of outdoor activities — a place where employees who live here in Bend would love to go and move to an East Coast location," LaLonde said. "We think that's really important so we can continue to develop a culture similar to the one in Bend, with the same values and mission."

Buncombe County officials have remained mum on the identity of the economic development prospect, but a brewer seems like a natural addition to the area, which already has two dozen breweries.

Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Chairman David Gantt and commissioner Brownie Newman have said buying the Bent Creek property was necessary to "stay in the game," as far as attracting the client.

Newman said previously that should the company agree to come to Buncombe, it would provide "living wage jobs, jobs that would support middle-class families for decades to come," adding they would be "clean" jobs with little or no pollution.

On Friday, Gantt said he could not say anything about an economic prospect.

"It would not be appropriate for me to talk about it," he said. "We are working hard to get a good prospect in on the Ferry Road property (Bent Creek), and we'll keep fighting as long as we're in the running."

He said it's "a complicated situation" and he looks forward to talking about the process once a decision has been made.

"We've got to increase the good jobs base, so we're going to hit it hard," Gantt said. "People expect that, and we need to deliver."

Buncombe County Commissioner Mike Fryar, who has been critical of the secrecy surrounding the land deal, said Friday he's got to leave any details about a potential company "in the background."

LaLonde said 28 breweries operate in the Bend area, a grouping that helps all of them thrive. So Asheville's vibrant beer scene is attractive.

"I think it's similar to any cluster where people learn from one another — they all get better, they share different techniques and ingredients and thoughts, and everybody just seems to get better," LaLonde said. "There are 28 breweries in central Oregon, and that's for 130,000-150,000 people."