Leading beer industry media group recognizes Highland’s community impact after Helene’s historic floods.
December 12, 2024
Marina Del Rey, CA – Brewbound named Highland Brewing President / CEO, Leah Ashburn, the 2024 Person of the Year at the beer-focused multi-media group’s annual conference. This award is reserved for those in the industry creating lasting, substantial, and positive change in the community. See the award listing.
Prior to the award, Brewbound’s Jess Infante and Justin Kendall hosted a podcast with Ashburn about impacts from Hurricane Helene on the brewing industry in Western NC. It had been almost six weeks since most of Asheville lost potable city water. And almost as long since Asheville’s original brewery stopped brewing and became a community hub. Listen to the podcast.
Highland Brewing is located on a hilltop five minutes east of downtown Asheville. The property is a stone’s throw from the wrath of the typically small and peaceful Swannanoa River, and ten minutes from the ravaged Biltmore Village and River Arts District. In all, seven relief organizations stored supplies at Highland, some ran operations, and a neighborhood and local zoo used the property for egress due to a washed-out bridge.
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Ashburn insists the award belongs to the Highland team and far beyond. “I am surrounded by heroes, from my husband and our team, to the NC brewers who dropped everything to help, to the Minnesota brewers with a tractor trailer full of supplies two and a half months after the storm,’ said Ashburn. “Together we are capable of incredible things.”
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About Highland Brewing
Highland Brewing was founded in 1994 by retired engineer and entrepreneur Oscar Wong, establishing it as the pioneer of Asheville, NC’s now booming craft beer industry. Proudly regional, Highland’s beers are distributed in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. Highland is committed to quality and sustainability, boasting the third largest solar array in an American craft brewery. Today, the company is led by Wong’s daughter, Leah Wong Ashburn, and serves as the largest family-owned brewery native to the Southeast. Located in a rehabilitated manufacturing facility on a hilltop, the brewery affords space for thousands of visitors to enjoy limited release beers, tours, and live music. In addition, the Event Center and Rooftop are available for private events. For more information, visit www.highlandbrewing.com
About Brewbound
Published by BevNET.com Inc., Brewbound is a leading multi-media industry trade publication providing comprehensive coverage of the beer space, analysis of industry trends and in-depth interviews with industry leaders. In addition to providing daily news, Brewbound also gathers entrepreneurs and executives to exchange ideas, discuss the state of the industry and hear strategies for succeeding in the alcohol beverage segment via a series of nationwide meetups, multi-day business conferences, live-streamed shows and podcasts.
