Adam Charnack knows the importance of getting his ingredients right, both in brewing and in hiring. Thanks to NCWorks, he’s made his business – and his product – stronger than ever.
Charnack is the co-founder of Hi-Wire Brewing, tucked away in the beautiful mountains of Asheville. His company produces four beers annually, in addition to seasonal selections and in-house-only small batches. Charnack wanted to grow his business, and he was advised to seek out the help of NCWorks to do it. Charnack turned to the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board, a member of the NCWorks initiative. The board told him about On-the-Job Training (OJT), in which an employer hires and trains individuals for jobs while the workforce board provides funding for up to half the cost of each salary. Charnack used the program to bring on two new people – one has since been promoted.
“They’re great,” Charnack said. “The NCWorks program has allowed us to attract and retain talent, and our employees have demonstrated that our commitment to them is a two-way street and that they are top-notch at what they do for us.”
NCWorks also helped Charnack connect to further financial and job-training assistance. Hi-Wire applied for an NCWorks Incumbent Worker Training Grant. This program reimburses employers for the cost of training their workers, helping to produce a stronger workforce and a more profitable business. The brewery received more than $11,000 to train and certify three employees in brewing technology, packaging and process technology, quality control, programmable logic controllers, and stainless welding.
These efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. In June 2015, the Asheville Chamber of Commerce gave its Entrepreneur of the Year Award to Charnack. A month later, Hi-Wire Brewing opened a 27,000-square-foot production facility in Biltmore Village, quadrupling its brew capacity, tripling its number of employees, and enabling regional distribution and even greater consistency with its products.
Article sourced from SYNC, produced by the N.C. Department of Commerce.
