Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewing is now employee owned!

They made the announcement today to all of their employees yesterday at their annual winter retreat and made the official announcement today.

The press release, posted on BeerPulse.com, has more details, but New Belgium has been partly owned by its workers since 2000. Co-founder, Kim Jordan and her family held controlling interest…until this week when they told their 456 employees the news at their annual winter retreat.

As of today, New Belgium Brewing will be 100% employee owned.

Jordan plans to remain CEO for the long-term and the executive team at New Belgium will continue in its current form. The Fort Collins brewer is currently building a second facility in Asheville, North Carolina that will begin beer production in 2015. More than 150 additional hires are expected by full build out in Asheville.

Congratulations to all the New Belgium employees!

I think.

I don’t know much about how that will affect all of their lives or how they do business, but from everything I read, it should be a great thing. So, cheers!

And New Belgium must be doing something right, they started in a basement back in 1991, and now they are the third largest craft brewer in the country. And probably one of the most coveted places to work in Fort Collins.

More From 99.9 The Point