New Belgium Brewing Co. is laying off 28 employees. Three are in Asheville, N.C., where the company opened a brewery in 2016. The rest of the layoffs are happening at the the brewery in Fort Collins.

The layoffs make up less than 4 percent of New Belgium’s workforce. New Belgium employs more than 400 workers in Fort Collins and 740 nationwide.

These changes were not driven by a decline in our business; in fact, our depletions grew in 2017 vs. 2016 which is admirable given industry headwinds. However, beginning in 2013, we expanded our staff to support a brewery about 40% larger than New Belgium is today, and we haven’t yet achieved our goals in the face of changing dynamics in craft brewing.

The laid-off employees received a severance package that included up to 20 weeks of pay. The company will also repurchase New Belgium shares held as part of the company’s employee stock-ownership plan.

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