Alaskan Brewing Company Taps New CEO

Alaskan Brewing Company's long-time Chief Operations Officer, Linda Thomas, has been named the new CEO of the company. The founders, Geoff and Marcy Larson, will dedicate more time towards "building the pioneering legacy of Alaskan, focusing on innovation and the spirit of craft brewing," according to a release. 

"Alaskan Brewing is growing and exploring many opportunities, which pulls Geoff and I further afield," said co-founder Marcy Larson. "We really rely on Linda Thomas here at our home office, and feel moving her into the pivotal CEO position will give us more stability for solid future growth. Linda has been excellent at providing organization and infrastructure to our management group, so it makes sense and we trust her to step into the lead slot here at the brewery."

Geoff Larson will remain President and Chair of the Board, and will focus on sharing Alaskan's "Beer Powered Beer" concept industry wide. "This is a cutting edge use of the brewers' spent grain that turns waste into fuel, and is revolutionary to the beer industry," Larson stated.

According to Larson, in Thomas' 22 years with Alaskan, "she has been instrumental in developing a financially sound company, ranked in the top 1% of the over 4,000 breweries in the U.S. in 2015 according to the Brewer's Association. She led the development of the brewery's Employee Stock Ownership Program, or ESOP, and has fostered a talented and highly dedicated crew that is poised to build on the strong foundation for this remote craft brewery based in Alaska."

"Our brewery has so many opportunities to grow our leadership in the craft industry here in the U.S. and even internationally, and I'm excited to drive that train forward, while keeping to the core values and mission of Alaskan Brewing," Thomas said. "We have met countless challenges of doing business in Alaska over the years, creating an internal strength and sense of pride in our company, and my goal is to have that success and pride continue for future generations of Alaskans and all stakeholders involved."