- Clifford Forrest is the buyer of Pittsburgh Brewing Co., we confirmed.
He’s is the owner and president of Rosebud Mining Co., which he founded in 1979. Under his direction, Rosebud has become Pennsylvania’s No. 3 underground coal producer, employing more than 1,400 people in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Verus Investment Partners sold the150-year-old brewer, as we reported yesterday. It had acquired the company in 2011, and Richard Moreau, a partner, told us Verus had enabled the company to return to positive revenue growth and was successful in expanding sales of Iron City and other brews outside Western Pennsylvania.J.J
We caught up with Brian Walsh, president, who told us he had signed a long-term employment contract and that “Forrest intends to own the business for some time. He has a nostalgic passion for the business,” and will be hiring several new employees.
Those new employees will be primarily sales and marketing, as the company will build on its sponsorship of local sports teams, including the Pittsburg Pirates and the Penguins. “We need more marketers to drive a second message of brand equity,” Walsh said, “and we’re going to spend more time and energy on the on-trade with male and female sampling teams to bring awareness of the brands and their authenticity.”
Walsh is looking to find and source a brewpub in Pittsburgh, which would give the company “a cool, special brewing feeling” as well as drive the heritage of the brands.
Among the more recent developments affecting Pittsburgh Brewing is sponsorships of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Penguins, as well as launching Block House Brewing to make and market small craft brews.
In chatting with Walsh, we noted that the time may be right for a resurgence by Pittsburgh Brewing, since a new generation of drinkers is emerging, and we all know no one wants to drink their father’s beer.
“We’re getting feedback that Iron City isn’t my father’s beer,” Walsh responded, “but it is my grandfather’s beer and he’s a cool guy. We’re doing really well with legal drinking age young adults.”
Pittsburgh Brewing ceased brewing in Pittsburgh in 2009, before Verus acquired the company. It’s currently brewed at City Brewing Co.’s Latrobe, Pa., plant. Walsh told us the company will continue to brew its beer in Latrobe, which was the site of Rolling Rock’s brewing facility. “Half the workers there are former Rolling Rock employees, and the other half are former Pittsburgh Brewing workers,” he said.
Walsh, who over a 30-year career in the industry has worked for all the major players, said he was excited with Forrest’s ownership. “Forrest has shown he can build a solid business, with good, solid employees,” he said. It’s a great sense to work for someone who values employees first.”
Indeed, on Forrest’s Rosebud Mining Co. website says the company says since its founding in 1979 Rosebud “has strived to be the best company we can be. That dedication starts with hiring the best people who take a personal stake in adhering to the safest, most productive ways to do their job.”
“You can’t build a great company without great people. And when your people are your greatest asset, you make sure you take care of them,” it says. “Their desire to do a great job and give each day their best effort separates our company from our competition, and has allowed us to grow.