When do you start planning to hire support staff for a brewery that has yet to have its first brew day?
That’s a question Fast Friends Beer Company founder Dave Childress knows the answer to. It’s been about two years since he announced his plans to raise funding for the design and construction of a brewpub in the southern part of the Austin, Texas I-35 corridor — a place where no other craft breweries currently have a presence.
Construction is underway, and the University of Texas graduate is starting to make the rounds to find people interested in working at his new brewpub.
Brewer Magazine caught up with Childress and the core members of his leadership team at a recent job fair, where he was manning a booth and chatting with people who stopped by.
“We’re at the pre-revenue, pre-opening phase and we’re trying to use our time right now where we’re not generating revenue to plant seeds and develop relationships,” Childress said. “We’re looking for people to staff the front of house and culinary teams. Our brew team is pretty well established.
“At this juncture, it’s all about finding alignment, culture fit, value fit and just being able to communicate with people who are interested in working in a craft beer space.”
Childress previously spearheaded Common Space Brewery in Hawthorne, California, and TEN20 Craft Brewery in Louisville, Kentucky.
The goal date for hiring support staff contrasts greatly with that of brew team leadership. The company announced Keith Shaw, former head brewer at Modern Times Anaheim, would take on that role for Fast Friends back in January 2022.
“Everything is triggered by our first brew day,” Childress said. “We’re about 6-8 weeks away from our first brew day, and worst case, at that point we’ll be about a month away from opening.
When brew day hits, we’ll start ramping up hiring, especially with our front of house. Hiring hospitality and kitchen workers will be important, but at this point it’s getting through construction that’s really driving the train.”
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