Boulevard breaks ground on $20 million expansion

Modern Brewery Age, March 28, 2005

Boulevard Brewing Co. of Kansas City, MO, has announced a $20 million expansion project. The new three-story, 70,000-square-foot facility will be connected by an elevated walkway to the company's original brewery. It will house a new 150-barrel brewhouse, packaging equipment, administrative offices and hospitality rooms.

The company invited local official and representatives from Boulevard's 11-state distributor network to participate in the groundbreaking ceremonies.

In a press release, John McDonald, president of Boulevard Brewing, recalled how his business plan had projected that the brewery might one day sell 6,000 barrels of beer a year. "This year, we expect to sell over 100,000 barrels," McDonald said, "so I guess you could say I underestimated."

The brewery's current capacity is 110,000 barrels a year, McDonald said, but the expansion will increase capacity to 600,000 barrels a year. Scheduled for completion in the summer of 2006, the expansion ultimately will create 100 new jobs.

Bob Sullivan, the company's chief marketing officer, said Boulevard Brewing hopes to continue growing at its historical rate of 15 percent to 20 percent a year and to do so by concentrating on its existing markets in the central Midwest.

Boulevard distributes its beers in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, South Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota, North Dakota and Illinois.