Source: Tampa Tribune, Fla., 04/06/1999
By Jerome R. Stockfisch, Tampa Tribune, Fla.
Apr. 6--TAMPA, Fla.--Optimism over a potential reopening of Tampa's Stroh
brewery is spreading, though former employees, officials of their union and
industry insiders are cautiously gauging what a D.G. Yuengling & Son operation
might mean to the area.
Stroh officials are not commenting on any deal. But Dick Yuengling Jr.,
president of the Pottsville, Pa.-based brewery, repeated his plans for the Tampa
plant Monday, saying he hoped "to get this thing full blast" producing 1 million
to 1.5 million barrels a year in five years. Yuengling confirmed last week that
he was negotiating to buy the Stroh plant at 11111 N. 30th St. He said he
expected to close a deal within two weeks.
His initial focus would be supplying phenomenal demand in the Northeast.
Yuengling brands are "flying in parts of Pennsylvania," said Benj Steinman,
publisher of Beer Marketers' Insights in West Nyack, N.Y. "I've talked to many
distributors, and they just couldn't get enough beer."
Yuengling wasn't specific on hiring levels, but said he envisions brewing
perhaps 300,000 to 400,000 barrels a year in Tampa to be shipped to the
Northeast. Yuengling will attempt to tap a local wholesaler to build a sales
network throughout the Southeast.
D.G. Yuengling & Son has a brewery under construction near its flagship
Pennsylvania plant. Concerns that the company views Tampa as a temporary fix
until that second plant comes on line in 2001 are off base, the brewer said.
"That's not our intention, and that's not the type of people we are," Yuengling
said. "We're going to make a tremendous effort to make the Southeastern market a
key Yuengling market."
Teamsters who worked at the plant said they are worried that hiring guarantees
in their severance contract may not apply.
But Yuengling's Pennsylvania brewery is a Teamsters shop with about 100
employees, and the president reiterated his willingness to work with the local
union.
Brian Rothman, an organizer with Local 79 in Tampa, said the local Teamsters
office is attempting to contact Yuengling representatives.
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