Biz Buzz

Buzz from Corporate

Every Friday we salute an Associate who demonstrates our core values by posting his or her photo and background on Heidelberg’s social media channels Facebook and Twitter. Congratulations to these Associates who were featured in August:

August 2: Monica Furnish, Kentucky – Accounts Receivable
August 9: Ty Brown, Columbus – Beer District Sales Manager
August 16: Daniel Plouse, Cleveland – Operations Associate
August 23: Amy Ishtewi, Ohio Valley – Customer Service
August 30: Ed Long, Youngstown – Driver

→ TASTE OF THE TIMES, Heidelberg’s quarterly craft beer publication, has been produced for Autumn/Winter, with customized content for each market. Communications Director Mike Vander Woude writes the copy and Patty Robisch of Lion’s Edge designs the graphics. Each booklet showcases up to 15 to 20 of our craft beer partners.

Buzz from Lorain

→ Red Stripe’s Shoreline promotion this summer offered consumers a chance to win a trip to Jamaica. On premise beer sales support Associate Chelsea Simon spearheaded the effort and beer sales professionals worked hard to engage consumers with “Instagram-worthy” POS. Multiple lakeside accounts featured surf boards, stereo speaker walls, themed corn hole boards, and a smoking van to bring us the full “Jamaican” experience. A big shout-out to the beer team of Eric Blanchette, Pam Ashley, ValThayer, AJ Cammaleri, Alan Carnes, George Henry, Steve Geyer and Mike Rosso. The promotion triggered fond memories for consumers who swapped their own experiences of traveling to Jamaica and drinking the pale lager Red Stripe!

→ On Premise Beer Manager Meghan Miller and sales professional Val Thayer planned and executed a Sierra Nevada tap takeover in July at Port Clinton retailer Gem Beach. Over 80 flights of Sierra Nevada were sold during this fifth annual promotion. Meghan is pictured below (far right) discussing Sierra Nevada with consumers.

Buzz from Cleveland

→ The Cleveland Spirits division hosted its annual Spirits show on July 29 at the downtown Merwin’s Wharf showcasing handcrafted cocktails and tasting offerings.

→ Browns and Brownies: On August 8, in honor of the Cleveland Browns first pre-season game, the administrative team participated in a brownie bake-off. Each office administrator was responsible for putting their own flare on an American classic.

LEFT-TO-RIGHT ARE PAUL DOERGER, VIKTORIA MERCADO,
JENIA TOLBERT, NICOLE HOOD, MARIE HEMLINGER, CONNIE HARGET,
KIM TRAVIS, KATHIANA DEJESUS AND CHELSEA D’AMICO.

THE STARTING LINEUP – YUM!

→ Spirits Manager Adam Acuff conducted a Bourbon Tasting on August 13 at Osso Farm Restaurant answering all bourbon related questions and allowing customers to sample some of our amazing offerings. During this presentation he displayed tips on how to incorporate high proof spirits into homemade cocktails.

→ Heidelberg and Wine Trends participated in The Barrington Napa Wine Classic on August 17. An elegant summer evening was enjoyed by participants with gourmet food, an energetic youth musical theatre performance, luxury car rides and a sampling of the finest wines from Napa Valley and around the world.

→ Cleveland hosted the annual Fine Wine Show on August 19, offering buyers a beautiful backdrop at Blue Point Grill with smooth jazz filling the air. We showcased an array of sophisticated, elegant wines; needless to say we had a great turn out!

→ On August 17, Cleveland celebrated our annual company picnic at Wiegand Lake Park. Tons of sun, fun, laughter, family friendly games and giveaways made this event a success!

Buzz from Cincinnati

→ A new “Lunch & Learn” series kicked off on August 21 with Craft Beer Brand Manager Erik Braunleading a Fall Beer Tasting. The “students” were treated with wings from local restaurant Wild Mike’s, followed by a Years of Recognition Ceremony honoring Associates celebrating milestone anniversaries.

ERIK BRAUN, CRAFT BRAND MANAGER, LEADS THE LUNCH AND LEARN THROUGH A FALL BEER TASTING.

(LEFT-TO-RIGHT): CINCINNATI RECOGNIZED THESE ASSOCIATES DURING THE YEARS OF RECOGNITION CEREMONY. ROBERT GARDINER, CORPORATE BUSINESS ANALYST (5 YEARS); BARB STINDT, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT (20 YEARS); AND JENNIFER GREENE, ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE (5 YEARS). ASSOCIATES ARE JOINED BY AL VONTZ III and TOBY COSTON.

CELEBRATING THE ALLOCATION PRE-SELL BLITZ WRAP UP FOR OPUS ONE (LEFT-TO-RIGHT) ARE MARK SCHNEIDER, KELLY KNAFEL,CATHY SPATT, STEPHANIE MALOF, STACEY MEYER, OPUS ONE REGIONAL MANAGER GINA VOCI, LINDSEY STELZER, MEGAN MALONEYAND IAN McDONALD. ALSO PARTICIPATING IN THE BLITZ WERE GORDON DRAZNIKAND MARY HORN.

Buzz from Toledo

→ Heidelberg was mentioned in a recent Toledo Bladestory about our great wine selections for the American Cancer Society’s third annual Dinner on Huran Street. Several local chefs took inspiration for the evening’s menu from Toledo’s Sister Cities.

→ U.S. Congressman Bob Latta visited our Toledo facility on August 7. A member of the Energy and Commerce committee, he has participated in recent hearings on drug and alcohol impaired driving (our industry is asking for better testing for marijuana). We also talked about making permanent the current tax cut for “S” Corp/”Pass through” businesses; the three-tier system for regulating alcohol; and keeping restrictions on shipping alcohol (we do not think the U.S. postal system should be allowed to deliver alcohol). Thanks to WSWA for setting up the visit and Greg Maurer, Heidelberg GM in Columbus and corporate Legislative Director, for attending.

LEFT-TO-RIGHT: RYAN MONTRIE, TOM McHUGH, CONGRESSMAN BOB LATTA, GREG MAURER AND RYAN MASTERS

→ PICNIC FUN! Toledo’s family picnic took place August 11 at the Toledo Zoo. It looks like everyone had a great time!

Buzz from Columbus

THE COLUMBUS EMPLOYEE BENEFITS MEETING ON AUGUST 7 WAS A BIG SUCCESS, SAYS ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER VICTORIA BORK, THANKS TO THE GREAT COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE ENTIRE HEIDELBERG ADMIN TEAM, OUR AMY CUNNINGHAM, THE IT DEPARTMENT, BENEFITS PROVIDER HORAN AND 5/3 BANK. ZOOM WAS ADDED FOR ASSOCIATES WHO WORK MORE THAN AN HOUR AWAY FROM THE OFFICE, AND THE MEETING WAS RECORDED AND LOOPED ONTO THE TV MONITOR IN THE EMPLOYEE LOUNGE FOR EARLY MORNING DRIVERS AND LATE-NIGHT SHIFT ASSOCIATES. THANKS TO EVERYONE!

SEEING DOUBLE: WALMART BEER AND WINE DEPARTMENT MANAGER COREY (CENTER) WAS SEEING DOUBLE WHEN TWINS GRANT NOVOSELSKI, BEER SALES PROFESSIONAL (LEFT) AND TWIN BROTHER COLLIN NOVOSELSKI, WINE SALES PROFESSIONAL (RIGHT) SHOWED UP AT THE SAME TIME TO BUILD WINE AND BEER DISPLAYS IN THE STORE!

Buzz from Youngstown

NEWS SALES PROFESSIONALS AND MANAGERS ATTENDED A TOUR AND TASTE AT THE WESTERN RESERVE DISTILLERY IN LAKEWOOD ON JULY 26. A VERY INFORMATIVE DAY WAS LED BY KEVIN THOMAS, CO-FOUNDER, CEO AND MASTER DISTILLER. A BIG THANK YOU TO KEVIN AND HIS TEAM FOR A GREAT JOB WITH TEAM YOUNGSTOWN!