In the summer of 2023, United Nations secretary general António Guterres warned that the Earth has entered “the era of global boiling.” This might hit close to home whether you’ve faced extended extreme heat events, widespread flooding, wildfires, or supply chain disruptions that has made it harder to get the quantity or quality of inputs you needed for production. This presentation is a realist’s guide to resilience planning from Brewers Association Sustainability Ambassador Matt Gacioch.

After describing the scope of the problem, the majority of this seminar will be spent on solutions. We will tackle responses to climate risk using the framework of the Five Pillars of Climate Resilience, and we will describe risk quantification methods to help attendees understand the scope of their business risk. Attendees will be provided with a template for strategy development, effort prioritization, resource allocation, and training and communication so that resiliency planning efforts can start immediately.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize why climate resiliency planning is necessary for all breweries and how to get buy-in from others at your brewery
• Establish a framework for resilience planning
• Obtain a risk calculator to understand the most pressing risks
• Identify priority issue areas
• Walk away with a resilience planning template
• Design a basic structure for undertaking resiliency initiatives

About the Speaker

Matt Gacioch, Staff Economist

Brewers Association

Matt Gacioch (he/him) has spent his career exploring the opportunity of sustainability and data-driven strategy within the craft beer industry, the built environment, and businesses of all sizes. As the staff economist at the Brewers Association (BA), he helps members make sense of the economics that enable their businesses to thrive. He has also served as the BA sustainability ambassador, building tools and providing resources for breweries at every stage of their sustainability journey. Prior to joining the BA, he directed growth operations in the tech industry, was a sustainability consultant, and was director of sustainability and marketing for Short's Brewing Company in beautiful Northern Michigan.