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Pastimes : BEER -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Vendit™ who wrote (1032)	4/30/1999 11:20:00 AM
From: SIer formerly known as Joe B.	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 3689

I don't know what to make of this but I won't be drinking any, ever! Gay Pride Beer, Launched in Massachusetts, To Provide Platform for Gay Issues Business/Lifestyle Editors NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 30, 1999--Today at the Grotto, Northampton's gay bar and dance club, Jenn Lewis Wolper, president and CEO of the J. Lewis Company, Inc., officially introduced Gay Pride Beer. The launch marks the first time in the international history of beer, according to trademark research, that a beer label uses the word "gay" specifically to address the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender (GLBT) Community. Wolper has established the J. Lewis Endowment Fund which will use a percentage of company sales for scholarships and for donations to organizations that serve the GLBT population. "With hate crimes on the rise, and gay rights being challenged, we intend to use our position to help reverse discrimination and foster a better understanding of different lifestyles, " explains Wolper. The Endowment will be the first gay-oriented fund to be administered by The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. A light, English-style pale ale, brewed by New Hampshire Custom Brewers (NHCB), Gay Pride Beer is initially being distributed as an on-premise beer to bars and restaurants in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The first 3500 cases will be shipped in commemorative green bottles. In Phase II of the start up, back labels will carry accounts from gay history. Wolper anticipates a healthy response from the GLBT Community. When she researched the idea, she found an untapped market. By late March '99, distributors responding to calls from establishments whose clientele had heard about the new beer via the grapevine began ordering more cases than NHCB was scheduled to brew. Larry Bowse, president of the New Hampshire Microbrewers' Association and NHCB, said, "We knew this was going to be big, but it's catching on more quickly than we thought." The J. Lewis Company does not see itself in competition with the giant beer makers. "We are the real thing, not a straight company vying for the GLBT Community's patronage." According to Wolper's business plan, the likely consumer loyalty the Gay Pride label will inspire creates a solid opportunity for market share and growth. Wolper named the company after her Russian immigrant grandfather, Lewis Wolper, a respected entrepreneur who owned large sections of Springfield and Amherst (MA) in the '30s and helped many others get started in business. Says Wolper, "Even though he died before I was born, he inspired me to create a socially-conscious business and to manage from my heart." . Born in Springfield, MA, Wolper agonized during high school with the growing realization that she was a homosexual and "came out" to her family at the age of 26. The first nurse thanologist in Western MA, she also helped develop the AIDS critical care map used in Governor Dukakis' administration. Says Wolper, "I intend to make a little history, have a little fun, and make a difference in the GLBT Community." The J. Lewis Company is a gay-owned development and marketing company, specializing in micro-marketing and promoting distinctive malt beverages and other products to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and gay-friendly population. The J. Lewis Company endorses the gay Community as a viable market, encourages employees and associates to volunteer for groups that address GLBT issues, and is committed to establishing choices in economic patterns to keep resources within the GLBT Community. --30--sg/bos* CONTACT: Fletcher Associates Nancy Fletcher, 413/256-3471 KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: FOODS/BEVERAGES Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet with Hyperlinks to your home page. URL: businesswire.com * end of story *