After laying vacant and abandoned for 36 years, the historical hometown brewery of Potosi, Wisconsin opened its doors again. The story leading up to its return and of its impact on the community and surrounding region is a perfect case study of how the CED-SS model can apply to rural communities across the country.
Potosi, a village of 700 right off the shores of the Mississippi River’s stretches along Wisconsin’s southeastern borders with Iowa and Illinois, is fondly known as the “Catfish Capital of Wisconsin” and was originally a lead mining town. But the heart and soul of the village lies in a 30,000 square foot facility just west of Main Street: the home of the Potosi Brewing Company.
Started in 1852, before goods and services could be easily transported over long distances, the beer was originally meant to quench the thirst of the miners in the local area. “At its peak,” though, “the Potosi Brewery had grown to be the fifth largest in Wisconsin, shipping a variety of labels inluding Good Old Potosi, Holiday, Garten Brau, Augsburger, and others to destinations throughout the United States.” The brewery became the main employer in the little village; every resident of Potosi had a connection to the town brewery.
That was, until it closed down in 1972, a victim of increasing operating costs and broader market forces.
And there it laid, empty and abandoned, until it was bought in 1995 by Gary David, a local artist and woodworker (not to be confused with one Larry David). It was an uphill battle from the start: there was widespread damage to nearly every building in the complex and a ton of deferred maintenance, all of which took almost three years to rebuild and get operational again.
There was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but huge progress was made in 1999 during a community meeting that generated widespread buy-in from many residents. “Numerous suggestions, as well as additional support,” was offered from numerous community members, one of which was the creation of the Potosi Brewery Foundation to “reconnect the community to a part of its cultural heritage.”The Foundation, headed by Mr. David, took the lead on the $7.5 million restoration project to both maintain the historical significance of the brewery while getting it operational and competitve.
The project got a huge boost in momentum when the American Breweriana Association announced in 2004 that Potosi would be home to the new National Brewery Museum on the site of the brewery complex. This gave the project enormous momentum and already provided some tangible benefits for the community, through increased tourism revenues and visitors to the village.
The grand reopening of the brewery was in 2008, and it’s seen great success for the company, foundation, and community since then. To pay homage to the rich past of the town, the incredible community effort that revitalized the brewery, and the bright future ahead for the village, the brewery hung a sign that proudly proclaims: “Because of YOU, the good ol’ days are back.”
“While it is the brewery’s product – beer – that gets the headlines and brings in the visitors, Potosi’s accomplishments are rooted in the people of the village who revived and re-branded an important part of their history, embraced historic preservation, and developed an unique business model that has led to its success today.”
This is where the CED-SS model can come into play. Frank Fiorenza, the Mayor of Potosi, categorized this connection well: “The brewery project was never an end in itself…I always saw it as a catalyst for additional economic development in the village.” The project has always been bigger than just rebuilding and reopening the brewery complex; it’s been a rebuilding and reopening process for the community, as well.
The policy intervention, in this scenario, would be the process of redeveloping and reopening the brewery with the involvement and support of the community throughout. This, clearly, is aimed at directly improving the village’s economic capital, through new businesses, new jobs, and new sources of income for the community.
“During the first year of its reopening, the brewery had about 50,000 visitors from every state and over thirty countries. In 2012, it is estimated that over 70,000 people passed through the small village to visit the brewery and museum, as well as to enjoy the variety of outdoor recreational opportunities in the area such as swimming, hiking, and fishing…In its [first] four years of operation, the brewery has provided a major economic boost to Potosi, creating 70 direct jobs and showing consistent financial returns from an increase in beer and merchandise sales.”
A 2009 Economic Impact Assessment, written by the Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and the Grant County Economic Development Corporation, found that the brewery project had a “$4.3 million impact on the region, generated by wages, beer and merchandise sales, and additional tourist revenue.”
The redevelopment of the brewery was also aimed at improving the cultural capital of the village, as it preserved and revitalized an institution that is central to the community’s culture and history. Having the brewery opened up the door, as well, for the brewery museum, along with a transportation museum and an “Interpretive Center highlighting the historical and economic importance of the nearby Mississippi River” to Potosi’s history. There is also a growing culture of brewing and beer in the village now, as it holds its BrewFest every summer to brign the community and other locals together in an event for the entire village.
All of these developments, which grew out of the brewery reopening, clearly provided a strong economic and cultural foundation for the community, and offered wide opportunities for everyone in the village and the surrounding areas. Let’s revisit our earlier definition of opportunity:
“[Building opportunity for all] require[s] a fundamental change in the governing philosophy of a community, a shift in perspective on local policymaking, in order to reach for the full potential of everyone together. A focus on the collective benefit rather than the individual benefit.”
There are a lot of ways that the brewery redevelopment project could have focused exclusively on the benefit of a few individuals; however, it focused completely on the benefit and improvement of the community as a whole. The decision to redevelop the complex, also, was not the decision of the normal local policymakers in a hierarchical way, but was mobilizied through the collective interest and action of the local residents around the project in order to improve the general well-being of the town and to provide more opportunities for all.
And, finally in our CED-SS model, there’s the long-term improvement in quality of life over time:
“While the sign outside the brewery proclaims that Potosi’s ‘good ol’ days’ have returned, the town’s economic development strategies that are rooted in a creative approach to main street redevelopment have set Potosi on a path to enjoy many more good days long into the future.”
And it all started with the community getting behind redeveloping one project. It can happen just like that, and Potosi will reap the benefits from that process for many more good days to come.
Nexus Point: Social Sustainability and Community Economic Development 