By Chris Bavender
If you’re looking for a place to belly up to the bar and order a microbrew in Boone County, the area has gone from a beer desert to swimming in hops. Four breweries have opened in the county since April 2016 as well as a distillery offering gin and vodka.
A microbrewery campaign by the Boone County Economic Development Corp. helped attract the breweries to the county.
“To us, it didn’t make any sense Boone County is the fastest-growing community in the state and has a growing millennial population, but when you looked at a map of the Indy metro region, everyone else had at least one microbrewery but us,” said Molly Whitehead, executive director of the Boone Co. Economic Development Corp. “Our initial goal was just to get one microbrewery to locate in Boone County. Needless to say, we’ve been pleasantly surprised by the results.”
Noble Order in Zionsville was the first brewery to open in Boone County. Lafayette-based People’s Brewery opened in Lebanon while Books & Brews set up shop in Zionsville. Moontown Brewing Company recently opened in Whitestown.
“Our goal with bringing microbreweries to Boone County is ultimately to improve the quality of life we have here. It’s difficult to quantify, but quality of life does matter in economic development, especially with low unemployment,” Whitehead said. “If we can get people to live here, we can start to show CEOs, site selectors and other decision makers the workforce they need is in their backyard.”
The influx of breweries raises the question whether the county can support others down the road.
“This is a topic we see debated in the public realm and a discussion we have internally, too. Nationally and within Indiana, there has been enormous growth from microbreweries in the past few years, and some would suggest there is still more room for growth,” Whitehead said. “As for Boone County, we’re thrilled Zionsville, Lebanon and Whitestown each now have a microbrewery. There might be room for one or two more. After taking a bit of a hiatus on marketing to microbreweries, we are planning to re-start those marketing efforts soon.”
