|
Company Founders & Executive Management
|
|
J. Michael Smith, CEO
CEO and President J. Michael (“Mike”) Smith has more than 20 years of experience as a business leader and CEO. Prior to co founding Carolina Beer & Beverage, LLC in 1997, Smith sold his stake in a successful construction wholesale and metal manufacturing business that he had built from the ground up. After the sale of this business, Smith decided to return to his family’s roots in the beverage industry, of which his family owned one of the largest milk and ice cream production facilities in the Southeast.
Rather than dairy, Smith turned his
attention to the beer industry, and with his business partner, built a brewery in
Mooresville, N.C. In his decade-long role as CEO of Carolina Beer & Beverage, Smith has overseen the
growth of the company and been the leader to redirect and refocus the company’s attention and assets in 2001 into the specialty contract packaging business. While beer remains at the core of the company, through Smith’s focus and cultivation of new business opportunities, the company has experienced more than tenfold growth.
Smith plans all expansions, financial aspects of the company and evaluation of new opportunities in beverage packaging and innovative production technology. He attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he studied business. He is also on the Board of Directors for Philips Academy, a school that caters to special needs middle and high school-aged students.
|
|
|
John Stritch, President
President John Stritch has more than 35 years of experience in the beer and beverage industry. Prior to co founding Carolina Beer & Beverage, LLC, Stritch worked for Miller Brewing Company as a regional sales manager responsible for the highest volume sales territory in the country. His career then took him to the distribution side of the business where he rose to executive positions with Miller distributors in Texas, Colo. and N.C. In his role as President of Carolina Beer & Beverage, Stritch has overseen the expansion of the company’s beer brands and varieties from a single brand, to nearly a dozen award-winning beers sold under the Carolina Blonde and Cottonwood labels.
His leadership has also garnered distribution of the company’s beers in five states, and his relationships with key leaders has established Carolina Blonde’s presence at Charlotte’s Panther’s Stadium and to be served up at all Charlotte Regional Airport bars. Besides his focus on managing the company’s own products, Stritch is also involved in strategic planning for the company’s contract packaging services, and logistics and warehousing for both the beer and contract packaging sides of its business.
He got his start in the business as a helper on a beer truck while attending California Polytechnic University where he earned a Bachelor’s degree. He also studied business at Rice University in Houston, Texas. |
|
|
