Dan has over 35 years of experience in the beer industry. His sales and management experience are an important addition to Mine Shaft Brewing. Dan has a unique perspective on the industry having vast experience in both the supplier side of the business as well as the distributor side of the business. He has held key management positions with Miller/Coors (Business Development Manager) and Heineken USA (Zone Sales Manager) and worked with Stroh and Schlitz Brewing companies. Also, Dan has 16 years of experience working on the distributor side of the business. He was a Director of Sales, General Sales Manager, and General Manager at three large distributor operations. With his extensive experience, he has developed some excellent distributor/supplier relationships.

John brings a wealth of career experience as a CPA, CEO and CFO. He started an outsourcing company in 1992 that grew to $12MM in five years and was named one of the Inc. Magazine’s “Fastest Growing Companies” in 1997. John merged the company and became CEO in 2001, then sold his share in 2004. John graduated with a degree in Accounting and spent six years with one of the “Big 8” CPA firms. Afterwards, he spent ten years with two large organizations as CFO and gained experience in operations, mergers and new business creation. 

Charlie brings multiple years of experience in the regional and territory sales and has been a top achiever in all his previous sales management roles. In addition to Charlie’s 7-plus years on professional golf tours that drives our retail, distributor, and club channel strategies.

Bernie brings 16 years of experience from Stroh Brewery,  including Project and Pricing Analyst, National Retail Sales Administration (Puerto Rico) and International Sales and Marketing. Bernie developed and executed sales strategies in Asia, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Middle East Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. He’s managed international sales reps and planned, directed and coordinated marketing efforts. Bernie expanded private label products in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Brazil, and he has established a joint venture with Rajasthan Breweries, resulting in the first foreign beer to be sold in India. 

James brings 13 years of materials/purchasing management experience from time spent at the Stroh Brewery Co. He purchased over $600MM annually in packaging materials for eight domestic breweries. James brings procurement, inventory control, package development and service levels with 25 major suppliers. He was also responsible for the total logistics of all packaging materials including price negotiation, production quantities, inventory control, warehousing and graphics coordination.

Leslie brings in vast experience with New Product and Branding, including 10 years with Stroh Brewery and 4 years with Walt Disney. Leslie started her career with Stroh in pricing and worked her way up as Corporate Pricing Analyst, Field Pricing Analyst, Associate New Products Manager and then Senior Associate Brand Manager, where she was responsible for marketing functions for all the new products. Leslie has supervised new product introductions from initial concept through to the market launch. She developed and implemented brand advertising, creative and media plans, national consumer promotion plans and regional refund programs. She has also managed design and production of package graphics and merchandising materials.

Marty’s career has spanned over 30 years in the beverage packaging sector. He held several senior management positions for over 18 years with Ball Corporation, North America’s largest producer of aluminum beverage packaging. These roles included Senior VP- Sales and Marketing for both Ball Beverage can and plastic bottle divisions. Prior to Ball, Marty spent 8 years as the Operations Controller for the Stroh Brewery Can Division in Detroit, where he was responsible for the planning of both the financial and manufacturing functions of this multi-plant operation. 

Richard brings over eight years of experience with Stroh Brewery. Rich managed marketing functions for nationally distributed Stroh family of brands. Developed and implemented brand advertising creative and media plans, national consumer promotion plans, and regional refund programs. Determined market research needs and formulated research plan. Supervised the design and production of packaging graphics and merchandising materials to support brands. Administered process for the development and implementation of new product introductions from initial concept through market launch. Responsibilities included supervising consumer research activities, developing brand positioning strategies, managing packaging, and point-of-sale design and development, and implementing the advertising strategy.

Rich was responsible for the financial analysis and approval of regional pricing proposals regarding profitability, sales, and consistency with marketing strategy.

Ray is currently the President of Klimovitz Brewing Consultants, Inc., doing business in the Wisconsin area, where he acts as Alternating Proprietor (AP) Brewmaster for various beverage clients. His past clients include Sleeman Brewing & Malting (Guelph, Ontario, Canada), City Brewery (LaCrosse, WI), Harpoon Brewery (Boston, MA), Allagash Brewing (Portland, ME), New Century Brewing (Boston, MA), and Slammin’ Sam Beer Co. (Pinehurst, NC). Ray’s beverage experience extends into new product development, as he co-founded IZZE Beverage Co. in Boulder, where he was responsible for product development and production. Ray’s 40-plus years of experience in the beverage industry started at Four Roses Distilling Company in Baltimore, where he held the position of Whiskey Chemist.  From there, Ray moved to Carling Brewing Co. in Baltimore where he was Brewing Chemist, QA Manager, Assistant Brewmaster and Brewmaster.  Ray’s professional experience includes tenure at Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co (Milwaukee) and The Stroh Brewery Company (Detroit), where he was Corporate Master Brewer.

Jay brings on pro athletes as product ambassadors into retail, distributor and club channels. He is also a firefighter and paramedic for Unified Fire Authority and goalie for the Utah Grizzlies.