This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Three of the top employees at the Utah Brewers Cooperative — which operates Squatters and Wasatch Beers — were laid off last week as part of a company restructuring.
Brewmaster Dan Burick, who had worked at Squatters since it opened in 1989, was let go, as were the chief financial officer, Sean Boyle, and the national sales director, George Allen.
In 2012, Boston-based private-equity firm, Fireman Capital Partners, made a major investment in the Utah Brewers Cooperate, which helped with recent expansion in the distribution, marketing and brew pub businesses. Wasatch founder Greg Schirf continued to manage brewery operations for the companies, until April when he retired.
After Schirf's retirement, "it was determined that some restructuring needed to take place," marketing director Judy Cullen wrote in an email to The Tribune.
Complicating the Squatters/Wasatch ownership picture is another investment that Fireman Capital made earlier this year with Oskar Blues, a brewery in Longmont, Colo. The firm is now consolidating parts of the Utah and Colorado beer operations.
"There were some duplications of responsibilities on the sales, financial and production departments, so a difficult decision had to be made," Cullen wrote.
Since the layoffs, other employees have been moved to new positions, she said.
John McCormick, the Utah sales manager, has been promoted to national sales manager. Jon Lee has been promoted to director of brewing and cellar operations and Adam Curfew has been promoted to director of production and packaging.
In 1986, Schirf founded Wasatch Beers and Wasatch Brewpub in Park City, Utah's first microbrewery. Three years later, Peter Cole and Jeff Polychronis opened Squatters.
In 2000, the two companies merged microbrewery operations for draft and bottle production, creating Utah Brewers Cooperative, located at 1763 S. 300 West in Salt Lake City.
Today, Squatters and Wasatch's bottled and draft beers are available in liquor stores, restaurants, clubs, hotels, resorts and grocery and convenience stores in Utah and several other states.