Beer Institute president and CEO Jim McGreevy is departing the trade association in early May after eight years to take on a yet-to-be revealed role outside of the beverage-alcohol industry.
The BI — which represents the interests of brewers, beer importers, and beer industry suppliers — will now begin a search for McGreevy’s successor.
“I am honored to have been part of a great team that advocates for the interests of all brewers and beer importers,” McGreevy said in a release. “It has been a privilege to represent this iconic industry, its wonderful brands and the people in beer who bring a passion to their work every day.”
McGreevy joined the BI in 2014, and his tenure with the organization ends after helping the industry achieve the now-permanent federal excise tax relief via the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act in 2020.
“I am proud of all that we have accomplished but particularly proud of a historic excise tax cut for the alcohol beverage industry that even further codified the longstanding tax differences between beer, wine and hard liquor,” said McGreevy.
Other highlights of McGreevy’s leadership of the BI include the creation and implementation of the Brewers’ Voluntary Disclosure Initiative to provide “greater transparency to the consumer of the contents of beer,” the establishment of brewers as essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and improved data quality programs for BI members.
“Jim has been a strong advocate for beer, and he will leave a lasting impact on our industry. He spearheaded efforts critical to us all, from aluminum tariffs to differentiation, and when the pandemic hit two years ago, Jim rallied our industry together and ensured the government allowed breweries to operate,” Molson Coors president and CEO Gavin Hattersley, who serves as the chairman of the Beer Institute, said in a press release.
“While we will miss Jim’s leadership, we have an incredible team at the BI that will continue the work on behalf of beer,” Hattersley continued. “We will begin searching for Jim’s replacement immediately and I am confident we will find an incredible leader who will help the beer industry thrive well into the future.”