Cincinnati’s Rhinegeist Brewery has named Mike Parks as its next CEO, company founders Bob Bonder and Bryant Goulding announced in a letter to employees today.
Parks most recently served as CEO of TNT Crust, which makes pizza crusts and is “nearly twice the size of Rhinegeist, with many similarities in its range of departments and employees,” Bonder and Goulding noted.
The need for new leadership comes as Rhinegeist embarks into employee ownership, a change that was first announced in October 2019. Bonder and Goulding wrote that as the business transitions, they wanted to ensure that the brewery and its employees “are set up for success.”
“[W]hen stepping back and reflecting about what we need to achieve that, it became clear that it’s time for some new leadership,” they continued. “As co-founders, we want to step away a bit and take time for ourselves, but frankly, we just aren’t as good at running a 300-person business as we are at being entrepreneurs. All the employees who are becoming owners deserve a leader who knows how to navigate this stage in a business’s life with passion and experience. Someone who knows how to lead with empathy, empowerment, and a habit of putting employees before themselves.”
Bonder and Goulding say they’ve found that in Parks, following a four-month search and interview process that included numerous Rhinegeist employees from multiple departments.
“Mike brings the balance of experience and compassion to lead through whatever this wild obstacle course brings next,” they wrote.
“We’re all looking forward to what he will bring to the table as a leader and co-owner,” they added. “It’s been a wild and wonderful eight years, and we’re confident that we’re set up for many more with Mike on the team.”
Parks will relocate to Cincinnati from Baltimore with his family.
Although Bonder and Goulding are stepping back, they said they will remain “co-owners alongside the employees for the next 15+ years.” They will also chair the brewery’s new board “to ensure that the business stays uniquely employee owned, and a part of the community that has supported it since its inception.”
“Thank you to our employees and to the community,” they wrote. “We’ve steered the ship, but you all have really built Rhinegeist. It’s been an incredible journey so far, and we can’t wait to see where this next stage takes us all.”
Rhinegeist finished 2020 as the 24th largest craft brewery by volume in the U.S., according to the Brewers Association.