State Guilds
ACSA is proud to support state guilds across the country. P.T. Wood, Wood’s High Mountain Distillery, and Gina Holman, J. Carver Distillery, are the State Guild co-chairs at ACSA. For highlights of state regulatory information, click here.
A Letter From the Guild Chair
Dear Fellow Leader in Our Craft Spirits Industry:
As volunteer leaders in our respective groups, we completely understand competing priorities. There is never enough time to get things done, right? That is exactly the challenge we face and desperately need your help and that of each guild throughout the U.S.
In seven months and 22 days, the reduction of the Federal Excise Tax (FET) expires. That is, the FET reverts from $2.70 to $13.50 per proof gallon on December 31, 2019. Please work with us to prevent that from happening.
How?
One of the most important things we can do is get as many distillers as possible (and their teams) to our complimentary Public Policy Conference in Washington DC July 22-24. States of particular importance are those whose Senators serve on the Senate Finance Committee or Representatives who serve on the House Ways and Means, those very committees which have tax oversight. We truly need people from all 50 states to share their reinvestment stories with Congress. Just this morning we heard that one prominent House member was not going to support the CBMTRA (S.362 and H.R. 1175) because of his belief the tax credit was only helping large business. You know this could not be further from the truth. SHARE THAT STORY! Distribute this registration link and encourage your local distillers to attend. And, please lead by example. Are you or your designee attending?
In addition to our fly-in, we also want to make sure you know about the ACSA PAC and how it is vital to the needs of our industry, particularly at this time. Please contact me, P.T. Wood, (pt@woodsdsitillery.com 719-239-0222) to find out how you can leverage some of your FET savings dollars into making sure the CBMTRA becomes permanent through this effort.
If you haven’t contacted the local Congressional district office to invite the team to your distillery to show how your small business operates, do it now. Passage of legislation that will extend our FET reduction is NOT A GIVEN. It requires continual outreach to members of Congress with reminders that reinvestment of those dollars is key to running your operation.
Finally, if you haven’t yet encouraged your members to complete the economic data study, you are shortchanging our ability to get things done at a national level. Economic data is powerful when we walk the halls of Congress. It makes a huge difference when we have data that demonstrates a value growth of 29.9% from 2017 to 2018 with employment just under 20,000 jobs in our industry. Here is that survey to share with your members. The survey will close at the end of the month. The 15 minutes of time it takes to complete the survey offers endless opportunities to support our positions with both Congress and the media.
We cannot stress enough how we are at a critical juncture. We are running out of time and without every one of you taking responsibility – NOW – for the CBMTRA, our reduction will be yanked away.
Cheers!
P.T. Wood Gina Holman
Wood’s High Mount Distillery, CO J. Carver Distillery, MN
Co-Chair, ACSA State Guild Committee Co-Chair, ACSA State Guild Committee
P.S. If easier for you, cut-and-paste this letter and send to your members today. Adapt it using your own words. Please just take action. Now!
P.S.S. If you would find value in having our leadership address your guild with updates from ACSA and what is happening in Washington, DC, please just ask. We want to work together to keep our industry strong as we continue to grow.
Cc: Chris Montana, Du Nord Craft Spirits, (MN) ACSA President
Margie A.S. Lehrman, ACSA CEO
Alabama Craft Distillers Association
State Guild
AlabamaDan Roberts
Executive Director
(256) 724-2191
Distillers Guild of Alaska
State Guild
AlaskaHeather Shade
Chilkoot Distillery
(907) 766-4545
Arizona Craft Distillers Guild
State Guild
ArizonaGary Ellam
Arizona Craft Beverage
(520) 369-3421
California Artisanal Distillers Guild
State Guild
CaliforniaSean Venus
Venus Spirits
(408) 373-6522
Southern California Distillers Association
State Guild
CaliforniaGreg Stark
Stark Spirits
(818) 635-4729
San Diego Distillers Guild
State Guild
CaliforniaCasey Miles
California Spirit Co.
San Louis Obispo Distillers Guild
State Guild
CaliforniaLola Glossner
Templeton Distillery
(805) 286-7344
Colorado Distillers Guild
State Guild
ColoradoSean Smiley
State 38 Distilling
(303) 895-1485
Florida Distillers Guild
State Guild
FloridaPhilip McDaniel
St. Augustine Distillery
(904) 825-4963
Georgia Distillers Association
State Guild
GeorgiaChris Sywassink
Ghost Coast Distillery
(912) 704-2707
Idaho Distillers Association
State Guild
IdahoScott Probert
Bardenay
Illinois Craft Distillers Association
State Guild
IllinoisNoelle DiPrizio
Chicago Distilling
(847) 924-6635
Kentucky Distillers’ Association
State Guild
KentuckyAdam Johnson
(502) 875-9351
Louisiana Distillers Guild
State Guild
LouisianaKatie Darling
Celebration Distilling
Maine Distiller’s Guild
State Guild
MaineNed Wight
New England Distilling
(207) 878-9759
Maryland Distillers Guild
State Guild
MarylandJaime Windon
Lyon Distilling Co.
(443) 333-9181
Michigan Craft Distillers Association
State Guild
MichiganDianna Stampfler
Executive Director
(269) 330-4228
Minnesota Distillers Guild
State Guild
MinnesotaMark Schiller
Loon Liquor Company
(952) 905-8709
Missouri Craft Distillers Guild
State Guild
MissouriDavid Weglarz
StilL 630 Distillery
(314) 513-2275
Montana Distiller’s Guild
State Guild
MontanaRobin Blazer
Willie’s Distillery
(406) 360-0109
New Jersey Distillers Guild
State Guild
New JerseyJohn Granata
Jersey Spirits Distilling Co.
New Mexico Distillers Guild
State Guild
New MexicoColin Keegan
Santa Fe Spirits
(505) 467-8892
New York State Distillers Guild
State Guild
New YorkCory Muscato
Lockhouse Distilling
(716) 768-4898
Distillers Association of North Carolina
State Guild
North CarolinaPete Barger
Southern Distilling Company
(704) 880-5715
Ohio Distiller’s Guild
State Guild
OhioGreg Lehman
Watershed Distillery
(614) 905-6874
Oregon Distillers Guild
State Guild
OregonBrad Irwin
Oregon Spirit Distillers
Pennsylvania Distillers Guild
State Guild
PennsylvaniaRobert Cassell
Millstone Spirits Group
(484) 948-7686
South Carolina Craft Distillers Guild
State Guild
South CarolinaScott Blackwell
High Wire Distilling
Tennessee Distillers Guild
State Guild
TennesseeKris Tatum
Old Forge Distillery
(865) 388-4503
Texas Distilled Spirits Association
State Guild
TexasMike Cameron
Devils River Whiskey
Distiller’s Guild of Utah
State Guild
UtahAshley Cross
New World Distillery
(385) 244-0144
Distilled Spirits Council of Vermont
State Guild
VermontJeremy Elliot
Smugglers’ Notch Distillery
Virginia Distillers Association
State Guild
VirginiaAmy Ciarametaro
(757) 535-5829
Washington Distillers Guild
State Guild
WashingtonMhairi Voelsgen
BROVO Spirits
(206) 496-2613
Wisconsin Distillers Guild
State Guild
WisconsinBrian Sammons
Twisted Path Distillery
(414) 405-8900
Wyoming Distillers Guild
State Guild
WyomingDavid Defazio
Wyoming Whiskey
(307) 733-9759
How to Start a Guild
These are for guidance and educational purposes only.
- Review requirements for forming a nonprofit trade organization in your state
- Review Articles of Incorporation (view sample) and file to form state nonprofit organization
- Determine whether you will file for IRS 501(c)(6) status and file appropriate paperwork as necessary. Please review the following to help in your determination:
- Apply for a Federal Employer Identification Number (http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29-Online)
- Appoint interim Board to adopt Bylaws (view sample)
- Hold first meeting and vote for board members and officers
- Appoint committees
- Open bank account
- Inform ACSA!
