CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa.– One state university will now be offering beer-brewing courses to students.
Shippensburg University has announced that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board will give the college a $71,000 grant to help “prepare workers for the Pennsylvania brewed and malt beverage industry,” according to WPMT.
The grant is one of twelve that were granted, and is focused on increasing the production of Pennsylvania-made malt and brewed beverages while enhancing the Pennsylvania beer industry, according to the University’s website.
According to the Brewers Association, Pennsylvania ranks at the top in the nation of number of barrels of beer produced annually, and Act 39 that was passed in 2016 created the Pennsylvania Malt and Brewed Beverages Industry Promotion Board. It also authorized the PLCB to approve up to $1 million annually for development and marketing of the Pennsylvania beer industry.
The program will be co-directed by Drs. Alison Feeney, Thomas Frielle, and Russell Hedberg.
Feeney, the grant director and a professor of geography and earth science, said that the project at the University helps build on a brewery summit that was hosted in Shippensburg in 2018.
“We aim to develop educational short courses and professional training opportunities to meet the needs of a well-trained, skilled workforce, along with identifying common lab tests and procedures. Small breweries will be able to use university services and build educational/apprenticeship type experiences for students,” Feeney said, according to the release.
Other state grant recipients include Penn State University, Edinboro University, California University of Pennsylvania, National Beer Museum Development Group, and Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation.
