April 14, 2015 PROGRAM:
Changes in the Brewing Industry
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A Wahpeton, North Dakota native, Mark Stutrud graduated in 1975 from the University of North Dakota with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work. In 1984, Mr. Stutrud founded Summit Brewing Company. He completed the market research, business plan, development, and financing to establish a 4,000 barrel per year brewery in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Commercial production commenced in September 1986. The original brewery experienced five expansions reaching a maximum capacity of 34,000 barrels per year. By December 1998 Summit Brewing Company completed construction of its current facility. This modern plant, with an annual capacity of 240,000 barrels, was the first brewery built in Minnesota since repeal of Prohibition
Mr. Stutrud received professional training from Charles A. McElevey (a 1968 graduate of Weihenstephan, Freising, Germany) and Frederick H. Thomasser (a 1945 graduate of the United States Brewing Academy). He completed the courses of Brewing Theory and Practice and Brewing Microbiology and Microscopy at the Siebel Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois. In July of 1991, Mr. Stutrud was awarded the J.E. Siebel Memorial Scholarship and received his Diploma in Brewing Technology at the Siebel Institute.
Mr. Stutrud is an active member of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas, the American Society of Brewing Chemists and a life member of the Campaign for Real Ale. Mr. Stutrud has served as President of the Saint Paul-Minneapolis District of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas and was the General Co-chair for the Master Brewers Association of the Americas 111th National Convention held in Minneapolis in September 1998. Mr. Stutrud served on the Board of Directors of the Brewers Association of America from 1995 through 2001, the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Restaurant Association from 1998 through 2010 and the Board of Directors of the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce from 2005 through 2010. He was elected to the Board of Directors of The Minnesota Music Coalition in 2010.
In February 2000, Mr. Stutrud received the Business Innovator of the Year award by the Center for Innovation at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. In addition, he was a 2000 finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Summit Brewing Company received the Deubener Award for small business excellence in manufacturing from the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce in May 2004 and the H.E.R.B.I.E. award from the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce in February 2006 as well as the 2013 Minnesota Keystone Award from the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce.