USA, MA: Democracy Brewing set to open its doors in Boston on the Fourth of July

Democracy Brewing (35 Temple Pl., Boston) is set to open its doors in Downtown Boston, and will do so on the Fourth of July. It will operate as a cooperatively-owned company where workers have a stake — and a say — in the business, the Eater Boston reported on June 22.

Democracy is working with ReThink Restaurants, a Boston-based firm that helps restaurants employ an open-book management strategy, and that they’ll be paying all of their employees at least $15 an hour to start — or, $4 more than the state’s current minimum wage. Democracy founder James Razsa told the Boston Herald he’s so invested in giving his workers a stake in the company, in part because of Boston’s history in the fight for democracy.

The brewery will employ 48 staff members at the beginning, all full-time. It was able to raise enough capital to open through a public equity offering, but Razsa told the Herald the brewery plan to buy all of the shares back within five years to ensure it’s entirely worker-owned.

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