USA: Beer industry claims $1.9 billion impact in North Carolina

The beer industry has a nearly $1.9 billion economic impact on North Carolina each year, according to a study commissioned by the National Beer Wholesalers Association and the Beer Institute, Triangle Business Journal published May 24.

More than 21,000 people in the state are involved in the production, distribution and sale of beer, earning more than $522 million in annual wages, a news release says.

Most of those jobs, almost 18,000, are retail jobs that beer sales help support. The 70 beer distributors in the state have 2,800 employees, while brewers have about 800 employees.

The beer industry collects more than $100 million in state taxes each year, the press release says.

The release doesn't say whether the report took into account the impact of alcoholism, drunk driving or other societal costs associated with alcohol use.

On May 21, a bill aimed at combating underage drinking passed the North Carolina House and is headed to the Senate for consideration. The bill, if passed into law, would punish adults who knowingly provide alcohol to those under the legal drinking age.