USA: Iron Hill, the East Coast's fastest growing group of brewpubs, announced plans for five new locations

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, who opened their sixth brewpub in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, last week, announced plans to open five more locations over the next three years, PRNewswire released October 23. With a $7 million loan from CitiBank, the successful restaurant group is seeking out new sites in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. With this expansion into new markets, Iron Hill will become the East Coast's fastest growing brewery-restaurant enterprise.

"With our existing locations, we've exceeded all of our expectations," says Kevin Finn, who founded Iron Hill with partners Kevin Davies and Mark Edelson.

Last year, the five Iron Hill locations in Newark and Wilmington, DE, Media, West Chester and North Wales, PA brought in nearly $20 million in sales. The company, which will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its first location in November, was started by three friends who shared a love for home-brewing and great food. Since opening its first location in Newark, DE, Iron Hill has experienced healthy growth in a time when the brewpub boom was gradually waning. Their ironclad recipe for success includes choosing locations in up-and-coming suburban neighborhoods, serving an inspired array of dishes that go beyond typical brewpub standards and brewing extraordinary hand-crafted beer on the premises.

"The number one lesson we've learned over the years is, to succeed we have to focus on running great restaurants first, and great breweries second," says Edelson, director of brewing operations. "We figured this out pretty early on, and it's been a key element of our business strategy."

Through charitable events and community outreach programs Iron Hill has made itself a part of every town where they do business. The partners also believe that it's important to take care of their employees. The extremely loyal staff receives benefits packages, including a 401K plan, health and dental insurance.

The highly successful restaurants have been recognized for outstanding beers, cuisine, service and decor. Over the past ten years, they have won 83 "Best of" awards from regional magazines including "Best Brewpub 2006" from Philadelphia Magazine. Last year, Iron Hill was honored with the coveted Large Brewpub of the Year 2005 at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival (GABF). In total, their award-winning handcrafted beers have received 30 medals from the GABF, World Beer Cup and Real Ale Festival.

25 October, 2006