E-Malt.com News article: USA: Minority owner purchases former Molson Coors brewery

The purchase of the Molson Coors brewery in Memphis made Collierville resident Carolyn Hardy the owner of the largest minority, female-owned contract packaging facility in the state, The Sun Herald posted October 10.

A month since Hardy bought the plant with a silent partner for $9 million in September, the 52-year-old former plant manager has realized all the responsibilities of being an owner.

"In my past life, I was responsible for quality, service, costs and the checkbook," Hardy said. "Whether there was enough in it for everything that needed to be done was never a general manager's responsibility. I just always took for granted that it was there. Now I don't. I look at every dollar."

The new Hardy Bottling plant will be a distribution facility and contract packaging plant capable of bottling any liquid, from water to sports beverages, coffee and soft drinks.

As soon as the purchase was final, Hardy began distributing Molson Coors Brewing Co. products to every state in the Southeast except Florida.

Hardy credits many people in Memphis for helping her purchase the plant and form business contracts that will lead to the success of the plant.

"We started making connections," said John Moore, president and CEO of the Memphis Regional Chamber. "We found people that could help us get to Coors so they would accept her bid and find out it was a real bid. We helped connect her with the banks and we made contacts with potential customers."

The success of a black woman at raising the size of capital needed to invest in a major manufacturing plant is impressive, said Ruby Bright, executive director of the Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis.

"She's very proven in the manufacturing industry," Bright said. "She's highly respected and highly successful. This is a thumbs up for women's leadership and their ability to execute a business deal at this level."

The seventh of 14 children, Hardy graduated from the University of Memphis and spent more than 20 years at the local J.M. Smucker Co. plant, working her way up to become plant manager.

Nearly six years ago, Molson Coors hired her to manage its Memphis plant.

The brewery started out as a Schlitz brewery in 1971 and was sold to Stroh Brewery Co. before becoming part of Adolph Coors Co. in 1990. Molson Coors announced it was selling the plant earlier this summer as part of wider expense-cutting.

"The potential of this facility is greater than most people realize," she said. "The purchase of the site is the perfect synergy between manufacturer capability, location and market trends."

She expects capital investment to reach $14 million and create 255 jobs.


11 October, 2006