We are proud to announce that as of November 2021, UNION has welcomed the first six Employee Owners into our newly formed BEER UNITES Employee Ownership Program. Going forward, ownership grants will be offered to any UNION employee upon their fifth anniversary at the company. The BEER UNITES Employee Ownership Program will allow for the majority of ownership in the company to stay amongst the people that work at UNION. 

As we approach the end of our ninth year of brewing beer in Baltimore it seems fitting that we begin to write a new chapter to usher us into our tenth. We’ve chosen to offer our longterm employees a stake in ownership to not only mark the decade milestone, but to emphasize our commitment to the work we have been doing to improve our company culture, crystalize our values, and shore up our foundation to build a brewery that will see UNION crafting beer and making a difference in Baltimore for the next decade and beyond.

Employee ownership is not a new concept to us. In fact, developing this program has been something we’ve been discussing for many years. However, the hardships we have faced over the last couple of years accelerated our thinking on the concept. We have truly listened to our staff and heard their ideas on how to improve their work environment. Hearing from them, we realized that the traditional models of employment must be challenged and that now was the time to offer our dedicated workers a more equitable employment model. We began by reassesing our compensation structure to provide higher wages and committing to develop this Employee Ownership program. We believe that to truly be a team, we must share a common vision and succeed or fail together. Only by sharing the rewards of our successes and picking each other up when we fall, can we truly live our values and deliver our mission of brewing world class beer and fostering meaningful connections with our communities in Baltimore.