(Note: this is the first in a series of stories on 91老司机 alumni entrepreneurs. If you are a business owner and a 91老司机 alumni and would like to have a story written on your business, please contact rick.goins@uafs.edu)
Core Brewing Company may be headquartered in Springdale, but the company is undoubtedly a Fort Smith business. The qualities that have made its owner, Jesse Core, a successful businessman are the same ones that have defined Fort Smith 鈥� tenacity, resiliency, grit and empathy.
Just six years old, the company has experienced meteoric growth since its inception in 2010, becoming one of the largest breweries in the state and expanding into regional markets across the southern United States.
But Core may have never gotten into brewing had it not been for a professor at the 91老司机 鈥� Fort Smith, which was still Westark Community College when Core attended in 1992.
As a freshman, he was frequently tardy or absent from his classes, until his microbiology professor pulled him aside one day to admonish him for repeatedly skipping class. As an incentive to increase his attendance, he explained to Core how he could apply the lessons from the class towards something that was becoming increasingly more important to Core: beer.
Core鈥檚 father had homebrewed, and Core had been fascinated by the process of brewing, watching his father dump powder into water that produced a frothy head, the transformation from raw material to a finished good.
The idea of turning his passion for good beer into a career resonated with him. Microbiology, a field that already appealed to the 鈥渘erd鈥� in him, became even more alluring.
He began attending class regularly, and learned the foundation for homebrewing, which he began doing in his spare time. He did not plan on brewing remaining just a hobby, but the time wasn鈥檛 right to capitalize on his ambitions.
鈥淚n the mid-鈥�90s, Arkansas was not ready for craft beer,鈥� Core said. 鈥淭here was just not much of a market, and frankly, I didn鈥檛 know enough to take the leap.鈥�
Still, Core was enthralled by microbiology but disappointed in the lack of career prospects.
鈥淚 would鈥檝e continued on with microbiology, but the more I learned about it, the more I saw that those guys just weren鈥檛 making a lot of money,鈥� Core said. 鈥淭hey worked really hard and just didn鈥檛 have many career options.鈥�
Instead, Core pursued a career in software development, an emerging market that took him away from Fort Smith and to Miami for a year, then Boulder for three years, then San Diego for seven. The latter two cities were undergoing a beer renaissance with the advent of craft beer, and it was while working in Boulder that Core was introduced to 鈥渞eal鈥� beer.
鈥淚 went from having very little craft beer knowledge 鈥� thinking domestic beer was craft beer 鈥� to seeing true American craft beer,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t had a ton of flavor and a ton of character. You could tell it was a gourmet product.鈥�
Core also saw the positive impact breweries in Boulder had on the community by creating jobs and attracting tourists.
鈥淚t created a tourist destination for people. People came from all over to see these places and see how beer was made,鈥� he said.
In his 11-year hiatus from Arkansas, Core continued to brew for himself at home, honing the craft while seeing firsthand what it took to make good craft beer and run a successful brewery.
He returned to northwest Arkansas in 2004, working in the Information Systems Department at Tyson Foods. It was then, in 2010, seeing the booming economic and population growth of the area, that Core made a simple decision: Arkansas needed some 鈥渞eally good鈥� craft beer. And it would start with Core Brewing Company.
But that simple decision had complex consequences. Scaling from homebrewing to brewing on a commercial level was the difference in millions of dollars of equipment and labor. To make matters more difficult, Core was starting his business in the middle of the Great Recession, when investors鈥� pockets were understandably tight and craft breweries, which were few and far between in Arkansas at the time, were a hard sell.
鈥淧eople were stuffing money in their mattresses,鈥� Core said. 鈥淎nd for me to tell people, 鈥楬ey, I鈥檝e got this 70-page business plan, here are all the things we鈥檙e going to do with the company鈥� 鈥� it was hard to convince them when we didn鈥檛 really know if Arkansas was going to embrace craft beer.鈥�
He was confident enough that he took a leap of faith and invested his retirement to start the company. At the company鈥檚 inception, Core had three full-time employees and brewed with his uncle, Kit, from a one-barrel brewing system.
Around the same time Core started the company, his dog, Barney, died at age 19. The dachshund was given to him by his mother to cheer him up after the Grizzlies lost in the state championship when Core was a sophomore.
Even though he was heartbroken by the dog鈥檚 loss, Core saw a fitting mascot for his emerging brewery. The company鈥檚 logo was created with a silhouette of Barney below the word 鈥淐ore.鈥�
After starting the company, Core hit the road to solicit investors across the state. He met with hundreds of them 鈥� and was told no again, and again, and again.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how many times I was told it鈥檚 not going to work 鈥� there鈥檚 too many breweries, it鈥檚 too much money, your valuation doesn鈥檛 make sense,鈥� Core said. 鈥淏anks wouldn鈥檛 even sniff me.鈥�
But Core was resilient 鈥� he always had been. Growing up on the north side of Fort Smith as the youngest of three brothers created a tenacity in him that he鈥檚 carried with him all his life, and he had grown up facing the same sort of challenges.
When his junior high football coach laughed at him when he said he鈥檇 like to play wide receiver for the Northside Grizzlies, Core spent the following spring and summer determined to prove him wrong, running up and down stairs and practicing catching footballs.
In Core鈥檚 sophomore year of high school, he started for the Grizzlies football team at wideout.
Now, facing a similar challenge with higher stakes, Core felt the same frustration he did as a junior high student.
鈥淚 really don鈥檛 like being told what to do,鈥� Core said. 鈥淚f you want me to do something, tell me I can鈥檛 do it. And I think that mindset is representative of Fort Smith鈥檚 blue-collar nature. We don鈥檛 back down from challenges, and we don鈥檛 like being bullied.鈥�
Core kept meeting with investors. Each time an investor said no, he learned from it, remembering their apprehensions and anticipating them when he met with future investors.
鈥淚 got to where I could answer the investors鈥� questions before they even asked them,鈥� Core said. 鈥淎nd once they had all their concerns addressed, it came down to, 鈥楧o you think I鈥檓 the guy to get this done or not?鈥欌��
Some investors believed he was, enough to purchase the necessary equipment and begin brewing on a larger scale. There were growing pains for the brewery 鈥� he recalled when a contaminated yeast spoiled $50,000 worth of beer 鈥� but Core worked diligently to grow it, prioritizing quality beer over flashy marketing.
The brewery expanded into a 5,000 square-foot facility, then 20,000 square feet that Core initially rented but was able to purchase in 2014. The complex, located in Springdale, became the official headquarters of the brewery.
鈥淚 really don鈥檛 like being told what to do. If you want me to do something, tell me I can鈥檛 do it. And I think that mindset is representative of Fort Smith鈥檚 blue-collar nature. We don鈥檛 back down from challenges, and we don鈥檛 like being bullied.鈥�
鈥淚 felt like there was tremendous momentum behind the company, and we finally had room to grow,鈥� he said.
He also fostered a business culture that encourages empathy among the company鈥檚 many moving parts, remembering a lesson from his mother, Jacquie, to walk a mile in another man鈥檚 shoes. No matter what job employees are hired to do, they start out in packaging or bartending at the facility鈥檚 bar.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care if you had a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, you鈥檙e starting either in packaging or as a bartender,鈥� Core said. 鈥淭hat way, when someone is having an issue in a different area, they鈥檒l know what it鈥檚 like to work over there and understand the challenges they鈥檙e facing.鈥�
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have ceilings in the company,鈥� Core continued. 鈥淚f you provide value, we鈥檙e gonna keep pushing you up the ladder.鈥�
Core Brewing Co. emerged from the Great Recession as one of the top breweries in northwest Arkansas, both in quality and quantity of beer produced, but the company鈥檚 growth is far from over. In addition to its regional expansion, the company has also purchased property in downtown Fort Smith to open a distillery and cooperage as part of the revival of the city鈥檚 downtown area.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a world-class facility,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want people to come here and take tours and eat food and enjoy themselves. It鈥檚 going to be a cool place to get dropped off and hang out. It鈥檒l be like Disneyland for adults.鈥�
Core is also working with 91老司机 to conceptualize a potential academic program in brewing at the university.
鈥淭hat professor鈥檚 conversation with me when I was a student sums up why I love 91老司机,鈥� Core said. 鈥淭hey teach kids how to get jobs, and they do that by showing how to apply the lessons students are taught in the classroom. They鈥檙e not saying, 鈥榊ou need to learn calculus so you can get a good grade.鈥� They鈥檙e showing people what they can do with those skills, and I鈥檓 a staunch supporter of the applied sciences.鈥�
The new Fort Smith distillery marks a homecoming for Core, even as he has carried the city with him throughout his career.
鈥淚鈥檓 a romantic about Fort Smith,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he people are ethical, kind and hardworking. They understand that if you want something, you have to work for it 鈥� life isn鈥檛 going to hand you things. My wife and I are proud to be from Fort Smith, and we鈥檙e excited to see and be a part of the city鈥檚 growth moving forward.鈥�