Standing Stone Brewing Company has made a commitment to sustainable business practices throughout their restaurant and brewery. Standing Stone leases a 265 acre piece of land from the City of Ashland for their One Mile Farm that focuses on raising multiple species of livestock to supply their menu with meat, poultry and egg needs. Standing Stone is also utilizing the land to compost food scraps. They use spent grain from brewing beer and select vegetable scraps to feed their chickens.
Because of their composting operation, sustainable food preparation, and recycling practices, they have been able to reduce their trash in the restaurant by 95%. They have also built a heat recovery system, which takes excess heat energy generated by cooling units in the restaurant and uses it to heat large tanks of water for their hot water use. Due to this energy recycling program, their natural gas consumption has gone down.
Their bike program continues on. They have given 52 bikes to Standing Stone employees over the past four and a half years.
In 2011, Alex and Danielle Amarotico, owners of Standing Stone Brewing Company, were presented the Oregon Sustainable Tourism Leadership Award which honors individuals who "demonstrate a strong commitment to conserving Oregon's natural and cultural resources through leadership in environmental stewardship and socially responsible practices." They were also named Sustainable Business' Oregon Winner and was rated #2 in Oregon Business Magazine's "100 Best Green Companies to Work for in Oregon."
Standing Stone responded to several questions proposed by the Chamber:
Why does your business exist in Ashland?
The Amarotico family moved here from the Pittsburg area in the early 1990s, and decided to launch Standing Stone, combining their collective loves of food, brewing, and architecture. They found Whittle Garage and made it their mission to turn the historic building into their vision for a brewpub. Ashland has been a wonderful place to source local ingredients, entertain guests looking for creative food and beer, launch innovative projects, hire great coworkers and raise our families.
How has being in Ashland contributed to your success?
The community in Ashland has been supportive and encouraging of our projects and operations over the years. The Chamber of Commerce awarded us the Sustainable Business of the Year recognition in its first year. Our shareholders and employees are involved with various nonprofits and boards in the area, keeping us all in touch with local happenings. The labor pool in the area has been one of our greatest fortunes – our team at Standing Stone is motivated, diverse, involved and fun!
What sets you apart from others in your industry?
Fortunately, lots of breweries in Oregon, and the entire U.S. for that matter, are more and more focused on sustainable operations. We keep sustainability in mind with all our business decisions, brewing with local and/or organic ingredients, raising animals on our farm for protein on the menu, starting a bike program for our employees’ two-wheeled transportation, launching an extensive waste management program...even wrapping our retail goods in dated newspaper! We also have a big focus on safety here at the brewpub, and we are the first business in Ashland to be named an Emergency Prepared Business by the Fire & Rescue’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
How does Ashland enhance your ability to be innovative?
Our employees often bring in ideas for new projects, and are the ones who do the follow-through, so hiring driven, innovative local employees has been a huge benefit. Our waste management program and employee yoga programs were both created by passionate members of our team. There are lots of local organizations to get involved with that have missions similar to our own, and coordinating events and happenings is always a pleasure. We sponsor several local athletic events (like the Siskiyou Challenge, Ashland Hillclimb, Spring Thaw Bike Race and Wild Rogue Relay), and started a Pints for a Purpose donation program to give funds to local nonprofits in our area through beer sales. This year we are serving beer at the Earth Day celebration for the first time! There are always new, fun programs to get involved in.
What are the biggest lessons you have learned?
From the beginning we have seen that when we support our community, our community supports us. Our return on community investment is invaluable, and we really rely on local guests to encourage outside visitors to come see us. Same with local businesses – serving Noble Coffee, Rogue Creamery Cheese, several local wines and produce from Southern Oregon farmers has been a great way to generate symbiotic and supportive relationships.
Standing Stone Brewing Company
30 N. Second Street, Ashland
www.standingstonebrewing.com
Photos 1, 3 & 4 by Graham Lewis. Photos 2 & 5 by George Rubaloff.
