Lots of Utah jobs flow from beer. Industry brews $255M in wages alone

Beer is good for Utah.

A National Beer Wholesalers Association report released Wednesday calculated the beer industry currently supports 10,670 jobs in Utah, generating $255 million in annual wages and $134 million in excise and consumption taxes for state and local governments.

To Bill Christofferson, director of the association’s chapter in Utah, those numbers prove beer is a "legitimate" business. "We provide jobs. We pay taxes like everybody else. Our businesses are locally owned, not run by someone off someplace in the wild, blue yonder," he said. "We’re not just a truck in a dark alley delivering beer."

By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune

Full Story: http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_2990961