For all you regular readers of Spotlight on Business, the names Joe Strickland and Stefan and Pearl Marten should be familiar. Stefan and Pearl are the owners of the Marten Brewing Company in Vernon, British Columbia; Joe’s the Head Brewer. It’s been a year since the husband and wife business team spoke with the magazine and, I learned, it’s been an eventful trip around the sun for everyone at Marten Brewpub on 30 th Ave. in Downtown Vernon. They’ve set-up an on-site canning line. Their beers are now available in select BC Liquor Stores and independent beer and wine vendors. They’re poised to release their newest brand in-house and on select grocery store shelves: a nitro coffee. And they’ve been touched in countless ways by the forest fires that devastated so much of the Okanagan Valley and the BC Interior this past summer.
By David MacDonald S tefan, Pearl, it’s hard to believe it’s been a whole year since we spoke. I’m sure the regular readers would love to know how Marten Brewing Co. has grown over this past year – and I’m sure they’re wondering, like I am, how the forest fires in your part of BC have impacted you personally. If I remember correctly, you both grew up in one of the more heavily-affected areas. SM: Yes, it’s hard to believe a year has gone by – time is flying, David. Marten Brewing Company has had a good year overall, but there are a few things that have affected us deeply, like the fires this year in BC. PM: The Valley was filled with smoke all summer and local fires were an issue as well. We felt like we had to do our part to help, so we invited all the evacuees, all the families – all 663 of them – that were staying in the Vernon Rec Centre for free meals and beverages for the two-and- a-half weeks they were here. Most of the people were from our childhood town of Williams Lake. We hoped it gave them a least some time to get their minds off what was hap- pening at home.
45
SEPTEMBER 2017 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker