Employees of the shuttered Anchor Brewing Company have raised over $90,000 and are moving on to the next step of buying back the brewery as an employee-owned co-op. The initial funds will go in part to pay for legal assistance as the groups looks to attrack outside investors.
Anchor SF Cooperative, a group comprised of former employees of the iconic San Francisco brewery, initiated efforts to purchase the company almost immediately after Sapporo announced plans to shut the brewery down in July and liquidate the holdings. The group started a GoFundMe campaign last week and raised a total of $91,487 by early this week. The employees have been working with Project Equity, an organization that assists with and promotes employee ownership.
Although a couple of interested investors have stepped forward and curiosity remains around who might end up with the intellectual property of Steam Beer, Sapporo has been silent on what their intentions might be if an interested buyer steps forward.
Time will tell.