Brian McMenamin
{{Short description|American businessman}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Brian McMenamin
| image =
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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1957}}
| birth_place = Portland, Oregon, US
| occupation = Co-founder of McMenamins
| networth =
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| website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20070811070855/http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=94&id=700 Company biography]
| footnotes =
}}
Brian McMenamin (born 1957) is an American businessman in the state of Oregon. A native of the state, he and his older brother Mike McMenamin founded the McMenamins restaurant and brewpub chain in 1983. He serves as general manager and vice-president of the company which operates more than 50 locations that include music venues such as the Crystal Ballroom, movie theaters such as the Bagdad Theatre, historic buildings converted to brewpubs like the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, and several hotels.
Early life
Brian McMenamin was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1957 to Robert W. and Pat McMenamin.{{cite news|title=Barons of Brew|last=Hill|first=Jim|date=February 19, 1995 |work=The Oregonian|pages=F1}} He was raised in Northeast Portland where he attended Catholic schools, including local Madeleine Grade School and Jesuit High School in nearby Beaverton. He then went to Oregon State University in Corvallis where he studied pre-law, as his father was an attorney. McMenamin graduated from the school in 1980 with a degree in political science.{{cite news|title=Preservation brotherhood; Oregon's Brian and Mike McMenamin rescue historic properties and give them a quirky twist|last=Elder|first=Robert K.|date=January 28, 2004|work=Chicago Tribune|pages=Tempo: 1}}{{cite news|title=A Pub Chain Where the Links Have Minds of Their Own|last=Hall|first=Christopher|date=July 14, 2004|work=The New York Times|pages=F6}} His older brother Mike was involved in several ventures involving taverns and pubs in the 1970s. Brian worked for his brother at Produce Row Café in Southeast Portland, before the two partnered to start McMenamins Pub in Hillsdale, in 1980 with financial assistance from their father. That pub is not part of the current company.
McMenamins
Mike McMenamin purchased the Fat Little Rooster bar in Southeast Portland in 1983, starting the company.{{cite news|title=McMenamins marks 25 years of beer, frivolity|last=Foyston|first=John|date=June 21, 2008|work=The Oregonian|pages=D1}} He renamed it as the Barley Mill Pub and Brian soon joined the company. The next year the brothers and several others lobbied the state legislature to change Oregon's law that prohibited those making alcohol from selling it on the premises, allowing for the establishment of brewpubs.{{cite journal|date=July 12, 2004|title=McMenamin pub brewery chain continues to grow; Weekly Specialty & Import Beer Report|journal=Modern Brewery Age|volume= 55|issue=28|pages=2|issn=0026-7538}}{{cite news|title=McMenamins Flavor|last=Brinckman|first=Jonathan|date=June 27, 2004|work=The Oregonian|pages=E1}} By 1991 the company had grown to 25 locations and $10 million in annual sales.{{cite news|title=The Brews Brothers|last=Carlin|first=Peter|date=May 5, 1991|work=The Oregonian|pages=L1}} Brian serves as the vice-president and general manager of the company, which is the fourth largest chain of brewpubs in the United States.{{cite news|title=Brewers bring mortuary to life|last=Foyston|first=John|date=December 15, 2006|work=The Oregonian|pages=C1}} He owns 30% of the brothers' share of the privately held company that grosses over $70 million annually.{{cite journal|last=Lambert|first=Emily|date=August 15, 2005|title=For Fun & (Minimal) Profit|journal=Forbes|volume= 176|issue=3|pages=61}} The brothers own 75% of the company. Brian is considered the "numbers guy" of the company known for restoring historic properties.{{cite news|title=Beer-vana! (Malaysia) |last=Papachan|first=Umah|date=October 12, 2003|work=New Straits Times|pages=36}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110608043702/http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=14180 Past and repast mix it up for McMenamins] – The Portland Tribune
- [http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/brews_brothers04.asp The Brews Brothers] – Via magazine
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070622150538/http://alumni.oregonstate.edu/stater/issues/Stater0109/feature1.html The Brews Brothers] – Oregon Stater
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060626080632/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0808_oregonbrewing_2.html Craft Brewing Defines Oregon as U.S. "Beer Capital"] – National Geographic
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McMenamin, Brian}}
Category:Oregon State University alumni
Category:American restaurateurs