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Can you see BGW buying the Brewery?

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Chris heard more specifics than I knew about so I'll just quote him:

Chris said:
I've heard for a couple years that there have been discussions about closing the brewery. I remember something about water being too expensive and there being negotiations for some type of agreement with the county.
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If anyone knows anything more as far as details go, I'd love to hear them. The person I heard it from didn't give many details other than he was pretty worried about the future of his job and the brewery's future didn't exactly look bright. By the way, this was within the last year.
 
If they're busting the county's chops over lowering their water bill (which wouldn't be surprising for a new owner) my guess would be that the county will ultimately cave on that battle. I would think that they wouldn't let that brewery go without kicking and screaming. And if it did, they'd first and foremost be looking for a manufacturing replacement to take over that plant.
 
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You are right on the money with your point Shafor. I think that Inbev will get what they want over this water bill. This plant has it's own rail link and its also near a Newport News to ship out the product by sea. We also have to remember that each AB plant doesn't brew all the AB product line.
 
Frontseatbill said:
You are right on the money with your point Shafor. I think that Inbev will get what they want over this water bill. This plant has it's own rail link and its also near a Newport News to ship out the product by sea. We also have to remember that each AB plant doesn't brew all the AB product line.
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The only special thing at the Williamsburg plant that I've ever heard was the fact that they could put beer in plastic bottles, a fact that may not be true anymore. The Williamsburg plant is also one of their smallest, and there are other plants in Newark, NJ; Columbus, Ohio; Cartersville, Georgia; and Baldwinsville, New York all within a few hours drive. More info on AB's locations are available here. (Note: You must be 21 to enter the site) It's also not out of the realm of possibility that Blackstone could have approached ABIB with an offer to buy the plant.
 
pandorazboxx said:
Yea, but about 700-800 jobs to what? I doubt the city/county would let them go without a fight.
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But, if ABIB is planing to close the Brewery, JCC is just SOL. ABIB isn't under contract to keep running the plant, and JCC doesn't have the authority to force them to keep it open.

EDIT: ABIB=Anheuser-Busch InBev; JCC=James City County
 
Gavin said:
ABIB isn't under contract to keep running the plant, and JCC doesn't have the authority to force them to keep it open.
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And Blackstone doesn't have the authority to force JCC (and the state) to just let them do whatever they want with that land if they bought it.
 
Shafor said:
And Blackstone doesn't have the authority to force JCC (and the state) to just let them do whatever they want with that land if they bought it.
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That's very true but I think they will approve anything they want to do with very little opposition.
 
Gavin is making the point that if ABIB closes plant, which ABIB can. Then the land and building is up for grabs and it will be the best for Blackstone to buy the land. Right on we are just talking about this because we theme park fans and like to see the land used for the park itself.
 
this whole discussion is based on mainly rumors with little fact. by they way it is IBAB, In-Bev AB is the name of the company. anyways, if they decide to close that brewery which can happen, i have almost no doubt blackstone will buy it and put it to good use for the theme park industry. it is just how will they use the land which is what we all should be mostly concerned about.
 
I'm not saying InBev can't close the plant if they wish, but JCC won't and shouldn't let them leave without trying to keep them there by bending over backwards and doing as much as they can to accommodate them.
 
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oh i stand corrected, i thought they just added the ab to the end, my mistake.

EDIT: 700-800 jobs, sound like a seaworld addition may open that many jobs or more.
 
pandorazboxx said:
I'm not saying InBev can't close the plant if they wish, but JCC won't and shouldn't let them leave without trying to keep them there by bending over backwards and doing as much as they can to accommodate them.
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Yep.

Also, Blackstone isn't going to buy this property without assurances from the county that they'll be allowed to develop it. I'll maintain that they will meet a lot of resistance to that. If the plant were to close/be sold, the MOST likely scenario would be that another manufacturing company would take advantage of a fully functioning plant, with warehouse space, a dedicated rail, 1 mile from I64 and an hour from the port in Norfolk. This is what the county would want. Decent paying full time permanent jobs will trump minimum wage seasonal tourism jobs every time.

I also think you guys are generally grossly over estimating the importance of Busch Gardens to Williamsburg. It's indeed important, but it's just one component of very many in the tourism industry here. Busch Gardens is just one of many things to do in Williamsburg. The county is never going to want that to be the other way around.
 
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actually, with the park rumored to go into full year operations, i am sure that means the pay rate will be raised, in fact it already did a big jump from last season to this one coming up. bgw pays more than minimum wage and then offers 10 cent raises for each year you come back, in 10 years you would have made a one dollar raise.
 
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