Page 35 - Flathead Beacon // 10.28.15

TRANSACTIONS
WEEKLY BUSINESS BRIEFING
SAGE AND CEDAR TO OPEN DOWNTOWN KALISPELL LOCATION
Sage and Cedar, one of White- fish’s staple downtown busi- nesses, is adding a location in downtown Kalispell.
The shop specializes in cus-
tomized, pure, natural and
organic bath and body products.
Owner Nicole James said she
hopes to have the construction
in the new space on Main Street
completed in the next couple of
weeks, and have the shop ready
for opening in the first week of
December. A grand opening party is planned for Dec. 12.
The Kalispell store offers about 500 more square feet of retail space than the Whitefish location, and James said she was spurred to check out possibilities in Kalispell when The Toggery added a second Kalis- pell location earlier this year.
“The timing was just right on a lot of levels,” James said.
Sage and Cedar will be hiring for its Kalispell store. For more infor- mation, call 406-862-9411 or visit www.sageandcedar.com.
Opening, moving or expanding a business in Northwest Montana? If you would like to be featured in “Transactions,” please email information to [email protected]
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33
and growers who are all part of the eco- nomic engine.”
But under current state law, craft brewers face production constraints, and members of the MBA and other players in the state alcohol industry are seeking policy solutions to alleviate that pressure so breweries can grow with more momentum.
For breweries, a current 10,000-bar- rel limit means that breweries that sell over 10,000 barrels per year forfeit the ability to sell beer on premise. A bill pro- posed last session would have increased the limit to 60,000 barrels.
Additionally, the bill would have allowed brewers to co-locate a retail license under the brewer’s name, allow- ing them to sell beer past 8 p.m. for greater retail ability.
“A big challenge facing breweries is the 10,000 barrel limit, and especially as these breweries grow it is going to become more of an issue,” Leow said. “What it is effectively doing is punish- ing success.”
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester recently spon- sored a bill to lower taxes and reduce regulations on breweries and distilleries by cutting excise taxes for small brew- eries in half, and reducing the taxes for distilleries by more than 70 percent.
Townsley, at Tamarack, said he’s not opposed to paying taxes, but as a small business owner, any savings will be invested back into the brewery, which
Assistant brewer Tyler Gladden brews the Winter at Noon Dunkel. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
in turn benefits the economy.
“We can turn that savings around to
make capital improvements,” he said. “Those shiny tanks in the brewery are expensive, and we can use that money for equipment purchases, education for our brewers and our bartenders, and to improve our guests overall experiences. Business is booming in Montana and it’s doing well, but we do have a shoulder season and it’s always nice to find a few extra dollars there. A reduction in excise taxes leads to more equipment, which in turn creates more jobs.”
[email protected]
1105 Hwy 2 West - Kalispell, MT 59901 | 406-755-5678 | 214 1st Street East - Polson, MT 59860 | 883-2533
OCTOBER 28, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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