The Alexandria Chamber of Commerce has named Bill Butcher, founder of Port City Brewing Company, as the 2018 Business Leader of the Year. He will be honored at the annual Best in Business Awards, presented by Burke & Herbert Bank, on Oct. 17 at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.
Butcher is a fourth generation Alexandrian and alum of T.C. Williams and Alexandria City Public Schools. After graduating from James Madison University, he worked with Robert Mondavi Wine Company, building fine wine brands in the Mid-Atlantic market. As a longtime craft beer aficionado, he watched the craft beer business evolve and become more like the fine wine business. It was this evolution that convinced him and his wife Karen to start Port City Brewing Company in Alexandria in 2011, when there were no other packaging breweries in the D.C. area.
His expertise in fine wine sales and brand building helped him establish Port City as a leader in the D.C. and Mid-Atlantic craft beer market. Port City Brewing Company has garnered national and international acclaim for its beers; at the craft beer industry's most prestigious competition, the Great American Beer Festival, the brewery has earned nine medals and was named Small Brewing Company of the Year in 2015. Port City beers are distributed in 8 Mid-Atlantic states, Washington, D.C., the U.K., and Canada.
In 2016, Bill was named Small Business Philanthropist of the Year by Volunteer Alexandria.
He and his wife Karen live in Rosemont with their two sons, Riley, 16, and Key, 14.
Fpr tickets to the Oct. 17 event, visit https://alexandriavacoc.wliinc33.com/events/Best-in-Business-Awards-presented-by-Burke-Herbert-Bank-2430/details.