Next UND entrepreneur forum to feature alumnus, Summit Brewing Co. founder
Alumnus and Summit Brewing Co. founder and president, Mark Stutrud, will speak at the University of North Dakota for The Entrepreneur Forum Series at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the Idea Lab at the UND Center for Innovation, 4200 James Ray Drive.
Stutrud will come to share his story and provide advice and lessons that he has learned over the years in his from field.
Stutrud, a Whapeton native, earned his bachelor's degree in Social Work from UND in 1975. After receiving post-graduate training in family therapy with specialization in adolescent and young adult substance abuse and addiction, he traveled to Jamestown, N.D., where he worked as an addiction counselor. Continuing his work as an addiction counselor, Stutrud moved to the Twin Cities where he worked as supervisor of the evaluation unit of St. Mary's Adolescent Chemical Dependency Program.
In 1986, Stutrud, a beer enthusiast and an avid home brewer made a radical career change from chemical dependency work to the brewery business. After completing a market research, Stutrud was able to get the backing from 20 investors to start up Summit Brewing Co., in 1986. Quickly growing from a "micro-brewery" to a much larger regional craft brewer, Summit Brewing Co. owes a lot of its success to Stutrud's innovative research and development, focusing on taste. The company has seen great success over the years in spite of challenging times for small breweries.
Recent accolades for the Summit Brewing Co. include:
- 21st- 2010 sales among National Regional Craft Brewers
- Summit's sales exceeded 100,000 barrels in 2011
- A Gold Medal at the 2010 World Beer Cup for the Extra Pale Ale
As well as Summit Brewing Co. winning a variety of awards, Stutrud received the 2000 Business Innovator of the Year Award from the UND Center for Innovation and was a finalist in the 2000 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Stutrud's presentation is free and open to the public.
Contact:
David L. Dodds, Media Relations/Writer & Editor, 701.777.5529, or at david.dodds@email.und.edu
UND.edu
