This week we’re joined by [Prairie Dog Brewing] co-founder Laura Coles. We talk about their gigantic BBQ and smoker at the taproom (the largest in Canada!) and how she and her four co-founders have created a business that they’d want to work in as employees, not just owners.

Being community-focused and taking care of each other is a staple of the Calgary craft brewing industry, but Prairie Dog Brewing has taken the unique step of building this right into their business plan with what Laura calls the “triple bottom line” approach: People, Planet, and Profit.

On the People side, Prairie Dog Brewing proudly pays all their staff a living wage and offers benefits for every single full-time employee. However unlike many businesses where “full-time” means spending 40 hours of your week at work, Prairie Dog considers every employee who works more than 20 hours each work to be a full-time member of their team. They’ve worked hard to provide a space that is highly inclusive not just to their staff but also their patrons, creating an environment where everyone can feel welcome.

Looking at Planet, Laura and the team have taken a hyper local approach to their brewery. They’ve taken strong measures to ensure the sustainability of their brewery & taproom, with considerations throughout their supply chain all the way down to the water they use to brew. The hyper local approach means that you’ll basically only find their beer at the taproom as they believe in serving great beer and BBQ to their immediate community rather than competing with other craft brewers for shelf space at retail.

Of course all businesses have to focus on Profit, and this brewery’s roadmap to profitability is inspired by the types of craft breweries Laura and her husband and co-founder Jared witnessed while living in California, where they met two of their other co-founders, Tyler and Sarah. What they saw in this market was a clear trend - the most successful breweries were the ones that offered great beer and great food. When they started building Prairie Dog they knew they wanted to have great food, but surprisingly BBQ wasn’t originally part of the plan. Originally they had intended to offer pizza and bar snacks but ran into a mix-up with the design of their kitchen, so Tyler’s brother Jay stepped in and said he had just the thing: the massive BBQ and smoke they affectionally call Clifford.

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Get your own copy of the books and music discussed in this episode:

Barbara Kingsolver | The Poisonwood Bible

Daniel Quinn | Ishmael

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Let’s Meet For A Beer!

Alberta Beer Festivals: website | twitter | instagram

Laura Coles - Prairie Dog Brewing: website | twitter | instagram