Jonathan Buford is the CEO and founder of Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company. He grew up in Ohio and moved to Arizona in 2002, when he drove his rusted-out 1988 Chevy Nova out West to explore the vast Arizona landscapes. He launched his first business, a window cleaning company, out of his garage in 2006. In 2010, while backpacking through the Arizona wilderness, Jonathan was inspired to take his interest in craft brewing to the next level to start his own brewpub. He orchestrated a successful Kickstarter campaign to obtain the necessary capital and opened the Arizona Wilderness Brewpub in Gilbert, Arizona, in 2013 as the very first brewery in Gilbert.

Starting with just nine employees, Arizona Wilderness found quick success, growing rapidly and securing rave reviews from the likes of Esquire Magazine, The Phoenix New Times, Phoenix Magazine, Draft, Beer Advocate, and Sunset. Arizona Wilderness was even named “The Best New Brewery in the World” in 2013 by Ratebeer.com.

Today, Arizona Wilderness has more than 160 employees and operates the original Gilbert brewpub, a European-inspired beer garden in downtown Phoenix, and a warehouse production and barrel-aging facility. Arizona Wilderness continues to celebrate hand-crafted, artisanal beers that are inspired by the beautiful and diverse state of Arizona and is consistently rated the best brewery in Arizona and among the top 100 breweries worldwide (out of nearly 20,000 total breweries). Arizona Wilderness also receives regular acclaim for its food, including being recently named one of the top 100 restaurants in Phoenix by AZcentral.com.

In addition to providing world-class food and drink, Jonathan and his business partner, Patrick Ware, use their passion for the wilderness to continually drive improvements in Arizona Wilderness’ impact on its community. Jonathan and Patrick have driven initiatives to: (1) save huge amounts of water from the Verde River (more than 320 million gallons) by transitioning the brewery’s base malt to Sinagua Malt (which replaces heavy water use crops such as corn and alfalfa with barley in the Verde River Valley); (2) drastically reduce landfill usage by utilizing recyclable and compostable materials wherever possible; and (3) support local farmers and vendors by consistently seeking out local partners for all menu items, including exclusively offering 100% Arizona grass-raised and finished beef at the beer garden.

Jonathan is also pursuing a career in capturing Arizona landscape photography. He embarked on a project documenting all 90 Arizona Wilderness areas which will be published by Arizona Highways Magazine. He also frequently contributes to the magazine.

In the future, Jonathan looks forward to continuing to grow Arizona Wilderness to ensure a tangible, long-term, positive effect on Arizona.

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Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders

Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul.

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