MONTANYA DISTILLERS STAFF
Montanya Staff at our 2012 Retreat in Ridgway, ColoradoMontanya Distillers has thirteen employees in Crested Butte, as well as 5 subcontractors for accounting, bookkeeping and cleaning services, in addition to our sales folks who roam the nation at large.
Karen Hoskin is Co-Owner and President of Montanya. She plays a strong role in choosing distilling cuts and selecting spirits that are ready to bottle from the barrel. She participates in and helps manage the bottling lines. She also handles national sales and marketing, brand development, events, web design and social networking, graphic design, advertising, product development, mixology, and the busy rum bar.
Brice Hoskin is Co-Owner and Vice President of the company and the Head Distiller. Brice designs the distilling process and manages the Distilling staff, in addition to handling proofing, bottling, federal compliance, wholesale fulfillment, quality control, and product development.
Robin Buza is the Tasting Room General Manager in Crested Butte. She oversees the TR staff, many events and the cocktail program. An Anchorage, Alaska transplant to CB and a grad from Western State, Robin is an avid mountain biker and skier.
Jackie Mearman began as a staff person in Montanya's tasting room. Her deep interest in distilling quickly lead her to help with distilling tasks as they arose. Her role grew until she took over as a full-time Distiller, working with Brice on a daily basis, handling everything from fermentations to distilling and bottling.
Michelle Baldwin joined Montanya in 2009 as a Global Brand Ambassador. Michelle travels the USA (and world!) promoting and representing Montanya at events, trade shows, and meetings.
Matt Schmalz is a bartender at the Tasting Room and has been with Montanya since 2009, relocating from the flagship distillery in Silverton to work in Crested Butte as the company grew.
Andrea Rybarz is a bartender at the Tasting Room and joined Montanya in Crested Butte in 2011. She is also involved in many events and sponsorships at Montanya. She is trained as a distiller and works as part of the bottling crew, in addition to providing tours.
Jodi Harper Nute is also a Silverton transplant, although she arrived in CB almost three years before the Distilery made the move. Jodi is our in house chef (designing and making appetizers), she gives tours, educates visitors, bartends, and prepares many housemade cocktail ingredients.
Ellis Bennett is on a brief hiatus from Montanya to be a guide in the fine state of Washington. But we feel pretty certain she will be back! Ellis is a recent CU graduate originally from the Northwest. She is a bartender at Montanya's CB Tasting Room. (Update 2013! Ellis is BACK!)
Will Browne hails originally from Missouri and graduated from the University of Missouri. Will became a Distiller in March 2012 after starting out as a Tasting Room bartender.
Alyssa Lile is originally from Littleton, Colorado and settled in CB after graduating from CU. This Colorado native is a bartender at Montanya's Tasting Room. She joined Montanya in late winter 2012, and in 2013 took on new bookkeeping duties in the office.
Jason Wahl is a bartender in our tasting room and a Colorado native, originally from Boulder. We discovered in 2013 that he is also a fantastic dancer!
Meagan Lopez is originally from New York and spent many years in Brooklyn with her film editor husband. She relocated to CB in 2009 and came to work at Montanya in the Tasting Room in summer, 2012. She is also a fitness guru and leads many exercise classes in CB.
We also have a national marketing team (www.dccraftspirits.com), two bookkeepers, two accountants, and a cleaning crew who are all subcontractors but very much a part of the family.