Penguin City’s Lyras-Bernacki Named to Craft Brewers Board

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Aspasia Lyras-Bernacki, co-owner of Penguin City Brewing Co. of Youngstown, has been elected to Ohio Craft Brewers Association Board of Directors.

She will assume her at-large seat for a two-year term on Aug. 1, and will oversee the OCBA’s education, marketing and advocacy efforts.

“I am completely overjoyed to be elected to sit on the board with such an influential group, and to be the first brewery owner from the Valley to be on the board is a true honor,” Lyras-Bernacki says. “I look forward to representing our area and helping with the efforts of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association in promoting, diversifying, and preserving our industry.”

The association’s top priority is reform of the Ohio Alcoholic Beverages Franchise Act, a law that traps small and independent breweries in lifetime contracts with beer wholesalers.

Two bills have been introduced in the Ohio General Assembly – Senate Bill 138 and House Bill 306 – which would exempt breweries making fewer than 250,000 barrels of beer per year from franchise law.

Founded in 2007, the OCBA is a nonprofit guild that exists to promote, preserve, diversify and unify Ohio’s craft brewing industry.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.