PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s growing brewing industry put a combined $17.2 million in wages into the pockets of 320 brewery employees last year and supported a rise in related retail and wholesale jobs, according to a study commissioned by a national industry group representing beer distributors.
The study estimates various ways the brewing industry contributes to the state’s economy, estimating the value of beer production last year at $96.5 million, which led to estimated retail sales of $386.4 million in the state last year.
The study from the national lobbying group also estimated the taxes paid by the brewing industry, finding state and federal taxes make up about 40 percent of the retail price for beer in Maine and most other states.
The study attempts to capture data in a rapidly changing industry across the country and in Maine, as the number of breweries in the state has grown to more than 50, up from 35 operating at the end of 2013.
Its estimates of wages and jobs come from databases maintained by the commercial data company Dun & Bradstreet, which gathers its information directly from employers in specific industries.
Public data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show fewer than the study’s estimated 320 jobs in brewing in Maine for 2014, though the federal data do not include people setting up their own shops with no employees.
The study also used industry averages to estimate employment and wages for breweries or distributors, for which there were no federal or private data available.
The federal data show 299 people were employed at Maine breweries during the last three months of 2014, closing out the year with a 13-year high for brewery employment. The federal data estimated about 904 people were employed by beer distributors, also near a high for that industry in the state.
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With the addition of private data, the study from The Beer Institute estimated 2014 beer distributor employment at 1,150 jobs.
The federal job totals, taken from information provided through the unemployment insurance system, show employment in breweries at the end of 2014 was based on information from the 17 breweries that employ people other than their owners.
The Brewers Association, the national industry group for craft breweries, reported there were 52 craft breweries in the state last year, most of which in the category of microbreweries producing fewer than 15,000 barrels of beer annually. Yearly output figures from state government were not yet available for 2014, according to officials from the Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations.
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The study estimated that a total 8,113 people were employed in Maine in either brewing, wholesaling or retail operations selling beer in 2014 and estimated the industry supported another 2,205 jobs in other industries, based on economic models showing one industry’s impact on another.
In direct wages, the study estimated people made about $17.2 million from breweries and $67.3 million from distributors in the last three months of 2014.
Federal data show smaller wage totals for the year of $12.3 million for breweries and $40.7 million for distributors, as that information does not include sole proprietorships with no employees.
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Nationally, the study estimated that about 56 percent of brewing jobs are with major distributors, producing more than 2 million barrels of beer per year. About 11 percent of brewing jobs were with regional brewers and another 21 percent with microbreweries.