The bar is closed at Devil's Elbow Brewery but behind the scenes work continues to get the start-up business through the coronavirus challenge.
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The hospitality venue at Dubbo that's yet to mark its first anniversary was forced by a government ban to cease normal operations on March 23.
It initially had to let multiple staff members go, but "hung on to as many as [it] could" and started focusing on takeaway food, coffee and craft beer, general manager Brendon O'Sullivan said.
He welcomed the announcement of the federal government's $130 billion JobKeeper program on March 30, set to provide $1500 a fortnight to workers through their employer in an attempt to prevent businesses closing down during the pandemic.
Speaking to the Daily Liberal before the legislation was introduced to Parliament, Mr O'Sullivan said the program had given them some cause for hope.
"Of course now with the government coming through to help support business and to make sure they survive, and also to keep people out of JobSeeker and on to JobKeeper, so that we hang on to them, that's a big benefit to us," he said.
"That we can actually say to our staff 'Hey, guess what, you're actually not let go, you're actually a full-time employee and we'll make sure your job is still there when we come out the other side of this'."
Mr O'Sullivan, and friends Paul and Melissa Knaggs and David Rich realised a dream when they opened the $3 million brewery in their home town in July.
Dubbo had embraced the start-up, but the business had to contend with deepening drought, Mr O'Sullivan said.
"So it definitely wasn't the best year to be opening a venue, like ours, which was a brand new concept for Dubbo and the region anyway," he said.
"To our credit we've survived, but we need to come out the other side of COVID now."
Brewing is allowed, and the general manager said while their production had scaled back, there was interest in their craft beers from across Australia. They may do another batch if he gauges the demand is there after crunching the numbers.
Other breweries including the commercial sector were also moving to get their canned product on the market, he said.
"So competition's still pretty tough, but the novelty factor, trying different beers, buying them online, there's a lot of that going on at the moment, so we do have a lot of engagement online, a lot of our online sales are interesting, going all around Australia, so that's probably what's going to keep us popping along a little bit," Mr O'Sullivan said.
Faye Wheeler
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
