Garrett Marrero and his wife, Melanie, came to Maui nearly 12 years ago with the dream of opening a brew pub. Somewhat young and naïve, they said there wasn’t much stopping them at the time. They must be doing something right, as the Maui Brewing Company owners just became one of only three Hawaii business owners to ever win the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Person(s) of the Year award.
The honor caught Marrero a bit off-guard as he was sitting at a luncheon in Washington D.C. earlier this month. He didn’t initially realize they had won, and the accomplishment was overwhelming. Noting the reasons for the win, Linda McMahon, the SBA Administrator, stated “Garrett and Melanie have shown impressive growth, expanding in size, sales, and scope of their business,” in a written statement announcing the award. The husband-and-wife team have grown their company to one hundred and twenty-three times its original production size. To be clear, that means since 2005 when the company was founded, they have gone from producing 320 barrels of beer, to approximately 39,600 barrels of beer this last year. This has made them the largest craft beer producer in the state of Hawai’i.
Why do we think this win is worth noting? Their new production facility, costing over $17 million dollars to build, is located right here in Kihei. Both Garrett and his wife say that a large part of their success is due to the incredible team they have working with them. They will often use words such as “passion” and “ohana” to describe their dedication to their work and their staff family.
What we find really neat is how they extend this warmth outside of their company by inviting various other small businesses to participate in their operation by having alternating food trucks available daily.
Located in the Maui Research and Technology Park, Maui Brewing Co. has a tasting room that is open from 11:00am – 10:00pm every day. To compliment their offerings they feature various small restaurants, in the form of food trucks, two times per day, each day of the week. Flavors range from south of the border, to barbeque, to Asian fusion, and will leave your taste buds craving more. You can find the schedule and list of vendors on their site!
When planning your next vacation to Maui, perhaps you will find some time to check them out for yourself. Don’t forget Rentals Maui when booking your next stay, we hope to see you soon!
