Byron and Elise Kern of Well & Good Brewing Co. in North Yarmouth. The brewery donates between 50 cents and $1 from each beer sale to a rotating list of Maine charities.
Patrons receive a token, which they can place in a bin for the charity of their choice. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer Byron Kern, co-owner of Well & Good Brewing Company in North Yarmouth, traces his charitable business ethic back to the early 2000s, when he was working at a Whole Foods in Illinois. “The CEO once said – and this really stuck with me – that he didn’t see any reason a for-profit company couldn’t do all the good things a not-for-profit does, and potentially more, because they’re generating more income,” he said.
Kern soon went on to grad school at Notre Dame in Indiana, where good works were also highly valued. “Something like 80 percent of the student body does charitable work,” he said. “It’s not a requirement.
It’s just part of the culture.” After grad school, Kern took a series of corporate positions as a product and brand manager, work he found unfulfilling. “Working corporate jobs is fairly soulless.
You’re always chasing profit margins. I really got burned out on that, and I wanted to do something where I felt like I was making a difference, in addition to earning a living.” In July, Kern – an avid home brewer for more than 20 years – and his wife, Elise, did just that when they launched Well & Good, a camp-vibes brewery housed in a log cabin-style for.
