Mark Hellendrung

CEO, The Narragansett Beer Company

What do you do when you're looking for a new business venture, you're nostalgic, and you love baseball and good old fashioned beer? The answer was simple for Mark Hellendrung — re-launch Narragansett Beer.

A native Rhode Islander, Hellendrung is also the former President of Nantucket Nectars. When the company moved to New York, he decided to stay put.

Thinking of ways to capitalize on his beverage distribution expertise and his passion for beer, he fondly remembered Narragansett and the strong attachment he and many New Englanders had for the brew.

In its heyday, Narragansett was known as a great American lager—in fact, it was the best selling beer in New England. The company employed 300 people, and was a major sponsor of the region's beloved Boston Red Sox.

"To me, Rhode Island is the best place in the world to work and live. There aren't many products like Narragansett Beer that have enjoyed such a strong connection with the community,” explains Hellendrung.

Unfortunately, outdated technology, poor management, and intense competition had crippled the company. Its trademark slogan—‘Hi, neighbor, have a ’Gansett’ —was all but driven to extinction.

Undeterred, Hellendrung began to concoct the perfect innovative recipe to recapture the brew’s magic. It would require re-introducing and re-building excitement for the brand, restoring its original taste and quality, utilizing new marketing techniques, and forming key partnerships and programs to bring the product back to the people.

One key aspect of the Narragansett business model—location—needed no research. Hellendrung knew Rhode Island was the right place to headquarter the company.

He cites Narragansett's history and strong local connections to people and things ‘Rhode Island’ as the life line which kept the brand alive long enough for him and his investors to purchase the brewing rights and establish operations here.

Hellendrung’s own history as a graduate of Brown University played a role. It was at Brown where he was able to personally connect to a large diverse group of people and was encouraged to pursue his passions.

In fact, several of Narragansett's investors are alumni. "I carry this nostalgic connection to our region and consumers. I believe a brand is a promise kept and Narragansett plays a role in maintaining our local connections."

From a business perspective, Rhode Island's small, manageable footprint and close knit networks provided access to a broad range of consumers and the ability to quickly scale-up operations.

"We have 7 employees now, highly educated and motivated interns from fantastic Rhode Island colleges and universities,” explains Hellendrung. “We also have excellent legal and marketing counsels who are large, yet flexible enough, to support our needs. You can easily collaborate and engage these types of business resources here in Rhode Island and having these assets available in one location was crucial in the re-brand and re-launch of Narragansett Beer."

Narragansett Beer’s consumers range from 21 to 71. They are blue and white collar, they're tourists and college students. “In Rhode Island, we created a scaleable business model that established real world connections to a culturally and socially diverse consumer base."

Since its inception, Narragansett has pursued an aggressive marketing campaign, including a total package redesign, a new web site, a targeted public relations campaign and numerous promotional events. These strategic efforts, coupled with an ever increasing grassroots push, have helped the product steadily gain popularity and broader distribution outlets since its re-launch in 2005.

Although the new "old" Narragansett is now being brewed in Rochester N.Y., Hellendrung's goal is to move production back to its original home.

Establishing a local brewing operation would also fulfill his commitment to the reversal of what he calls the ‘Walmartization’ of America; where small businesses and the rich quality of life they breathe into a community are being killed off. There are challenges of course, especially from the behemoth breweries, but he hopes Narragansett's successful resurrection will show that reversing that trend is possible.

He furthers, "Someone also said to me once, if you want to be happy in life, figure out where you want to live first, and then find a job." Seems he's found the right place and the right job.

Cheers to happiness.